By 
We can’t say it enough: we love Google Voice. As Android bloggers with various devices for work and personal use, we’ve had a long love/hate relationship with the service since it first debuted years ago.
In order to help build a better service, the Google Voice team is looking for some feedback on how you use the features in Voice. Posted in the Google Voice help forum, the team has put together a relatively quick, 10-minute survey they say will help them “prioritize new features.” Anyone that’s used Google Voice in any capacity knows how incredibly important this is. Voice needs a lot of work.
Because time is money, just for taking the time to fill it out the survey, you’ll be entered into a raffle where you’ll have the chance to win a — wait for it — Chromecast. We know, it’s not much, but it’s better than nothing. You can find the link to the survey down below but please, Google Voice users only.
I had to do this survey, GV is my primary number for all my calls, I use it constantly. I hope they continue supporting it. Hangouts is totally useless for my situation, especially for placing and receiving calls. ( I live in an area where data connections is very unreliable)
I took the survey as well. I hope they read it all :)
edit: I just realized that most of my gripes are about the GV/Hangouts merge, and the UI of Hangouts, and not the GV app… woops.
The stock Android messaging app UI is so much better for me than the Hangouts one. With Hangouts anything beyond a short text is like pulling teeth. Picture messages and messages longer than 160 characters routinely tick me off in Hangouts.
Several things that would make the whole voice/hangouts ecosystem much better:
–
(1) They need to get rid of the current blue icon voice app and
integrate its little remaining functionality into the hangouts app: Give
the user the option to toggle between VoIP (hangouts caller app) and
regular phone call (i.e. what the current blue icon voice app does now)
based on signal/WiFi coverage and at the users discretion.
– (2)
Integrate call histories across devices: right now calls made through
the hangouts system (on the app or computer browser) show up on your
voice history, but oddly not the other way around. This is just weird
and provides a conflicting user experience.
– (3) While they’re at
it, clean up the Hangouts app. It is sluggish and battery draining. It
also makes no sense that you can only merge 1 gmail with voice/sms
conversations per contact. There are many people with 2 or more possible
hangouts conversations – voice number sms, private gmail hangout, work
email (google enterprise) hangouts, sim number sms, etc. There is no
reason why you can’t merge more than 2 conversations for each contact.
They should also implement merged hangouts/voice sms conversations on
the hangouts computer environments: in the browser gmail, chrome
extension, etc. This would bring a much more cohesive and consistent
user experience, since right now, this merging of conversations is just a
front end on the phone app, so not really merging at all.
– (4)
While I don’t use my sim number for any communication at this point, I
imagine this might be useful for some people too: basically, integrate
what mightytext and other similar apps does into the hangouts/voice
environment. This would be the definitive texting/messaging ecosystem –
although like I said, this is not that important if you iron out all the
other things mentioned above.
I’m sure there’s other things they could do to improve the service – which, although not perfect, is still INCREDIBLY useful!
I think quite the opposite. I hate the they have integrated Hangouts and Google Voice. They started as 2 completely different types of services.
The standalone GV (blue icon) app needs to be updated to Material Design and add the MMS… also need to add VOIP calling as an option (or continue to support the “click to call” feature for those who would rather use traditional cellular calling for reliability). It doesn’t need to tie in with your GV number. The service started as an “alternative second phone number” that would ring whatever phone you set it up phone. I use it for things like ads on craigslist or people I generally wouldn’t want to give my personal cell number to. I could block them, record their calls…etc.
Hangouts evolution went the wrong direction in evolution since it debut! Instead of trying to sandwich GV into it, they should have focused on creating something that can compete with the ease of use of Facetime (for the video calling) and iMessaging. In addition to sending Hangout messages (non-SMS) from your Google Account, it should also link itself to your SIM card’s phone number… like iMessage… that way if you use Hangouts as your SMS app, then it could automatically detect if the PHONE NUMBER you are messaging is using Hangouts. It would be seamlessly built into your SMS conversations. As it stands now, if someone texts you, and later sends you a hangout message, it is 2 separate conversation threads.
“like iMessage… that way if you use Hangouts as your SMS app, then it could automatically detect if the PHONE NUMBER you are messaging is using Hangouts.”
Apple has this patented. Isn’t happening anytime soon.
plenty other services, like WhatsApp, also have that
So I did some more digging.
