Google Voice merges with Hangouts for free calls on Android
Since Google introduced Hangouts in 2013, the messaging platform has assimilated nearly all of the company’s communication products. Hangouts encompassed SMS messages on Android phones and replaced Google Talk on mobile and desktop, but one holdout remained at the forefront of Google fans’ minds—Google Voice. Today, Google announced that the free calling service will be integrated into the new version of Hangouts on Android as well, nearly completing the circle of their communication product lineup with one, simple app.
Google introduced Google Voice in 2009, following their acquisition of startup GrandCentral. Voice offered an internet phone number—a new number whose calls and texts could be forwarded to any number of different phones, and could be recorded and accessed safely online. Coupled with automatic voicemail transcription, call screening, and unique call forwarding behaviors for frequent contacts, Google Voice aimed to revolutionize how Google users make phone calls.
A longstanding Google Voice app for Android allowed users to send SMS messages and make phone calls using their Google Voice number, but didn’t integrate with Android system SMS handlers and dialers. Even the Google Hangouts iOS app allowed for free calling—which resorted to a Google Voice number for those users who had signed up for one—but Android users were left behind. Today, Google’s new Material Design revamp of Hangouts incorporates the functionality for the first time.
The new integration offers Android users free internet voice calling in the same app they use for video calling, SMS messages, and Hangout messages. To enable the new feature, Android users need to first download the Hangouts Dialer app from the Google Play Store to activate calling through Hangouts. Google’s upgrade is another in a string of Material Design updates to its core Android apps, a trend that is expected to continue as we approach the launch of their next-generation Android L operating system.