Google Voice was an ambitious project through which Google aimed to give people a phone number that's their own, anywhere and any time, on any device. The actual apps have stagnated for nearly 5 years, though, a contributing factor leading many to think it was slowly being abandoned.
Today, Google is bringing a fresh coat of paint and a much-needed set of features to Google Voice for their apps on Android, iOS and their web client as well. The new Google Voice apps are much cleaner and they've been refreshed for 2017 with a new aesthetic to match the rest of Google's IM repertoire. The design is more intuitive as well, with separate tabs for text messages in properly labelled threads, calls and voicemails. Conversations stay in one continuous thread and the messaging experience supports group and photo MMS and in-notification quick replies. There's also voicemail transcription for Spanish, with accuracy said to improve with time.
Going forward, Google says they are committed to supporting Google Voice and providing new updates and features to these apps, including RCS messaging according to The Verge. While there is no reason for you to switch from Hangouts, the dedicated apps aren't gimped in a way to make you necessitate Hangouts for the IM functionality you'd expect out of any 2017 messaging app.
It's nice to see that Google Voice, a service which many people at XDA are fond of, is making a return with a facelift in a dedicated app that was in dire need of an update. It's certainly a very strong and flexible alternative to traditional phone numbers, and while this strengthens yet another one of Google's IM apps (thus perpetuating the messaging mess the company got itself in) it at least gives Voice users a better way to communicate.
Check out Google Voice on the Play Store; according to Google, the update should be available to anyone in the coming weeks.
Via: The Verge Source: Google Blog
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