Apple doesn’t hold the patent. There are two of them, and Apple and WhatsApp are co-defendents in a patent suit from one. Both seem to be held by patent trolls.
So while I had the patent holder wrong, still the same outcome. Google is likely going to let Apple and WhatsApp fight the trolls before putting their neck out.
I’m saying HANGOUTS ALREADY HAS SUCH A FEATURE…
I’ve hardly ever heard anything about Google Voice, just like 99% of the world’s population who has never heard of Hangouts or Google+.
Huh? Can’t tell if you are an Apple troll or living under a rock.
Come to India where there are probably a 50 million Android users. I can assure you most people have not heard of Hangouts. WhatsApp on the other hand is known to people that don’t even own a smartphone.
I can totally believe it.
Pretty sure even with Europe having 70-80% Android usage rates (and being less brainwashed than North America is by Apple) they still don’t know about Hangouts/Google Voice.
Hangouts is not yet Google Voice. It is supported, but two different things. Many people using GV don’t even use Android. I don’t, normally. I’m a Windows Phone guy. You can use it without any app. WhatsApp is not the same as Google Voice.
Neither. How often have you seen widespread media coverage (and *especially*) high adoption rates for Hangouts/Google Voice like iMessage/Facetime got that made them so well-known and liked?
You gotta be seen to get noticed and Hangouts/Google Voice have never been seen or used by hundreds of millions of people out there who aren’t really into tech news that make or break how app services do in people’s minds and ultimately how well they do, period.
Since you don’t really have facts to support your opinion, I’ll just ask one question. How many people do you suppose use gmail on a daily basis?
Okay, how am I supposed to dig up facts about Apple’s marketing being so much better than Google’s when Google has never really marketed Hangouts/Google Voice with success? This isn’t Reddit so stop asking for sources. If you need sources for things that are obvious go find them yourself.
Also, I have no idea if there are usage stats or something about Hangouts/Google Voice compared to iMessage usage rates. Regardless iMessage/Facetime and Whatsapp/Skype are established in everyday people’s minds. Can anyone claim the same of Hangouts/Google Voice?
If your app becomes so well-known that even stupid/ignorant people (a big chunk of any population) know about it and use it you’ve made a true success of it.
If you start marketing a services/apps that you’ve offered for years and the majority of people has turned to other options and/or compare it to the competition’s better-known services/apps you’ve already lost. What does Hangouts/Google Voice offer the average person over iMessage/Facetime or Whatsapp/Skype? Does it offer anything better for having to learn to use apps they’ve never used before?
Gmail is a completely different situation. It existed, worked well and was marketed successfully years before the iPhone even existed. Obviously it’s well-known and widely used because it wasn’t kinda lost between all of Google’s other services and Apple’s marketing that drove things like iMessage/Facetime/Siri etc. into the famous and successful category while Hangouts/Google Voice just kinda lingered without getting anywhere on nearly the same scale.
Gmail didn’t come around and just expect people to know about it and use it work out without proper marketing to make it known to people and stand out in their minds from admittedly successful competitors like Apple’s iMessage/Facetime.
Just for messaging alone, not including people that use GV app or GV via the gmail web page, etc, Hangouts has over 25% of the market. Its GV integration is focused on established markets, and does well.
http://www.androidcentral.com/weeks-sidebar-poll-what-text-messaging-app-do-you-use
GV is strong in markets where it is supported.
25% is not that amazing considering that Android has a ridiculous usage rate in many countries, especially in Europe.
It is when you realize Skype is on every platform, and it competes with Facebook chat, Line, WhatsApp, and iMessage. To own such a large swath is nothing to sneeze at.
Google Voice is strong in the markets where it’s supported (which is pretty much only in ‘Murrica). Try harder.
Google Voice is being swallowed into Hangouts. Its big where it is marketed. It targets a high value demographic, and is successful for Google and it’s users
Again, big where it’s marketed. Google needs to get big ads for Android, Hangouts and Google Voice on TV. They need it yesterday since they failed to do so 3-4 years ago when it would have made an even bigger impact.
Group MMS!!!!
Full MMS/Group MMS support, Data support (like iMessage). It’s been the same damn requests for the past 5 years, why does Google pretend they don’t know what people want with this survey.