While the latest Google Voice update does not feature many notable visible changes, the messaging app is working on exciting functionality. Namely, version 5.6 hints that you may soon be able to send messages using the Ok Google/Assistant hotword.
The latest version of Google Voice for Android is rolling out this morning with two notable features. In version 5.4, the app always opens on the last used tab, while there is now a shortcut to purchase Google Voice credits directly in settings.
Google Voice made a triumphant return early this year with a fresh coat of paint, new features, and all of the functionality we knew and loved back in the day. In the time since, Google hasn’t given the service a ton of attention, and there are still a lot of features that need to be added to bring it up to par with Google’s other messaging options. Today, Google confirmed one of those is coming — “OK Google” support.
Google Voice’s massive redesign at the beginning of the year came as a much-needed and long-overdue update for users of the service. That update made using Google Voice considerably more enjoyable and easier, but a new bug that’s popped up is causing some trouble with people trying to send/receive SMS text messages.
Since its relaunch in January, Google Voice has seen a major update approximately every two months. Version 5.2 is beginning to rollout and along with it are a number of very useful widgets and other minor features.
While minor, the latest update to Google Voice brings the relaunched service’s spam filtering up to par with the detection built into the Phone app on Google Pixel and Nexus devices.
The first update to Google Voice since its relaunch back in January is now rolling out. While the update doesn’t bring any significant new features, there are some welcome additions, including support for sending GIFs in Gboard and a new Do not disturb mode.
We were recently told by a source that has been reliable in the past (they also tipped us off on VoIP integration coming to Voice, which Google confirmed) that Project Fi support/integration would be one keystone feature for the new Google Voice. That feature obviously didn’t launch last week with the redesigned version 5.0 of the app, but we now have reason to believe that it’s still in the plans…
While notable, Monday’s update of Google Voice was basically just a Material redesign that lacked any new major functionality. The promise of “regular updates” is more significant, and Google has confirmed to us that one of those upcoming features is VoIP integration.
After a false start earlier this month, the first major update to Google Voice in years has just been announced. Featuring a redesigned interface, new features, and the promise of continued updates, it will be rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks.
Even without a major update in years, Google Voice continues to be a remarkably important and criticial day-to-day service for some users. As such, a new banner on the site today sparked excitement that a “new” version featuring a long overdue update may finally be coming soon.
In light of today’s appalling events in Brussels, as well as recent violence in Turkey, Google is offering free calls using Hangouts and Google Voice to the two countries. The company has done the same after similar events in France and is rolling out additional emergency resources via Google Now and Search to those in Brussels.
Google’s voice recognition technology used in software and services like Google Now and search has been among the best for the past couple of years. Still, the company hasn’t been resting and just announced that the methods in which it detects and predicts words have been improved to give much faster, more efficient results with better reliability…
Google has announced today that its voicemail transcription service is getting a much-needed update. Hoping to leave behind the days of hilariously bad voicemail transcriptions, Google asked some users for access to their voicemail. Now, the fruit coming thanks to those kind souls who trusted the company with their precious information has been officially announced.
Here’s the word:
So, we asked users if they would kindly share some of their voicemails for research and system improvements. Thanks to those who participated, we are happy to announce an improved voicemail system in Google Voice and Project Fi that delivers more accurate transcriptions. Using a (deep breath) long short-term memory deep recurrent neural network (whew!), we cut our transcription errors by 49%.
According to Google, errors have been cut by 49% post-update. And, good news for those who might not even see this post nor Google’s announcement, you don’t have to do anything at all to reap the benefits of these changes. Just keep using Google Voice and Project Fi as you always have, and you should notice that your voicemail transcriptions are suddenly less horrid.
Google today has launched a survey in which it hopes to gather more information about its Google Voice service. The survey is available to all Voice users by simply logging into your account. You can also access the survey via this support thread. Google says that the survey should not take more than 10 minutes to complete and by completing it, you are entered to win a free Chromecast.
Google appears to have started sending out the first invites to its Project Fi initiative, at least according to one user on Reddit. The user has shared screenshots of the entire setup process from start to finish. The process appears to be relatively simple and self-explanatory, with a step-by-step set-up process…
Google updated its Hangouts extension for Chrome with two new features today. The first addition is that of a dialer, which allows you to call your contacts quickly right from the extension. It also supports sending SMS messages from your Google Voice account.
When Chrome is set to not always remain on top, you’ll also find that you can now get notifications for new messages. There’s also a new option to minimize the app, along with some bug fixes. You can grab the Hangouts extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Google Voice has been granted a pretty decent update today, bringing the service to support MMS via a new carrier: Verizon Wireless. Additionally, Google has added native MMS support to the service for photo messaging and—if you choose to opt for Google Voice in Hangouts—you’ll be able to send photos as MMS like you would with any other normal attachment.
Google this morning has unveiled a new Hangouts Chrome app for Windows and Chrome OS users. In a post on the official Chrome blog, the company described the app as a simpler and faster way to use Hangouts on your computer, while not intruding on other tasks and apps.
Since its inception, one of the biggest pitfalls of Google Voice has been its lack of MMS support. In an era of time when nearly everyone has a smartphone, not being able to share videos and pictures with counterparts was a huge feature gap. This evening, however, Google employee Alex Wiesen announced on Google+ that Voice now supports MMS on more than a 100 North American carriers.
Google this evening rolled out an update to the Google Voice app on iOS, adding several new features and much-needed visual enhancements. Bumping the app to version 1.6, this evening’s update is the first the app has seen since September 2013, and the first major update since 2012.
It’s finally all coming together. As many suspected would eventually happen, Google Hangouts is finally—in an update rolling out over the next few days—going to be getting integration with Google Voice. The latter service seemed to definitely be getting neglected by Google as of late, with much of the company’s focus going to its Hangouts platform. But it appears that Voice may even moreso eventually become a thing of the past because, starting today, Google is putting it straight into Hangouts as part of a new update to its apps across Android, iOS, and the web.
We reported earlier this year that Google has plans to eventually roll Google Voice’s features into its Hangouts service and retire the former product, and we’re slowly seeing that transition play out now. Google’s Alex Weisen, who works on Google Voice, shared last night in a Google+ post that they’re making calling via Hangouts an option from the Google Voice website. Furthermore, the functionality will not require a Google+ account to work either. The option appears to be live on the Google Voice web interface now.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAIMnAaXIMg]
Earlier in the year we received word that Google Voice was getting the axe and its features were being rolled into Hangouts. Although it wasn’t openly discussed last week during Google’s I/O keynote, further exploration of the developer preview of Android’s L version has reinforced what we were told almost four months ago.
