Fast Access to Google Voice with Android Widgets
Thursday, September 9, 2010 | 10:05 AM
(Cross-posted from the Google Voice blog)
Mobile is all about getting super fast access to what you’re looking for and Google Voice is no exception. So, today we’re releasing an update to the Android app, which gives you immediate access to your Google Voice Inbox and settings via two new home screen widgets.
The Google Voice Inbox widget brings your most recent voicemails and text messages to your home screen. With the widget, you can now quickly flip through messages in your Inbox, and if you choose to select a message preview, it will open in the Google Voice app.
The Settings widget gives you quick access to four handy features.
Get instant access to the full Google Voice app by clicking the Google Voice icon.
Quickly compose and send free text messages.
Change what calls to place via Google Voice on the fly. You can have your phone use Google Voice for all calls, or just some of them.
Select Do Not Disturb and all calls to your Google number will be sent straight to Voicemail.
Plus, your credit balance is displayed so you know when it’s time to add a quarter or two.
The widgets can be used together or individually, and are part of the new Google Voice app, available for download from Android Market today. To add the widgets to a home screen panel, press the menu button from the home screen and select “Add>Widgets>Google Voice Inbox or Google Voice Settings”. You will need a valid Google Voice account to use them, and Google Voice is available free to anyone in the US.
Labels: android, android widget, google voice, Mobile Blog
17 comments:
RobAymett said...
Love the inbox widget, only wish is that it would stretch across all four columns on the home screen. Also, the arrow's could be a little larger, I constantly press the message instead of the arrows. (Using a Nexus One and Samsung Vibrant)
September 9, 2010 at 10:13 AM
Stefan Manevski said...
I'm really digging the "Do Not Disturb" button
September 9, 2010 at 10:17 AM
mp said...
@Rob - You can stretch the widget using resizeable widgets in LauncherPro or ADWLauncher. I prefer LP, but both are great replacements for the stock launcher.
September 9, 2010 at 10:25 AM
RobAymett said...
@mike
I use LauncherPro currently but often switch between it and ADW, until I am decided I do not want to pay for LauncherPro, and it cannot resize for free.
Also, resizing simply stretches it, I would rather keep the message portion the same and use the extra space to increase arrow size, similar in size to the native facebook and twitter widgets.
Now that I think about it, mimicking the facebook widget would be awesome, make it twice as tall with a compose box at the top and when you click send a contacts pop up appears...
Do that Google...
September 9, 2010 at 10:37 AM
Unknown said...
Great addition. I just wish that we could port current cell numbers into google voice instead of using a separate google number. I use the Voicemail feature the most, but would use the other features if it had this ability. I just don't want to give people another number to remember me by.
September 9, 2010 at 11:07 AM
Awisefew said...
I love GV, but I wish I could set within the contacts which people I want to call using GV number or not. It would be awesome to set it to call certain people with GV, and not others.
That way I can always "look" like my GV is my number to certain people (like work contacts).
September 9, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Unknown said...
Alas, I've tried so many widgets and end up getting rid of almost all. This one is no exception. The button that changes which calls will be handled by Google Voice makes it WAY too easy to change this and I never need to, so it will just cause problems.
The widget displaying recent message might be better.
Not just to complain, the regular Google Voice interface is awesome, so a widget is not so beneficial.
September 9, 2010 at 8:05 PM
nseibt said...
Widget's not showing up in the list of widget's to add... what's the problem?
September 10, 2010 at 7:50 AM
CDL said...
BUG:
The "Do Not Disturb" button in the widget is not working for me. If I press it I get "Turning on do not disturb", but then it immediately goes back to "do not disturb off" (it doesn't become red like in the blog sample image).
I've tried:
- Soft reset (power button + lower volume + trackball).
- Power off the phone.
- Uninstall and reinstall the GV update.
The problem is still there.
September 10, 2010 at 1:28 PM
CDL said...
Tony said...
"I love GV, but I wish I could set within the contacts which people I want to call using GV number or not. It would be awesome to set it to call certain people with GV, and not others.
That way I can always "look" like my GV is my number to certain people (like work contacts)."
I totally agree. That way one could choose not to use GV to call people who use the same mobile carrier (without having to choose manually for each call), so that air minutes for those calls would not be counted.
September 10, 2010 at 1:35 PM
Joseph Ferris said...
I agree with wanting the ability to have the widget 4x1 and to stretch in landscape - and I am happy with the stock launcher on my Droid2. Absolutely love the widget, though!
September 11, 2010 at 7:11 PM
Unknown said...
Ever since the update, my HTC Aria is painfully slow when using GV. Everything else is fine. Help!
September 13, 2010 at 12:09 AM
Jacob said...
+1 Mal. So slow. Everyone I've talked to has the same issue.
September 13, 2010 at 11:26 AM
Unknown said...
+1 Mal. Google Voice is really slow now.
September 15, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Anonymous said...
After the update, Voice for Android is slow!! It's decreasing my productivity.
September 15, 2010 at 6:50 PM
A said...
Just like every thing android it sorta works but I honestly hope some one is still working on it I have to say my opinion of Google has diminished considerably after having an android for about two months
September 17, 2010 at 8:33 AM
Unknown said...
Motorola Devour : recent update required my phone to be restored to factory settings and programming. IT froze my phone, made buttons stop functioning, slowed the phone, etc etc, FIX PLEASE.
September 18, 2010 at 7:47 AM
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