Google Voice Runs Natively On The iPhone via Sprint. | Hacker News Reader

Google Voice Runs Natively On The iPhone via Sprint.

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43 pointsbrackin27 comments

For all you Canadians who want a Google Voice number:

1. Use a US proxy, or get a friend to sign you up for Google Voice. Once set up, you can access the account even in Canada.

2. Sign up for http://www.freephoneline.ca/ and get a 403 area code. It's free. They might call you once or twice though :(

3. Set your Google Voice number to forward to your 403 number. Set your 403 number to forward to your regular Canadian number.

4. If you have trouble dialing out with your Google Voice number, enable Click2Call.

I'm actually not sure why 403 works. Sadly, the Google Voice app for iPhone is terribly constructed; there are more bugs than you'll be able to count.

Lot of oil business Americans in Calgary so they wanted to make an exception for their plans? I dunno, that's my conspiracy theory...

I don't understand this part:

"Google doesn’t need Apple’s permission to take over the address book and call log. They’ve moved down the stack to control the device’s actual phone number."

How does controlling the device's actual phone number obviate the need to take over the address book and call log?

I suppose via ActiveSync contact syncing that Google Voice contacts show up in your iPhone Contacts database. Which has been doable for quite some time now. But previously, to call one of those numbers via Google Voice you had to call it via the web, the iPhone app, or dial a special Google number first. At least to make it appear as though the number calling you is your Google Voice number.

Now with Sprint, since they effectively make your GV number your phone number, you can call contacts from your iPhone Contacts and without any mumbo jumbo in between appear as though your GV number is the one calling. Because it is.

I'm assuming it's not the phones stack but sprint's stack. I think this is all on sprints side. So calls come in just like normal calls and your outgoing phone number is your GV number

Timely article, as I recently switched to Sprint with an iPhone (last Sunday actually, after 4 hellish years with AT&T) and a few days ago realized what Arrington did - I could get full Google Voice without a new number!

So far, it's been working well. I mainly just use Google Voice for the voicemail transcriptions (which actually, are insanely useless - they more or less provide a general vague idea of what the person is calling about).

One bug I noticed last night was my wife texted me but it got caught in Google Voice, as I guess I didn't have SMS forwarding turned on. We'll see if toggling that fixes it.

I would be interested in hearing if you received the text and where your received it on your iPhone. Did you receive it within the iMessage app or only through the mail app?

Prior to having iPhone and Sprint, I had iPhone and ATT. I used ATT # for voice and Google Voice for text. I loved & am missing being able to reply to my texts thru Gmail. I didn't do the same set up with Sprint because I want to continue to use Siri for texting and I'm pretty sure she only uses iMessage?

As an update, I disabled the Google Voice Sprint full integration because it was eating my texts (Google Voice would catch them but never forward them on to my phone, despite that option being enabled), as well as not notifying me of missed calls.

Now I'm trying to go back to Google Voice Lite (to have just voicemail transcriptions emailed to me) and it appears there's no way to do that.

I might have to drop Google Voice altogether it seems.

Thanks for the information.

I don't see how Google Voice can work with an iPhone? At least not as well as it does with an Android device and or forgo using iMessage - use iPhone email client to send/receive text messages. Though if you forgo using iMessage then Siri won't be able to send text messages for you.

There are a few gotchyas with this setup from my friend's experience when he used a windows phone and google voice via sprint:

1. Reading an sms on the phone doesn't mark it read on google voice and vice versa (it's like having pop email)

2. If your phone is off and you get a call the phone won't let you know you missed a call like the google voice app would. This is important in NYC where you're often in the subway and want to know if you missed any calls.

There might have been other issues but these were the two that I remembered off the top of my head.

All previous messages in an SMS thread will be marked read each time you reply, so it's actually not so bad.

That said, there are even more downsides: no iMessage, no MMS, and increased latency for both SMS and voice in particular.

I'm in the process of porting my number away from Google Voice now. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm ready to be a first-class citizen again.

I'm guessing you're not on Sprint?

The reason is, when you're on Sprint, you don't have to go through the "porting" process that you do if you're on other carriers. Your existing number stays your sprint number, but also becomes a GV number. Also, they now are rolling out MMS to sprint users. And even before they had MMS support, it's not like you didn't get them -- they just went directly to your phone and weren't available in your GV inbox.

The biggest (and only real) downside I experience is that yes, there is a lag (the phone rings several times) before my phone starts ringing. But it's not exactly tragic.

So with this Sprint and Google Voice integration can I have my text messages going to my gmail and to the iMessage app at the same time?

I want to continue to use Siri for many things including sending text messages. I'm pretty sure I can only use Siri to send/receive text messages by using the iMessage app only?

I did do this on Sprint, and I didn't like it for the reasons I stated. Google Voice numbers can only receive MMS from Sprint numbers. That effectively means I can't tell people to MMS me, since I don't always know what carriers they're on.

No, not so fast.

What you said -- "Google Voice numbers can only receive MMS from Sprint numbers" -- is true.

But if you're on sprint, you no longer need to use a "Google Voice" number. You just use your sprint number. It's able to verify that the number you type in is Sprint, and if so, it connects it behind the scenes to GV and disables any add'l GV number you're given.

When you do it this way -- the "proper" way to use GV on sprint -- then MMS pose no problem. ANYBODY can send me an MMS. It won't show up in the GV app unless it's sent by another Sprint user. If it's sent from another carrier, GV will ignore it and it'll show up, like any other message, in the native Android messaging app.

I used Google Voice with my Sprint HTC Evo for a while, the integration with the Voice webpage was nice, but SMS's seemed to rely on having an actual data connection for them to come through. If I was in an area with spotty data coverage my SMS's seem to get lost or not come in in a timely manner at all. I switched it off the other month because of this.

There is a setting to have notifications sent to your "real" mobile number as SMSes. I think this results in two notifications when you do have data service, though, which is probably why you disabled it.

In the GV app settings, select "Receive notifications also in the messaging app". If you compose or reply to an SMS through the GV app, it will require data, since I presume it sends it over the internet, but if you send via the default messaging app, it goes through Sprint like a regular SMS.

I just ignore the native GV app altogether (and disable notifications for it). Texting works exactly as you expect it would, but everything is also stored on voice.google.com. Using GrowlVoice on my Mac is a dream for texting.

You still need the Google Voice app to check (and be notified of) voicemails, right? Google Voice voicemails don't get sent to the native iPhone visual voicemail app, do they?

Right. Visual voicemail just gets disabled. When you tap the voicemail tab, it starts a phone call to your Google Voice mailbox.

Do MMS messages get properly delivered to your iPhone if you are using GV and Sprint? I know that GV does not normally support MMS messages.

If sent from a Sprint phone, yes.

http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-steps-towa...

What about international calls?

Does the Sprint iPhone4s natively support using google voice when dialing an international number from the regular phone app or do I have to launch the GV app and get a proxy number?

You should be able to just dial directly from the phone app. I haven't tried this on my phone, but based on the way it works and the way Google describes the integration, you should be able to do it.

I suppose there's nothing Apple can do about this in all honesty, not sure if they would. But after Google Voice not being allowed in the app store for so long it is something that apple may not like.

As I recall, their issue with the GV app was that it "duplicated features" like the phonebook and dialer. Whether you believe that was their real reason or not, the Sprint integration doesn't duplicate anything - everything can be done using the native phone functions.

I have an android on Sprint and I love their Google Voice integration. I'm sure all phones will work like this some day. These features are just too useful.

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