Google confirms major Google Voice update in the works

By Julian Chokkattu January 9, 2017

Image used with permission by copyright holder

It looks like Google jumped the gun on announcing a major update to Google Voice, but the company followed up with a confirmation that the update is in the works.

Google Voice users could see the following message at the top of their inbox for most of the day: “The new Google Voice is here. Try now.” Unfortunately, at the time of writing, nothing happens when clicking “Try now.” Still, the notice itself indicated that a major update is on the way for the call forwarding and voicemail service, and Google has confirmed this with Digital Trends.

“Sorry, it looks like we must have dialed the wrong number,” a Google spokesperson said. “But don’t worry, this wasn’t a prank call. We’re working on some updates to Google Voice right now. We have you on speed dial and we’ll be sure to share what we’ve been up to just as soon as we can.”

The service, which launched in 2009, has not received much love from the company for the past few years — the iOS app, for example, was last updated in June , and the Android app was last updated in May. Google has largely ignored Voice and hasn’t introduced new features for a long time.

Still, the service works fine and it’s good the search giant hasn’t axed it yet unlike some of its other products, like Google Reader and Wave. The message that leaked the incoming update suggests that this will be the big one users have been waiting for.

It’s likely the changes may include service-wide update to Material Design, Google’s design guidelines. Voice may also feature some integration with its latest messaging app, Allo. It’s unclear when it will go live, but we’ll have to stay tuned until the update begins rolling out.

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Julian Chokkattu

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…

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