Google’s monthly update on Monday primarily addressed the Pixel 4a 5G’s edge touch recognition issues. However, the February security patch also added support for T-Mobile Standalone (SA) 5G on that phone and the Pixel 5.
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With some distance from the holidays, Google is bringing back a popular deal where new Fi subscribers can get the Pixel 4a 5G for $299. Meanwhile, existing MVNO members can get the phone for $100 off.
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Google told Fi subscribers last year that classic Hangouts would no longer support texting or calling in January. A week before the deadline, Google has pushed back that deadline for MVNO subscribers to March.
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In lieu of hardware or Play Store credit, the 2020 Google Fi holiday gift will let subscribers vote on how $2 million in donations is dispersed among three charities.
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Back in June, Google started letting you use Fi and Voice on the same account. A new Google Fi promotion is now incentivizing those longtime Voice users to join the MVNO now that they have the opportunity.
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T-Mobile is moving relatively quickly to have all phones on its network support voice over LTE. Google Fi, as an MVNO, has to follow this decision and is encouraging customers with older phones to upgrade before next month through a promotional credit.
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After introducing new family features yesterday, Google Fi is offering a significant $200 discount on the Pixel 4a 5G for new subscribers, while existing members can take advantage of a lesser but still notable deal.
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Like Assistant this morning, Google Fi is adding a trio of family features aimed at managing phone usage and safety.
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In recent weeks, Google has worked to attract more customers to its MVNO with a new phone subscription program and by adding Samsung devices. Google Fi is now making it easier to troubleshoot connection issues on Android 11.
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The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro went on sale last Friday with 5G touted as a flagship feature, but Google Fi customers are currently not able to use that faster network.
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Just yesterday, Google announced that Fi users would lose access to their messages through classic Hangouts, but the company also teased a new web experience. Now, that updated Messages for Web feature is already rolling out to some Google Fi users.
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In addition to announcing a Phone subscription program, Google today emailed Fi subscribers about how to “Move [their] conversations to Messages by Google.” Support documents lay out in detail what to expect and that Fi texting in the Hangouts app will stop working at the start of next year.
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After adding Samsung devices to its online store, Google Fi is now launching a Phone subscription program. The Pixel 4a is the first device available, with buyers saving “$133 over two years.”
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At the tail end of 2018, we reported on Google’s plans to replace Hangouts with Chat and Meet. The company later confirmed the news and has since been moving enterprise users to those two apps. Google is now ready to start detailing how it will transition classic Hangouts users to a free version of Chat.
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Google’s MVNO has long only featured first-party Nexus and Pixel phones, as well as Motorola devices. Google Fi is now directly offering Samsung phones while detailing its 5G coverage today.
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Area 120 is Google’s internal incubator for experimental projects that later get merged with existing teams if proven successful. Orion Wifi wants to make it easy for malls, grocery stores, and other “public venues” to “sell Wi-Fi capacity to cellular carriers,” like Google Fi.
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Before taxes, the average monthly cost of Google’s MVNO for Flexible (pay as you go) users is between $30-80, or $70 on the Unlimited plan. Some subscribers are now receiving a $0 Google Fi bill that’s very clearly a bug.
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In response to COVID-19, Google Fi in March temporarily raised its full-speed data limit. That measure, along with an extended grace period for payments, is coming to an end next week.
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Back in 2017, Google Fi introduced a Group Repay feature to simplify plans with multiple members. The MVNO announced its getting rid of the feature in a little over a month.
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In May 2017, the vast majority of Android users lost the ability to use Hangouts as an SMS/MMS client. Google Fi subscribers were exempted, but that support could be coming to an end as the eventual deprecation of classic Hangouts nears.
Google has long imposed a restriction where Voice users cannot have separate Fi numbers. That is now changing today with the ability to have both coexist on the same account.
Over the past day, a strange Google Fi bug has emerged where long texts are received as Chinese characters. There is currently no fix beyond sending shorter messages.
Last month, Google started letting new MVNO subscribers with iPhones set-up cellular service over eSIM. Google Fi is now starting to roll out eSIM support to existing members using iOS devices.
Those of us with Android phones can connect the Google Messages app to “Messages for web” as a way to manage SMS and RCS from a browser. Google is getting ready to take things a step further for Google Fi customers by bringing calls and voicemails to the same Messages web app.
