App to improve/replace sms feature in google voice? - Android Apps and Games

Does anyone know of any work being done on the official Goggle Voice app (or otherwise by someone else) to make the interface more intuitive and easier to use? The google voice service is outstanding, and I can't live without it. However, the android app leaves much to be desired.
It needs to differentiate better between conversations, and some accommodation needs to be made for mms service. perhaps they should just piggyback on the existing mms service when the media file is sent. I would also like to see simple things like left/right justification for the different sides of the conversation. It's a generation or 2 behind current mms clients. I would sure like to see someone close the gap.
Does anyone know of any work being done out there private or Google official?

Related

[Q] push instant messaging

Are instant messengers available that work like push email.
For example rather then have a constant internet connection that eats battery life an app that only makes a connection to check if there's new messages just like push messaging
Do any app's like this exist and if they don't is it even possible to create something like this
Sent from my SGH-959 *EXPLOSION*
I could be wrong, but it think this is something the IM service would have to incorporate into their service, & AFAIK, none of them do. Depending on your service, i would suggest setting up IM Forwarding. I know AIM allows messages to be forwarded to a cell phone once you sign off, not sure about others though.
I see so it would be similar to how the POP3 and IMAP features work with email
I wonder how much it will take to convince any IM company to incorporate these features
Sent from my SGH-959 *EXPLOSION*
There is Whatsapp (Beta) available perhaps in a month for my opinion the best push messaging client. And pingchat this app is available just search with google.

[Q] Google Voice SMS via native app

Hey guys I havent been able to find anything current as if this was possible on android device.. I have JB IP4 and im using google voice sms through bitesms as my native app using the sms google voice extension. The way it works is that when the google voice app sends a push notification on the phone the google voice sms extension catches the push notification and sends it through bitesms as a normal sms. That way I was able to ditch the unlimited sms plan from ATT. Is something like that possible on android? Thats huge for me since 20 bucks a months is a damn ripoff. And i do lots and lots of txting lol. Thanks for any info =)
I've been an SMS GV Extensions user since it launched and finally bought an Android phone last week.
I took it for granted that Android would either do this already or be able to do this more easily (iOS required a jailbreak), but I instead find that you can only integrate incoming messages with the native Android messaging app and there doesn't seem to be a solution even with rooting your phone. This is disappointing, to say the least.
The fact that the Android GV app has an option in integrate inbound messages with the native messaging application but not outbound implies that is is a deliberate decision on Google's part because it is an obvious feature that is only half implemented. It is probably less a concern with cutting into the carriers' SMS revenue and more to do with constraining use of the service (Google has taken actions to curb heavy use in the past). If it integrated seemlessly, people would use it more.
This is something Google is just going to have to get over if they hope to remain competitive. There is some hope in that the new iMessaging that integrates with text messaging on iOS will put competitive pressure on them to do something similar with Android.
I will be first in line!
Psst... if anyone has found a way that I am unaware of despite constant searching in the past week, please advise us in this thread!
Google Voice Integration App?
I have not used this personally, and am in no way associated with the developer, but I found this app when searching for this exact functionality today. My Nexus S is currently integrated with GV on Sprint, so I have no way of actually testing whether this works or not, but if it does, its definitely worth $0.99!
I've been contemplating a switch to Verizon because of Sprint's slow network speeds, and would do so if I could have this functionality. If anyone has tried it, please provide feedback.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.MDRTools.GVMI2&hl=en
kashah said:
I have not used this personally, and am in no way associated with the developer, but I found this app when searching for this exact functionality today. My Nexus S is currently integrated with GV on Sprint, so I have no way of actually testing whether this works or not, but if it does, its definitely worth $0.99!
I've been contemplating a switch to Verizon because of Sprint's slow network speeds, and would do so if I could have this functionality. If anyone has tried it, please provide feedback.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.MDRTools.GVMI2&hl=en
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I just tried that app about 20 minutes ago. It shows promise. If you compose a message using the native SMS app it will send via Google Voice.
However, it doesn't integrate incoming messages. If you use GV's built in text forwarding, messages will come from your contact's alias (406, 973, etc) number. Also, you won't see messages you've sent using the Google Voice app or website in the native client.
I refunded it but I'll definitely buy again after improvements are made.
check out the google voice sms integration app on the market.
just search for mdrtools and u will find it.

