Google Voice Reviews

Google Voice claims you can make and receive VOIP calls using WIFI and mobile data, provided you configure that you prefer this option versus using your mobile phone number. However whenever you are off WIFI and on mobile data, GoogleVoice says your “Internet Connection is unstable” so it’s going to use your mobile phone number anyway as a fallback. I assure you my LTE service is excellent and I have no trouble with Zoom and Skype and WhatsApp video calls over LTE, so a voice only call on GV should be a piece of cake. By saying your “Internet Connection is unstable” Google is just making up an excuse for their app being broken. It’s actually Google’s app that is unstable. Too bad they killed making and receiving calls in Hangouts because that worked perfectly all the time.

UPDATE: Lowering rating to 1 star. Google contacted me to say I should test my Internet bandwidth while on LTE. Obviously the developers didn’t read what I wrote above about other voice and videoconferencing applications working fine. They simply cannot believe they have a bug and they’re going to blame it on something else. What hubris! And by the way I see similar replies to other poor reviews of GoogleVoice. Google, Ookla Speedtest shows 11 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up under the worst of circumstances. If that isn’t enough for a phone call, I don’t know what is.

I use my GV as my business # that I give to my clients instead of my personal cell #. It works pretty well and for the most part I’ve been happy with GoogleVoice . Recently I was having problems not being able to make calls when the wifi/mobile data was on. It kept saying my internet was unstable and I’d have to make the call using my carrier. I could do everything else (make/receive texts and receive calls), but just couldn’t make calls without it using my carrier. It was frustrating and when it would use my carrier, my GV # that my clients are used to wouldn’t be shown on caller ID, it would show some weird #. I tried shutting off and restarting my phone, turning off/on Wifi, checked to see if there was a new update, but none of that was working. I ended up having to delete/reinstall GoogleVoice , and now it works as before. I like the fact that the new update now shows that the caller is coming through as GV, so I know that’s it’s a business call, it wouldn’t do that before and I wouldn’t know if it was a random caller or business. It would be nice if they added a feature where you can set a separate ring tone for GoogleVoice .

I have been using GoogleVoice for 1.5 years because I love the concept of a free way to text message and receive calls, but GoogleVoice itself is the worst app on my phone. It crashes several times a week. When replying from the lock screen, it often does not actually send the message but doesn’t let you know it failed. I cannot send or receive video messages. A new message notification may pop up, but then when opening GoogleVoice it may be super delayed in appearing. I regularly click on one text message and it opens a different one. 90% of the time if someone calls me, we can’t hear each other and I have to hang up and call them through a different app. I have to forward my calls instead, which works well. I have to use Google Hangouts to make free calls, because using GoogleVoice either doesn’t work or uses my cell line that costs money. There are a couple of pictures I tried to send once and failed, but GoogleVoice still shows them as pending months later and there is no way to delete them without deleting the whole conversation...so I have to scroll through them every time to see the latest message. Google obviously does not care to invest hardly any money or time in improving Google Voice. If I knew of a reputable and more reliable free phone and text service, I would use it instead.

They really need more options on the notifications, I want sound on calls but not for texts etc. That is a hugeee issue, I do not need a beep every time I get a text. As well customized notifications for each contact would be huge, the ability to mute someone but not block them etc. Also it would be amazing if we could pay to have mutiple numbers, and that we could have multiple GV numbers that go to my cell. I’d hand out one GV number for personal reasons, and another for work reasons and then I’d be able to filter them automatically. I’d pay for that time saver! Rather than to have to customize options on how contacts calls are sorted. And then if you need to you can filter them additionally on top of that. Instead of a pyramid filter think of it as triangle on top of a triangle filter haha. Also a watch app would be amazing. I usually leave my phone behind and it would be great to hear voicemails from my watch. Thanks for your hard work!

Still not improved!!! I have been using Google voice for nearly 4 years. I needed a safer way to contact clients while Keeping a low profile as well as a way to contact guys I date and block them if need be all while having the ability to archive messages to reference later since I’m also a writer. Overall the service works great but why no address book was included in iPhone app version is beyond me. So I had to add the clients number to the iPhone which became problematic when Facebook linked my profile to these contacts and all the sudden my privacy was violated. And because you can add and update or block numbers from GoogleVoice only when you log in via your email it gets super annoying. I also wish google had allowed for pictures to be sent out not just received. I recently downloaded another Google voice 3 app which I hoped included an address book along with picture sending and since downloading and using that I can no longer make calls using regular Google voice app. I also wish the messages wouldn't be separated into various conversations with the same person. Why couldn't they archive like regular text message for the same number. Google please fix!!

