11–20 of 364 posts
So, is this the death of Hangouts and rebirth of Google Voice then? They had previously been transitioning the UX off of GV and onto Hangouts.
There was a time when success was the default outcome for a new Google product/service. Now it's the opposite, and the crazy thing is that Google did it to themselves.
There has always been a lot of uncertainty over the future of Google Voice, given the lack of updates. While this does give reassurance that the project is still alive, it puts another nail in the Hangouts coffin. It was widely assumed Hangouts would subsume Google Voice, but now that looks very unlikely.
I signed up for Voice to use Voice. Not to use Hangouts.
Now Google is soft re-launching this service after 5 years, and wants me to come back? No way. They squandered more than 5 years of first-mover advantage in the "free SMS" space, and have lost to WhatsApp, Facebook, and Apple Messages.
I'm happy than when I need to send test SMSs on my computer, the web app I use will be slightly better. That's my only use-case for Google Voice anymore.
I used to use my Google Voice number as my primary contact number, but when development of the product seemingly died for three years without addressing outstanding issues with group MMS or picture messages, I migrated back to my regular cell number. I've already told all my friends to forget my Google Voice number. I've changed my preferences in every service I use to contact my regular cell number. Now Google is so…
So, is this the death of Hangouts and rebirth of Google Voice then? They had previously been transitioning the UX off of GV and onto Hangouts.
It's absurd that consumers are left guessing which of Google's services are around for the long-haul and which are doomed. There was a time when success was the default outcome for a new Google product/service. Now it's the opposite, and the crazy thing is that Google did it to themselves.
It's not been very pretty. We were thrown a lifeline with the Google Hangouts app taking over for the absolutely-awful Google Voice app.
One of the most frustrating things about GV is that for certain SMS providers, it fails the "is this a USA number test" or "can we SMS to it" test (it's unclear which), thus making it not work with my USA bank accounts, and I can't register for Lyft, for example.
I wish they'd fix this, but what I really wish is that they'd make it a real product, make it cost a few bucks a month, and have a team working on it.
I was actually quite annoyed by the cheeky little "tee hee it's been 5 years + plus emoji" talking about their total lack of updates (both software, and well, actual communication around the service). It just comes across as contempt for the customer. Doubly so when they then throw everything into confusion at the end of the post by hinting that Hangouts may or may not be the future, and perhaps we should switch back?
Are there any good alternatives? What I need is to be able to receive texts from within the USA, be able to access via mobile app and the web, and have voicemail service.
So that's lovely, though overall the PMs and VPs need to reconcile all the apps with each other. A friend recently bought a Pixel Phone and was lost as to what to use. I mean, I can't blame him...
* Phone's generic looking SMS app
* Hangouts
* Voice
* Allo
* Duo
I used to use my Google Voice number as my primary contact number, but when development of the product seemingly died for three years without addressing outstanding issues with group MMS or picture messages, I migrated back to my regular cell number. I've already told all my friends to forget my Google Voice number. I've changed my preferences in every service I use to contact my regular cell number. Now Google is so…
Out of curiosity, why didn't you keep using it, but with Hangouts instead?