Google Voice on iphone situation in 2015

MaxBurn · Feb 9, 2015

Google Voice has gone through some changes lately and I'm considering switching back to iphone and want to know how to work this out.

1. There are two apps now right, Google Voice and Hangouts? Any conflict in using both on one phone?

2. Voice calling using carrier voice minutes and Google Voice caller ID: can this still be accomplished with the Google Voice app? (I'm aware calling in hangouts results in a VOIP call, at least in android anyway)

3. MMS in Hangouts works on iOS?

4. I'm assuming the default dialer situation hasn't been fixed? (tapping a phone number in another app goes to the phone dialer, resulting in a non google voice caller ID call.)

Jeff R · Feb 9, 2015

This has nothing to do with the OP's post but I'm just throwing it out there.

I do have Google Hangouts but I don't use or associate it with my Google Voice.

I use Google Voice for basic stuff like calling & SMS only and it works fine. I only use it when I'm on Craigslist (rarely) for buying & selling stuff.

Regarding OP's #3 question. I heard MMS works with Hangouts so I'm curious to know about this too. Just curious since I have no plans on using Hangouts lol!

I believe there is a bug too in Google Voice since the app icon changes once installed to the device. Below are the changes before & after installation.

I'm using an iPhone 5S with iOS 8.1 & an iPad Mini 2 iOS 8.1.1.

Yes, I know the iPad is not supported but just tried it out & same thing.

macher · Feb 9, 2015

I have the GV Connect app which is a ring back. It's unlimited inbound and outbound minutes.

baypharm · Feb 9, 2015

I use Google voice and Hangouts with no negative issues on both my Ipad Air and Motorola Droid Turbo.

B.A.T · Feb 9, 2015

With an iPhone MMS works fine in Google hangouts but I have yet to find a way to send video in hangouts

bigjnyc · Feb 10, 2015

Everything seems to be working well with hangouts and GV on the iphone except for the following 2 gripes I have:

- there is no calls list, I get incoming and outgoing calls but nothing shows up in the calls list. I looked through all settings and didnt see anything to turn this on

- when a call comes in and your phone is on silent it only vibrates once very lightly then nothing so you if you miss that first little vibration you wont know a call is coming in unless you happen to look at the screen

solo118 · Feb 10, 2015

GV has no issues here, I am not sure what Hangouts does, or if its better/worse. I am OK with GV using my minutes while I am home for CL transactions. Also a quick note that MMS does not work with Google Voice, but if somebody sends me a photo it gets forwarded to my email which is cool.

When I roam, I use Talkatone to make calls over 4G or wifi, but it is not the most reliable service as if you lose wifi and want to rely on 4G the call gets dropped. If you have a GREAT signal on wifi it will be clear, but if its low signal the other line will not be able to hear you.

takeshi74 · Feb 11, 2015

MaxBurn said:
Voice calling using carrier voice minutes and Google Voice caller ID: can this still be accomplished with the Google Voice app? (I'm aware calling in hangouts results in a VOIP call, at least in android anyway)

Not sure what you mean by "Googe Voice caller ID" but you can use the GV app to make outbound calls using your GV number and you'll use voice minutes.

ArtVandelay29 · Feb 11, 2015

I tried to use GV about 18 months ago... but any incoming call would launch a window asking something like whether I wanted to use my mobile or GV, which would force me to answer on the device rather than the bluetooth in my car. Couldn't figure out what the problem was so I just dumped the GV app. Granted, I was on an Android device at the time... maybe it's time to try GV again now that I'm back on iOS.

poorcody · Feb 11, 2015

I've been using Google Voice as my primary number on my iPhone for many years. I've never given out my actual cell phone number.

You definitely want to get the GV Connect app. It has been continually updated for many many years and works well.

For outgoing calls, it will direct dial (as a regular cell phone call -- no VOIP) and the receiver will see your Google number as Caller ID. Only oddity about it is that the number it shows it is dialing is different than the one you dialed because it is going through Google to make the call. But it works fine.

All my incoming calls ring my cell phone and home phone simultaneously. I can even switch between the two while on a live call.

I've never used Hangouts so I can't comment on that.

I forward all SMS messages and Voicemail messages to my email so I get a push of them directly to my phone (simplest way I've found). You can reply to SMS messages right from your mail app thanks to Google. If I'm sending an SMS, I just pop-open GV Connect and it works seamlessly.