Lots of stuff to like here. I really like having a second number I can give out instead of my personal cell number. Excellent call quality if you have a solid data connection. I can use my Google Voice account on multiple devices and my laptop browser. I don’t travel much, but when in Europe I can call back to any US number for free if I can find WiFi, plus some of the lowest rates I’ve seen to international numbers. Unlike Skype or WhatsApp, this uses a regular phone number, so the other party doesn’t need some specific app, just a phone. Supports multiple accounts so I can seamlessly use both a personal number and a work GSuite number on the same device. I can transfer calls between my devices; start a call on my laptop, then transfer to my phone.

This is really a wonderful platform and I’m happy to see google giving it more attention lately. I’ve been using google voice for years and it keeps getting better.

Thanks!

I have had this Google phone number attached to my regular number for quite some time. I downloaded GoogleVoice to my iPhone and was exceedingly surprised at how user-friendly and convenient it is to have a second number that is really attached to my main number. And I do not have to download "sketchy" apps that want to download my contacts to their server and all the other things that are so questionable these days. The part I do really love and have used, is that when people call my Google number, I can press the number four on the keypad, and it plays a legal recording telling both parties that the call is being recorded. If they continue, that is their legal acknowledgment and then Google sends you that entire recording to keep or archive on their trusted servers for as long as needed. Overall, I really cannot say enough about the Google number feature. And GoogleVoice that I am reviewing here, is just an added bonus that deserves 10 stars in my opinion.

**Update. App version 2.8 on iOS 11.0.3 iPhone 7 on AT&T. GoogleVoice constantly crashes to the point where I have to type text messages in a different app then copy & paste into the GV app and quickly hit the send button before it crashes. It is not a matter of “if” but “how fast” would it crash...

I am a total GV fan and extremely thankful for the service which I would gladly pay for. Now, considering this is a free service and a free app it seems ungrateful to criticize but my intent is to provide feedback rather than complain.
Since the last update GoogleVoice (on iPhone 6, iOS 10.2.1) is SLOW! It takes forever to show new messages/voicemail and when searching for a contact, it takes a few seconds for each letter! Another aspect of the update I am not crazy about is the way the dial screen works; you can either input a number on the keypad (default) or if you would like to search by name, you have to touch a keyboard icon which then takes forever to bring it up and another forever for each letter you type. Not sure why this massive slowdown but I am at a point where I am looking for an alternate app for GV

This is a new development and I’m not sure if it’s because of an update or because of the Bluetooth headset I stared using. When I hang up or if the call is dropped, about half the time GoogleVoice will freeze on the call screen. All the buttons will be grayed out and I can’t go anywhere in GoogleVoice . I can leave GoogleVoice by pushing the home button on my phone, but it will act like I have an ongoing call until I push the end call button on my headset. Some times this unfreezes GoogleVoice as well, but other times I have to delete and reinstall. The trouble didn’t start as soon as I started using the headset, but I thought it might be a contributing factor.

If possible, please fix. I really like using GoogleVoice for teleworking, as it allows me to call customers without them getting my personal number.

I was really happy to see GV getting some love again with actual work being done on it... But soon into the changes I noticed the first downgrade in functionality. Before, I was able to use the dial pad to search my contacts' by name using the letters associated with the numbers AND could just search by the phone number itself, but it changed. Instead, searching by number became the default and to switch to searching by alphabet I had to tap a button that brought up the keyboard. I don't understand, the first way had the best of both worlds in one... is it because we don't associate letters with dial pad numbers as much anymore?

Then this new update came out (mid-August 2018) that got rid of the alphabet search function entirely! I have to go to the contacts tab and search for my contact and go through so much more now to just call someone. I was annoyed before, but now it's very frustrating! Not having much of a problem otherwise... Please improve the dial pad contact search! Bring back the all-in-one method!

