The Google Voice Android app received an update this week that not only changes the icon and accent colors to match what you'll find in the new Hangouts and Chat, but it also adds a new Contacts tab for quickly accessing your address book.
Read MoreUpdate Notes for Google Voice, Play Store, Translate, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Contacts, and more (August 11, 2018)
Every week, I examine somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred app updates while looking for changes. The most interesting things turn into APK Teardowns or Download posts. Many of the remaining updates are unremarkable, amounting to a few bug fixes, routine updates to libraries, or even just pixel-level adjustments to layouts and images. However, there are usually a few updates that land somewhere in between. I don't want to spam readers with dozens of short posts, but I hate to ignore things that people might want to know about, so I'm going to wrap up the leftovers for a little weekend reading and call it Update Notes.
Read MoreGoogle Voice for G Suite arriving as highlight of new enterprise features
Google's ongoing Cloud Next conference is a bit like I/O, but with a slant on building hype for corporate products rather than developer interest. In addition to the earlier announcement of a new 2FA hardware security key, Google is also expanding the services available in G Suite to include the much-loved Google Voice, while also tweaking how its Cloud Search and Drive services can work for businesses.
Read MoreGoogle Voice v2018.28 moves nav bar to the bottom [APK Download]
More and more Android apps have been switching to bottom nav bars lately. They might not look as nice, but nav bars on the top are just too hard to reach. Google Voice, which returned from the dead last year, is the latest app to join this club, and we've got the APK.
Read MoreGoogle Voice consolidates your message history, integrates GV messages from Hangouts
Back in February, we noticed in a teardown for the Google Voice app that support for text messages originally sent via Hangouts was coming to the app. Note, this is for SMS sent over the Google Voice system, not the old Hangouts SMS integration that died last year. Based on recent reports, that feature is now rolling out to a wider audience.
Read MoreGoogle Voice v5.10 adds voicemail greeting management
Google spent years ignoring Google Voice, but it finally revamped the app and website in 2017. It also promised to keep the updates coming, and it's been doing that so far. In the latest update to the Voice app, you can finally manage your voicemail greeting from the app. Yeah, that should have happened around 2009 or so, but better late than never.
Read MoreGoogle Voice integration with Sprint will end on June 1st
Google and Sprint got together in 2011 to offer a fully integrated Google Voice experience on the carrier. You could place calls with your Sprint number but have all the benefits of Google Voice like call forwarding to multiple numbers, voicemail transcriptions, call recording, and so on. Then, Google forgot Google Voice existed for a few years. The Sprint integration worked even after Google relaunched Voice in 2017, but now it's shutting down. As of June 1st, Voice integration on Sprint is no more.
Read More[Update: Beta now live] Google Voice recruiting testers for new Wi-Fi (or mobile data) calling feature
For mobile users juggling a bunch of different devices, Google Voice can be something of a godsend. Not only does it let you share a single point of contact through which people can reach you no matter which phone or tablet you're carrying at the moment, but it does so without requiring the party on the other end to install a specific app — everything travels over regular voice calls and text messages. While that's great for compatibility, there are a number of reasons why you might not want to rely so heavily on the voice-call network, from running low on your monthly minute allocation, to difficulty finding a reliable cellular signal.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
Google Voice v5.9 prepares voicemail greetings to be recorded in-app [APK Teardown]
Good things are happening with Google Voice. While the app normally stays fairly quiet, the last few months have shown a lot of positive attention is going into the service. The surface-level changes in this update aren't too major, but a teardown shows that users will soon get a vastly improved voicemail system that features on-device recording and support for multiple messages.
Read MoreUpdate Notes for Android Wear, Play Store, Maps, YouTube and YouTube Kids, Project Fi, and more (Mar 4, 2018)
Every week, I examine somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred app updates while looking for changes. The most interesting things turn into APK Teardowns or Download posts. Many of the remaining updates are unremarkable, amounting to a few bug fixes, routine updates to libraries, or even just pixel-level adjustments to layouts and images. However, there are usually a few updates that land somewhere in between. I don't want to spam readers with dozens of short posts, but I hate to ignore things that people might want to know about, so I'm going to wrap up the leftovers for a little weekend reading and call it Update Notes.
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