Threads... why?

Ive seen MS chose to combine IM and SMS and to me this looks really messy.
First of all the integration of IM is quite nice but I wish it was kept seperate from SMS conversations since these are to the majority of people still different than IMs and used on different devices or apps. I dont want to continue a conversation automatically on a different app or something. This will be very annoying to the other user.
Certainly if somebody just left his/her pc on or IM on accidently....
They should have added facebook private messaging as well and IM/SMS seperated like it was and just added a chat pivot in the messaging hub.
to me an sms is still something every user has always with him her, like when u send somebody an address or something it should be on their phones and not deliverd trough IM and its annoying having to switch first.
Its kind of short sighted implementation, the idea is good but the reality will be very annoying the way it works now.
you will get a ton of sms like notifications for every IM which can be annoying since on a chat conversation people send much more messages per minute than trough sms. Having to toggle online offline all the time will be a pita
am i the only one who thinks this will be garbage? Instead they should have allowed third party apps like whatsapp to use this on user permission. I hope I can switch off the live messenger. Or just revert back to the original sms screen
I like the idea to have an overview of my messages regardlessly whether they come via SMS, Windows Live or Facebook. Although I agree that getting notifications for all those messages shown on the SMS tile would be kind of overwhelming. But I can imagine Microsoft changes the way the tile works. So it still shows the number of SMS, but in addition to that shows an icon or something when you recieve a chat message from Facebook or Windows Live.
In my opinion.. the best feauture ever, of every OS. Loved that!
I love it as well, and think its nice not to have to go to 4 different places for my facebook, text, wlm & (eventually skype).
While I hope they either have a toggle setting for separate 'rows', or add it soon after Mango for those who really don't like it, I honestly doubt they want to mess it up by having too many places for messages. It fits in pretty perfectly with their vision for the overall UI design imo.
For me,M$ thread is not a new idea,it just copying the messaging app in the HP webos...however HP webos messaging is better,they can download apps that support HP connect and integrate into the messaging app(so,this means they can have more than 1 im clients in 1 messaging app).
Feel so sorry to HP webos,always being copied by others,even the UI design of playbook has been copied
Marvin_S said:
First of all the integration of IM is quite nice but I wish it was kept seperate from SMS conversations since these are to the majority of people still different than IMs and used on different devices or apps. I dont want to continue a conversation automatically on a different app or something. This will be very annoying to the other user.
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Threading will be the beginning of the end for SMS IMNSHO. Most people still use SMS because it's what they know and are used to.
My wife is a great example, she keeps sending me SMSes while I'm out because that's what she's used to. Even though I've had email (and to some extent IM) on my phones since forever. With a "messaging hub" it takes all the guesswork out of the equation - she'll write the message as she normally does and the phone will decide whether it should deliver via FB, Messenger, Skype or SMS.
Now, if you don't want to continue the conversation if the user has moved to a different device you don't have to. The phone will tell you how the message was sent as well as what services the recipient is currently logged on to.
Marvin_S said:
to me an sms is still something every user has always with him her, like when u send somebody an address or something it should be on their phones and not deliverd trough IM and its annoying having to switch first.
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This just proves my point - you're used to SMS. And again, you can choose whether to send as SMS or IM.
Personally I find this feature great. Two things should be done to make it even better though;
1. Implement a industry-wide protocol so it doesn't matter if you're on a crackberry, iphone or windows phone. Sure, Skype and Messenger goes a long way towards achieving this but there are still people who use smaller IM services only.
2. Allow third-party apps to hook in to the messaging hub - there's a few apps out there today that are not chat apps as such but still implement messaging. Being able to receive (and reply to) these messages from the same place would be great. It would also make it easier for other IM services to integrate with the OS.
dkp1977 said:
Although I agree that getting notifications for all those messages shown on the SMS tile would be kind of overwhelming.
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But why? Are you less likely to want to read a message coming in thru Messenger than one delivered via SMS? I for one don't care how my messages are delivered, I just want to be notified. It's a bit like having three post boxes outside your house - one for deliveries by DHL only, another for Deutsche Post and a third for everyone else - i.e. pointless
I really like this new feature as well. I am confident that any replies you send to someone will use the same service they used to "text" you, unless you choose to change it. People on non-WP7 phones won't suddenly need to be jumping all over the place.
On the other hand, when other people send you messages from multiple sources (SMS, FB, WLM, etc), you will be able to get all of the messages in one convenient place. I like that.