Ok. So I am a google voice power user. I do not even know what my phones real number is. Everything was fine until ios14. It took me a few days to figure it out. Here is the problem. Under the setting that says “Make and Receive Calls” the choices are “Prefer Wi-Fi and mobile data” or “Use Carrier Only”. The best choice is Prefer Wi-Fi and mobile data. That was what I always used and it worked great. However, since the iOS 14 update that choice breaks Bluetooth in the car. No one can hear you. Also, calls keep dropping. So I switched to “Use Carrier Only”. That works fine with Bluetooth in the car, but “hey Siri call John smith using google voice” does not work with this setting. Also, creating a shortcut to call from that Siri command does not work with the setting “Use Carrier Only”. Please fix it so that Bluetooth works perfectly with the “Prefer Wi-Fi and mobile Data” setting so that Bluetooth works in the car and I can use voice commands to dial through google voice.

Google voice covers the basics, you can make phone calls and send and receive text messages. For the most part, it has done everything I needed. I work for mental health facility, and when my job went remote I began using Google Voice to contact our patients about meetings. It worked well until I received a series of private messages, including a photo, via text message which was not intended for, or solicited by me. Out of respect for my client, I wanted to delete the messages without having to see the photo. In order to delete any of the messages in our conversation, I had to open the entire thread which meant opening the photo as well. I searched several times for an alternative, and deleted GoogleVoice from my phone in the hopes that I would delete the messages. There was no alternative, and no helpful filter for unsolicited adult pictures. There was also no way to contact anyone at google about getting help. As soon as we resume in-person meetings, I will be deleting GoogleVoice permanently.

I added GoogleVoice to my phone so parents and students could reach me. Shortly after I began missing calls that were being made to my personal number. So I brought a prepaid smartphone so that those with my Google number. However, that’s not what happened. Now I can’t get voicemails and most of my calls are going to the other phone with Google voice. All I want to do is get GoogleVoice off my cell phone and separated from my cell phone number, actually I want this mess removed from both my phone numbers. I know there has to be a way get get rid of GoogleVoice . Someone please help!!!

I did make sure I was logging into the correct account. I even sent the calls from Google voice to my personal phone number but my personal calls made to my personal phone number still were answered by my Google voice voicemail. I feel like you are forcing GoogleVoice on those who decide that they no longer need it. Now I’m missing very important call and messages. All I’m asking is to have the Google voice app from both my phone numbers. I’m asking you to please remove GoogleVoice ...please!!

I love the idea of having a second phone number that’s separate from my mobile but accessible on it. I’ve used Voice for years for all kinds of things that I want to keep one step away from my “private” number. In the last couple of years, though, I’ve found it periodically stops working with iOS. I have no idea if this is Google’s fault or if it’s something Apple does in its updates, but I hit these patches where I can’t get it to ring through GoogleVoice or through call forwarding if I delete GoogleVoice . I do all the suggested fixes online, and it still might or might not work. I just have to wait for an update. I’ve missed a couple of important calls this was and have to say I don’t think I can rely on it for everything anymore. I’ll still use it for things like making calls through my laptop (great for conference calls - the sound seems to be much better than speakerphone), but I can’t recommend this for anything really important if this issue keeps happening.

The whole purpose of using GV is so I don’t give out my personal number and avoid unwanted calls. When people call my GV #, it rings on my cell like my regular network #. It would be great if I can get (sound/vibrate) ring notification within GoogleVoice that is “separate” from my regular phone. That way I can tell the call is coming in via GV # or personal #. Tried multiple work around but doesn’t seems to work correctly. An online article suggested downloading Google Hangout App and have the GV # forward to Hangout instead of my personal #. Doing that does allow a separate notification in the Hangout app when people call my GV # and regular number would ring normally. However, downloading 2 apps is a hassle and cause problems with other functions and more confusing. Why need 2 app google? when GV app can be improve to ring separately. Also, if contacts can be manage within GoogleVoice would be better. Not sure why it wasn’t included with GoogleVoice creation or update.