To answer your specific questions:
1. I don't use Hangouts, but I've had multiple Google Voice apps running simultaneously without a problem (e.g. GV Connect and Google Voice).

2. Yes this works with Google Voice app or GV Connect App.

3. Don't know.

4. Yes I believe that is still an issue. I usually initiate a call from within GV Connect accessing my contacts. I also block my Cell Phone's caller ID in case I accidentally do it.

einmusiker · Feb 11, 2015

Hangouts drives me absolutely nuts. Maybe I don't get it but when I try to text someone my own contacts don't show up unless they are on hangouts and I get a list of random people not on my contacts that hangouts suggests I'm trying to text?

MaxBurn · Feb 12, 2015

Thanks for the suggestion on GV connect, I obviously need to look into that. I know google had a while there where they were trying to block third party apps but I think that may be past and they were just worried about compatibility and customer experience anyway.

I'm presently checking things out on my ipod touch and it seems that even though I did the hangouts switch on android I should be able to use the old GV app to place calls, I can see my up to date call history in the app and hangouts.

Seems like the MMS thing is still a work in progress, I have friends on AT&T and Verizon it works with but certainly doesn't work with all carriers.

I'm also annoyed GV can't handle group messaging.

Still I find the ability to control my number in some pretty subtle ways is worth it.

----------

bigjnyc said:
Everything seems to be working well with hangouts and GV on the iphone except for the following 2 gripes I have:

- there is no calls list, I get incoming and outgoing calls but nothing shows up in the calls list. I looked through all settings and didnt see anything to turn this on

- when a call comes in and your phone is on silent it only vibrates once very lightly then nothing so you if you miss that first little vibration you wont know a call is coming in unless you happen to look at the screen

Sounds like a bug, I can see my calls list. Admittedly I am trying the app on my ipod but they are there. Wonder why it won't vibrate more?

solo118 said:
GV has no issues here, I am not sure what Hangouts does, or if its better/worse. I am OK with GV using my minutes while I am home for CL transactions. Also a quick note that MMS does not work with Google Voice, but if somebody sends me a photo it gets forwarded to my email which is cool.

When I roam, I use Talkatone to make calls over 4G or wifi, but it is not the most reliable service as if you lose wifi and want to rely on 4G the call gets dropped. If you have a GREAT signal on wifi it will be clear, but if its low signal the other line will not be able to hear you.

I think MMS depends on what carrier it is coming from, they don't all work but seems like AT&T, Tmobile and Verizon do at least.

Agreed, and VOIP on cellular data just seems like a bad idea.

poorcody said:
I've been using Google Voice as my primary number on my iPhone for many years. I've never given out my actual cell phone number.

You definitely want to get the GV Connect app. It has been continually updated for many many years and works well.

For outgoing calls, it will direct dial (as a regular cell phone call -- no VOIP) and the receiver will see your Google number as Caller ID. Only oddity about it is that the number it shows it is dialing is different than the one you dialed because it is going through Google to make the call. But it works fine.

All my incoming calls ring my cell phone and home phone simultaneously. I can even switch between the two while on a live call.

I've never used Hangouts so I can't comment on that.

I forward all SMS messages and Voicemail messages to my email so I get a push of them directly to my phone (simplest way I've found). You can reply to SMS messages right from your mail app thanks to Google. If I'm sending an SMS, I just pop-open GV Connect and it works seamlessly.

To answer your specific questions:
1. I don't use Hangouts, but I've had multiple Google Voice apps running simultaneously without a problem (e.g. GV Connect and Google Voice).

2. Yes this works with Google Voice app or GV Connect App.

3. Don't know.

4. Yes I believe that is still an issue. I usually initiate a call from within GV Connect accessing my contacts. I also block my Cell Phone's caller ID in case I accidentally do it.

Thanks, I'll look into GV connect. Hopefully google doesn't actually cut off third party support. I had no idea you could switch between devices on a live GV call, how is that even accomplished? Must be a feature of GV connect?

aplnub · Feb 20, 2015

I use GV Mobile +.

What I have noticed is when I place a VoIP call with GVMobile + and/or Signal if an incoming phone call comes in the app where my in progress VoIP call is taking place is shut down.

