GV Connect

Category

Description of App

** Recipient of an honorable mention in the 2010 Best App Ever Awards **

NOTE: An existing Google Voice account with a GV phone number is required to use this application - signup for new Google Voice accounts is currently limited to residents of the US. Please note that GV Connect is NOT a VoIP application and will thus not allow making or receiving calls from an iPad or iPod Touch without a separate VoIP application.

GV Connect is the most feature-complete Google Voice application available for your iPhone or iPad - interact with your existing "Google Voice" accounts much faster than using the web interface:

• Place calls using your Google Voice number rather than your mobile number - enter number directly, select a contact from your device's contacts, or call back any number in your history. The application supports direct call, callback, and offline calling (see application website for a description of these calling modes).
• Send and receive text messages (SMS) from your Google Voice number - including support for long SMS exceeding 160 characters, sending to multiple recipients at once, and support for non-English messages.
• Listen to voicemails and recorded conversations right on your device (allowing you to pause, rewind, or fast forward to any point within the message) - voicemails will also show the transcription of the message when available.
• Un/-archive messages, mark them as un-/read or starred, attach notes to conversations, block/unblock senders, or delete conversations.
• Easily search in your history by contact, message, or note text.
• Messages are stored on your device for offline access (data is cached for all accounts used in the application).
• Quickly change various Google Voice account settings (call forwarding, do-not-disturb — including the option to have DND automatically expire at a specified time, message notifications, …) or even add additional calling credit directly from within the application.
• Quick Settings allow saving and restoring complete account settings (DND, forwarding, …) for easy switching between different profiles.
• Automatic checking for new messages while the application is active.
• Direct access to your device's contacts without needing to synchronize them with Google.
• Quick access to favorite phone numbers.
• Universal application which runs optimized on both, iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad.
• Optional application passcode lock.
• Integrates with Talkatone to allow placing outgoing VoIP calls using your Google Talk account.
• Supports TextExpander touch snippet expansion.

GV Connect stores your account password securely in your device's Keychain for faster login when launching the application. All communication is done exclusively via secure connections (SSL) to the Google Voice servers owned and operated by Google and no contact information (other than the contact's phone number which is required to place a call or send a message) is sent to Google or any other party. All operations are fully synchronized with your Google Voice account.

Please read the FAQ section on the application's website if you encounter any issues or use the feedback email link in the application's about screen to ask for support.

Version

1.11

Free or Paid

Paid

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

Accessibility Comments

This app at first had some minor accessibility issues. However after making contact with the developer these issues have improved. At first the contacts button in the dial pad didn't work with Voice Over enabled, but now it does. Also as each new version comes out, more buttons are labeled properly.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and is easy to navigate and use.

Other Comments

This app costs $2.99 USD, but in my opinion has a better user interface than the free and official Google Voice app. Plus, the fact that the developer has been willing to keep it accessible is a bonus for me. Also, it doesn't have push notifications. So if you want those, you will have to use something like Boxcar for that. If you visit the GV Connect site and go to support and/or FAQ, you can get a lot of additional information about push and about other apps such as Talkatone and Text Expander which work very well with this app.

Options

Comments

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - 08:25

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

At last! Now supports the iPhone 5 but now requires IOS 5+ so keep that in mind for those on the older devices. Everything is still very accessible. I don't see any unlabel buttons or any place where it doesn't work with the VO.

 

What's New in Version 1.11

NOTE: In order to fully support the iPhone 5 this version requires iOS 5 or higher. Please back up the current version of the application before updating if you are still using an older system

• SMS sending will now complete in the background after dismissing the application while the message is being sent - no need to wait for the message to be sent before closing the application (this also fixes the issue of duplicate messages being sent on occasion)
• full landscape support throughout the appliciaton on the iPhone
• fix issue where QuickSettings would sometimes not work correctly for enabling SMS/VM forwarding to multiple phones
• fix momentary freeze after adding a phone number to the Address Book
• fix dial pad display issue after editing favorites on the iPad
• fix minor UI issues on the iPhone 5 and update several UI elements for an updated appearance
• various stability and performance improvements

By KE7ZUM on Wednesday, December 26, 2012 - 08:25

In reply to by AnonyMouse

I've always wanted to try this app. It looks cool based on the review I heard a long time ago. What would be nice though is if google could send an mp3 of the message to your inbox like line 2 does not just a transcription as sometimes the transcriptions don't come out well, or don't come out at all. thoughts? I might get this app in the coming months.

By AnonyMouse on Thursday, December 26, 2013 - 08:25

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Fleksy Keyboard integration (available as In-App purchase? As much I like the idea of them integrating the Fleksy in to the app but to purchase an in-app to make it work? That is crazy. What's New in Version 2.2 • Fleksy Keyboard integration (available as In-App purchase, requires iOS 7) - Fleksy Keyboard lets you type without having to look at your screen. You can miss every letter and Fleksy will still figure out exactly what you meant to type. Enable Fleksy Keyboard to make GV Connect the fastest texting solution available! • Allow adding, verifying, and deleting forwarding numbers on your account • Add keyboard shortcut commands when using a Bluetooth keyboard: ⌘S: Save Note ⌘⇧D: Send SMS Esc: Cancel Note/SMS • Update TextExpander support to the latest version (2.3) and add support for fill-in snippets. Make sure to update your snippets using new the entry in the Settings view • Fix various UI issues throughout the application Please note: starting with this version GV Connect requires iOS 6 or above