[Q] Android user tied to GV

I use Google Voice exclusively because of savings on text messaging. Because of this, I need to have my phone dial out with my GV number as the outgoing number.
Android has seamless integration with GV (obviously because both are made by Google); iOS seems to have two system extensions that seamlessly integrate GV into its native dialer and messaging app.
From what I understand, WP7 doesn't have anything like this yet because there are OS limitations as to how tightly Google Voice could be integrated with the native dialer (though I don't mind if I could use a different text messaging app for my GV SMS). With the coming Apollo update and its promised Skype integration into the native dialer, do you think that Microsoft will open the APIs required to achieve a similar seamless integration of Google Voice like in iOS?
I use GoVoice app, which is an app (not integrated into the system), but it does the work. After going into the app, you can call or text someone without any hassle from your GV account.
Give it a try.
I've played around with the app in an AT&T store but obviously I can't get a proper experience unless I had a week or so with it.
I've heard some complaints are that the lack of integration is annoying, such that if you click a phone number that points to a text message, you will be sent to the default message app (which won't work if you rely exclusively on GV). Also, some people have said that it's not particularly consistent and is slow to turn on when you want to check an incoming message.
Do you use it exclusively as opposed to the native dialer?
i got rid of google voice, only because of the battery drain on android.
i just use google talk and beep.
google voice was easier though with my own number that could be texted like any other phone, but man it killed my battery.

How prevalent is SMS/MMS and iMessage in the USA?

I come from a country where everyone uses WhatsApp to communicate, and I never worried about messaging apps.
But I will be in the USA, and it seems like people just use the default messaging app that comes on their phone (wtf???). And iPhones are bundled with a built in modern messaging app, but one that is locked down to only iPhone users, and falls back to the really old SMS/MMS (not RCS) when messaging non-iPhones, which would lead to iPhone users being annoyed from messaging non-iPhones (do they even support stuff like group chats, messages longer than a tweet, sending videos, location, etc? i guess not or not fully).
Ironically this makes it seem like having a feature phone would still be useful in that country.
Before, I didn't even understand why RCS even existed, just that it seemed like another seemingly cool messaging initiative by Google that was gonna fail just like Allo and so many others, and I'm not sure how helpful is it due to Apple not implementing it. I also didn't understand why Hangouts, Signal, Messenger, etc had the feature to be your SMS app and for example Messenger is pretty insistent even going to the path of dark patterns.
I'm curious to see what the thoughts and experiences of the American XDA community are. Do you use the SMS app? Do you use workarounds like BlueBubbles to use the proprietary iMessage?
xMotoDA said:
I come from a country where everyone uses WhatsApp to communicate, and I never worried about messaging apps.
But I will be in the USA, and it seems like people just use the default messaging app that comes on their phone (wtf???). And iPhones are bundled with a built in modern messaging app, but one that is locked down to only iPhone users, and falls back to the really old SMS/MMS (not RCS) when messaging non-iPhones, which would lead to iPhone users being annoyed from messaging non-iPhones (do they even support stuff like group chats, messages longer than a tweet, sending videos, location, etc? i guess not or not fully).
Ironically this makes it seem like having a feature phone would still be useful in that country.
Before, I didn't even understand why RCS even existed, just that it seemed like another seemingly cool messaging initiative by Google that was gonna fail just like Allo and so many others, and I'm not sure how helpful is it due to Apple not implementing it. I also didn't understand why Hangouts, Signal, Messenger, etc had the feature to be your SMS app and for example Messenger is pretty insistent even going to the path of dark patterns.
I'm curious to see what the thoughts and experiences of the American XDA community are. Do you use the SMS app? Do you use workarounds like BlueBubbles to use the proprietary iMessage?
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In order to use imessage on Android I heard u have to have a mac if u don't than their is no way to use imessage on Android
I have a gaming windows 10 pc so I'm out of luck plus why would I buy a mac just for imessage I like windows better for me windows 10 Is better but it's just up to u whatever u prefer
You can have a macOS virtual machine, though. But how much effort one would put to it would depend on how important it is in American society to have iMessage

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