Anyone experiencing this? My friend has confirmed this behavior and it really sucks. I have had to move back to Call Back inside GV Mobile+ and with Signal I pray no one calls while we are talking.

barrikade · Feb 26, 2015

aplnub said:
I use GV Mobile +.

What I have noticed is when I place a VoIP call with GVMobile + and/or Signal if an incoming phone call comes in the app where my in progress VoIP call is taking place is shut down.

Anyone experiencing this? My friend has confirmed this behavior and it really sucks. I have had to move back to Call Back inside GV Mobile+ and with Signal I pray no one calls while we are talking.

How is the app overall compared to the original Google Voice app? I'm not super satisfied with the original so if this GV mobile + is better, I'll give it a shot.

aplnub · Feb 26, 2015

barrikade said:
How is the app overall compared to the original Google Voice app? I'm not super satisfied with the original so if this GV mobile + is better, I'll give it a shot.

I really like GV Mobile. I have been with it since day one.

It is better in a lot of ways and in some a touch not so better.

The best thing I can say about Google's app is that it works all the time for me. The worse thing I can say about GV Mobile is that sometimes I have to quite and restart the app. I blame this on Google.

You can set a default area code and turn on/off which phones get forwarded. That is nice. A lot more polished in my opinion compared to Google's app. I wish they would have just hired Sean to write their app.

I did get an answer to the question I originally had. Apple is responsible for killing the VoIP call. Line 2 is able to pause and place on hold the call if someone dials in but that still aggravates me. I wish Apple would handle incoming calls a lot better. I don't view my integrated phone as this big need. I rely more on VoIP apps.

Black Magic · Feb 26, 2015

MaxBurn said:
Google Voice has gone through some changes lately and I'm considering switching back to iphone and want to know how to work this out.

1. There are two apps now right, Google Voice and Hangouts? Any conflict in using both on one phone?

2. Voice calling using carrier voice minutes and Google Voice caller ID: can this still be accomplished with the Google Voice app? (I'm aware calling in hangouts results in a VOIP call, at least in android anyway)

3. MMS in Hangouts works on iOS?

4. I'm assuming the default dialer situation hasn't been fixed? (tapping a phone number in another app goes to the phone dialer, resulting in a non google voice caller ID call.)

I use Google Voice on my iPhone and have been using it for years. It's mostly good just to have a separate phone number to give out when I don't want to publish my real number.

To answer you questions:

1. Not sure. I just use Google Voice and prefer to stay away from Hangouts and many other Google Services.

2. Google Voice calls are considered landline calls and will count against your minutes.

3. Google Voice is completely configurable via website. I have all my incoming and outgoing calls show up as the Google Voice number as I set it up in the Google Voice website settings. This is the little known secret most people forget about. I then set up a unique ringer for it so that I know its a call from that number once I have it associated to my own contact card.

Google Voice is nice if you configure it properly and have a need to use it. I don't feel a need to download multiple apps to work with Google Voice because Google Voice does it all if you know where to look.

barrikade · Feb 26, 2015

aplnub said:
I really like GV Mobile. I have been with it since day one.

It is better in a lot of ways and in some a touch not so better.

The best thing I can say about Google's app is that it works all the time for me. The worse thing I can say about GV Mobile is that sometimes I have to quite and restart the app. I blame this on Google.

You can set a default area code and turn on/off which phones get forwarded. That is nice. A lot more polished in my opinion compared to Google's app. I wish they would have just hired Sean to write their app.

I did get an answer to the question I originally had. Apple is responsible for killing the VoIP call. Line 2 is able to pause and place on hold the call if someone dials in but that still aggravates me. I wish Apple would handle incoming calls a lot better. I don't view my integrated phone as this big need. I rely more on VoIP apps.

Sounds good! Thanks for the input. I'm going to try it

nox5 · Feb 27, 2015

Problems with Hangouts
1. When receiving a call it shows only phone number of the caller and no name from your contacts list
2. You can't make a call directly from another app ( Google maps, web browser etc.)
3. Hangouts won't show history of missed calls, you have to pull notification and again no contact names just a ph number
4. If you text someone in hangouts you expose your hangouts profile and get linked to that person in hangouts

Google Voice on iphone situation in 2015

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