Google Voice overhauled with group messaging support and more
It's the first major update for the internet calling service in five years.
Google Voice gets a major refresh with a new user interface and features like photo sharing, group conversations and Spanish-language voicemail transcription.
Google on Monday announced a major (and long-awaited) update to its Google Voice internet calling service.
Google Voice, which hasn't seen a major update in almost five years, allows users to sign up for a single phone number that can be used across multiple devices to make calls and send text messages.
The search giant is adding a variety of new features to the Google Voice app on Android and iOS, as well as the web. Its user interface got a facelift that makes it cleaner with a more intuitive design to help keep everything organized. There are now separate tabs in the inbox for text messages, calls and voicemails, for example.
Other new features include support for group and photo MMS messaging as well as in-notification replies. It will also be easier to keep track of individual conversations, which will now stay in one continuous thread. In addition to these changes, Google has said that it is starting to introduce voicemail transcription for Spanish.
Going forward, the company has promised to provide even more updates and new features to the Google Voice apps. The latest update is starting to roll out to select users on Monday and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
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