Install the Google Voice App If You Use This Number for Texts
I love Google Voice. The day Google decides that it, like Google Photos, deserves payment, I can actually pull the trigger; having an additional phone number that you can forward to your real one, thereby hiding the last one, is incredibly useful. And the day Google Voice leaves – if it ever happens – I will be very sad.
As simple as it is to use Google Voice, since you literally just go into its settings and choose the option to forward calls and / or text messages to your real number, Google is making a change that means you’ll now have to download the app. on your device if you want to take full advantage of the service’s capabilities. According to a recent Android police report, Google will soon ditch the ability to forward text messages from your Google Voice number to your real phone number.
As Michael Crider writes:
This is especially bad news for those of us who have used Google Voice as our only phone number, redirecting it to new SIM cards and devices as they become available. Phones tend to rely on their default texting app to integrate with a variety of other services. The Google Voice app usually covers them, but it’s not particularly friendly with the rest of Android except for the basics of notifications.
Before blaming Google for making this change, however, know that Google isn’t really at fault this time around. Apparently, some carriers are starting to block these forwarded text messages – perhaps mistakenly believing they are spam. My guess is that Google would prefer to have a guided experience (in this case, no feature at all) rather than a controversial one.
So, if you want to view and reply to text messages that are sent to your Google Voice number, you probably want to install the Google Voice app ( iOS , Android ). If for some reason this option does not suit you, you can also simply go to the Google Voice settings and forward each message you receive to your email address. You can then reply to an email to reply to text – a more burdensome method, especially if your friends are chatty, but an option nonetheless.