It would be nice if GoogleVoice actually worked or at least there were instructions on how to use it. All I got was, it accessed my phone book. I allowed that. But when I went to use GoogleVoice , i.e. make a phone call. It told me that I had to click on something. But there was nothing on which to click. Then, it came up with two notifications, which I was unable to see or delete. After fussing with it awhile, and then looking for some sort of direction, I gave up and deleted it. App writers need to look at things from the view of the user! Maybe they would learn something. ——————————————————————— So, I reloaded, thinking that it would work. It doesn’t. It has the same issue: once the number has been entered, it says to push an icon. But there is no icon to push. Hmmm! The last iteration of this worked. But now it doesn’t again. I dial the number and it says it can’t make the call. Sad.

It still does not work. i don’t know why someone from Google does not respond to this issue. It works on my computer, but not on my iPad.

From the beginning texts show up from different numbers at different times on the Google Voice app and my phone’s texting app. I have to figure out how and where to add people to contacts resulting in 7 Becky Smittys. Phone calls now don’t seem to have any info about which line they’re from and I’ve missed calls and texts over the years so I still have to give my personal number out too. I get 100’s of calls from the same exchange, all hang ups or spam calls, so the list of users is distributed fast and far. There’s a new change coming that I can’t remember but it, together with the fact that I was never able to find any help or support for the issues above, is what’s forcing me to find a different option that’s reliable for my business. There were links in other answers here that might have helped, but they can’t be copied for some ridiculous reason. No hyperlink. Another dead end. I really tried Google. It shouldn’t be this hard to be loyal.

This isn’t a bad app. The problem is that every time Google makes it “better” they make it worse. Leave the settings alone. Urg!!! Now callers either have to say their name, and most new callers don’t want to do that or it connects directly to my line. The other option is to see my Google number as caller ID. With the first option, if callers don’t say their name ( and new callers usually hang up ) I have no idea if it’s a Google call, which I use for privacy, or a personal call. There’s no privacy anymore. There’s a reason I have a Google number!!! It used to be that I could see the caller ID, and there was an announcement that it was coming through the Google line, which was perfect for deciding how to handle a call. After this last update, it sent Google callers to my private VM until I could get in and change it. Leave it alone!!! Don’t change settings when you update. I don’t need you to adjust things for me. And include the option for me to decide how calls are answered. Quit deleting options.

I run an animal rescue and I meet all types of total weirdos and sketchy individuals that try to call middle of be night, try to look up my address, give out my number to total strangers that have absolutely no regard for other people’s lives. Insert google voice, to give an additional line to my phone so I can keep it on me all the time without an actual second phone BUT have at least a small amount of privacy and keep track of my work people from my home people. BUT GoogleVoice CRASHES ALL THE TIME. ALL. THE. TIME. Almost every day, and often multiple times in a day. I will be trying to have a convo by text with volunteers giving time-sensitive information so they can have written instructions to refer back to later when they’re at the vet and I can’t get because it won’t stop crashing. It’s absolutely maddening. Very little options in settings. The whole app is very clunky and SO. SLOW. There’s a substantial delay using Google voice. If I knew of an alternative to this I would absolutely use it.

I love the service and have used it since about 2006 or 2007 (I think). My only issue is that GoogleVoice is making it harder to listen to voicemails. Oftentimes the voicemails play back on a low volume, which is on me because I have to wait until a message is playing before I can increase the volume. That isn’t GoogleVoice ’s problem... Because it starts at a low volume I have to replay the message after I am able to turn it up, and I don’t mind doing this. The problem is that it is almost impossible to scroll the voicemail bar back to the left now that they added a feature to delete the message, by swiping left on the message. When trying the drag the voicemail bar back it ends up sliding the message over for the delete feature. Frustrating because if I have a long voicemail (1min+) I don’t want to have to wait until it’s done before I replay it. Especially when I have multiple voicemails to listen to. FWP

The Google folks have been working hard on GoogleVoice since they give it the functionality we all expect when we text. I have every faith that they will finally get it together and that one day it will work effortlessly like it used to before they added the features that we all asked for.

Google voice, in general, is a service that I cannot see living without. In my opinion, google voice must be something that God created on the eighth day after he rested on the seventh I love it that much. I feel sorry for people who do not use Google Voice as their primary way to contact people. I can't think of any way that they could possibly improve google voice's incredibly rich and awesome features, except to finally get GoogleVoice to stop crashing a few times a week.

I’ve used GV for years. Ian using GoogleVoice on an iPhone 6 with latest iOS. The current version contains two major bugs that currently make this a three star app. 1) when texting photos, an occasional photo will perpetually stay in “sending”mode and remain at the bottom of the conversation. Sometimes it is multiple photos that are stuck and you have to scroll up to get to the latest message in your exchange with a particular person. This issue can be present in multiple text conversations and every time you send or receive a text from that person, the picture or pictures are the first thing you see, even if they were sent a month ago. There is NO WAY TO DELETE THEM. The only way to fix this is to delete the entire app and reinstall it.

2) The text box where you compose your text message frequently is missing no matter who you try to text. The only way to fix this is to exit GoogleVoice and open it again.

These bugs are quite annoying. Granted, it’s not that difficult to to exit and reopen GoogleVoice to fix issue #2 but the frequency that this needs to be done is a bit much. Deleting and reinstalling GoogleVoice multiple times to fix issue #1 has gone way beyond being just a minor annoyance. I’m hoping these issues are fixed soon.

I’ve been looking for a way to have the type of functionality iMessage gives you on iPhone/iPad/Mac, but with Windows instead of a Mac. This is literally perfect for that. I get messages, calls, and voicemails on any device, any OS, truly what I needed. Would love some of the silly niceties of modern messaging apps like stickers, read receipts, message reactions, end-to-end encryption if it isn’t already present, etc etc...

If there were any way my non-GV contacts could see my messages as if I were on an iPhone, like if Google Voice were able to send my messages through iMessage servers via some kind of deal with Apple, then that would just be icing on the cake. My communication on any OS, but without my iOS friends having to deal with the green bubble issues like insecure communications and low res images and such. But for now, I really do love this.

OMG! Do you know how annoying it is to write a text and then it crashes and you have to write your text over multiple times? Infuriating. I use my app for business and it always worked perfect and I couldn’t complain at all. However, in the last 2 months, GoogleVoice just randomly crashes and it happens when GoogleVoice is open for longer than like 65 seconds. It’s insanity, I really hope you guys fix this! It’s such a waste of time right now but I already have this number printed everywhere so please please fix it. I would gladly pay a small fee just for it to stop crashing. I have to text my texts in another app like text or notes, then copy + paste. Or copy and paste as I am typing just in case GoogleVoice crashes. I’ll change my rating if GoogleVoice gets updated and the bugs fixed. If it doesn’t get fixed I’ll be rating GoogleVoice even lower. Cmon google, lets get it together! This is unacceptable.

Update Oct 2, 2019: Are there any plans to implement feature for favorites? Many, if not most, use GoogleVoice from the car, and it’s difficult to browse the contacts or call history...
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Nice look and feel - but would say a D grade on functionality. The favorites feature was already barebones- with “suggestions” having to suffice as “favorites”. But now, it’s completely gone!?! Like many others, I use this while driving and I want to be able to call someone with just a tap, rather than search. Why not have a tab with 3x3 (say) tiles for your top 9 favorites, and set another tab for “suggestions” or leave it incorporated with “contacts” ?

Please (re)design a functionality for favorites, pretty please!!

UPDATE 10/8: Things seem to go from bad to worse. Now the suggested contacts are gone, and I have to constantly scroll through the contacts list, find the person I need, open the contact screen and the choose the number. In the iPhone app, it then asks you to confirm the call. Given that I (and many others, based on the reviews I read here) use this to make calls while driving, using GoogleVoice has become a very hazardous task. While I really love GoogleVoice for its cheap rates and simplicity, the lack of valuable (and commonly available) features is very disappointing. Please implement a “favorites” option.

I love google voice and I love this new updated stable app but I absolutely hated the old google voice app on IOS devices. Slow and laggy, would constantly crash or become unresponsive my favorite little quirk was that at time you would click to type a text and the text field and keyboard would both disappear and you would be forced to force close GoogleVoice in order to possibly get it back up and running. NOT ANYMORE! This update resolved 99% of the issues that I ran into before GoogleVoice performs faster and smoother and doesn’t have the little quirks it used to. Thanks google for finally tossing us IOS users a bone and getting this fixed and done right, next time maybe do it a little quicker than 2 years.