Google Hangouts for iOS Gets Voice Calling, Google Voice Integration

Google has today updated its Hangouts messaging app with the ability to make voice calls, Google Voice integration, inline GIFs and more.

What's New in Version 1.3.0

- See which of your friends is using Hangouts, and who can be reached right now
- Call phone numbers from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch (free to the US and Canada)
- Make and receive calls using your Google Voice number
- Send and receive animated GIFs that play inline
- Hangouts will temporarily turn down your music (instead of stopping it) when you receive an incoming message

While the app allows users to make voice calls, Google Voice users also get the ability to receive calls via their Google Voice number and can use Voice calling credits to make international calls, notes Google+ Hangouts product manager Kate Cushing in a Google+ post.

The new feature comes after both Facebook and Apple have made efforts to direct people away from using traditional cell phone calling using carriers' radio towers and instead use VoIP services like Facebook Messenger voice calling and FaceTime audio.

Hangouts is a universal app that's available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

oneMadRssn

96 months ago

Does it still offer no way of going "offline," or signing off without really logging out of the entire app?

I'd love this app, but I don't want to be on gchat 24/7.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ElZeus

96 months ago

Can someone give me one fair reason to put google back into a new ipad I got

Free calling.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

bozzykid

96 months ago

I'm unsure why they integrated Google Voice calls into Google Hangouts because it doesn't seem the right place for it, but I'm happy you can finally do this in an official Google app.

Google has said Hangouts is the future of Google Voice. Eventually the GV app will probably be dead and all the functionality will be rolled into Hangouts. I'm guessing the GV messaging feature will be the next feature to roll into Hangouts.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NocturnalJazz

96 months ago

Google Voice app on iOS needs a redesign. Woof.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

deannnnn

96 months ago

Does it still offer no way of going "offline," or signing off without really logging out of the entire app?

I'd love this app, but I don't want to be on gchat 24/7.

This is the exact reason I don't use it. Why can't I log out when I want to log out and log back in when I want to log in without having to re-set up the entire app? Google wants us to replace iMessage with gChat/Hangouts, but gChat has a fundamentally different purpose for me.

----------

Can't you simply close the app?

No. Closing the app keeps you logged in.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Poisonivy326

96 months ago

Can someone give me one fair reason to put google back into a new ipad I got because the tablet I tried last Xmas with quite reasonable specs like the nvidia t30s for the time, was so trashy that even a Nokia Lumia I got for the total 6 months the tablet was between me and the service was thriving in comparison?

Even if gapps are much better for iOS than their laggy trashy stack they call an operating system, with 6% effectiveness against native coding because they use JAVA VM to copycat the iOS layers like micro$oft with silverlight and wp7+8 shouldn't I be called a dumb idiot to install them again?

I get ballietic the moment I see adcoiches and all the google gimmicks for serving damn ads in every place of my canvas trashing my eyes with neon-faux badly designed intrusive ads they purposefully make them look like this?

Forgive my bitterness but google has become so greedy that they destroyed their tablet share with the fragmentation and they'll realize it. Google apps shouldn't be in the AppStore but I understand their being there because of the accounts many users have. I have completely written google off, even as search engine. And I'm not the only one.

You don't even browse youtube? Or have a gmail account?

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Read All Comments

Top Stories

Apple Launches Service for Transferring iCloud Photos and Videos to Google Photos

Wednesday March 3, 2021 12:04 pm PST by Juli Clover

Apple this week introduced a new service that's designed to make it quick and easy for iCloud users to transfer their stored photos and videos to Google Photos. As outlined in an Apple support document, you can go to Apple's privacy website and sign in to see the "Transfer a copy of your data" option. If you select this and go through all the steps, Apple will transfer your iCloud photos and ...

Read Full Article • 178 comments

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Uses Same PowerPC Chipset Found in 1998 G3 iMac

Tuesday March 2, 2021 3:21 am PST by Sami Fathi

NASA's Perseverance rover, which recently made history landing on the surface of Mars, is powered by the same processor used in an iMac more than 23 years old. Image Credit: NASA As reported by NewScientist (via Gizmodo), the rover includes the PowerPC 750 processor, the same chip used in the G3 iMac in 1998. The main chipset is the same; however, there are differences between the...

Read Full Article • 189 comments

Rosetta May Be Removed From M1 Macs in Some Regions on macOS 11.3

Tuesday March 2, 2021 5:20 pm PST by Joe Rossignol

Installing the upcoming macOS 11.3 software update on an M1 Mac may result in Rosetta 2 being removed in one or more regions around the world. In the third beta of macOS 11.3 seeded to developers for testing today, MacRumors contributor Steve Moser uncovered new strings in the beta's code indicating that "Rosetta will be removed upon installing this update." Another new string reads "Rosetta ...

Read Full Article • 342 comments

Apple Faces Another iPhone Lawsuit Over 'Programmed Obsolescence'

Monday March 1, 2021 6:44 am PST by Sami Fathi

Apple faces a new class-action lawsuit that accuses it of deliberately releasing iOS updates that slowly reduce the performance of an iPhone, forcing customers to upgrade their devices. The lawsuit comes from the Portuguese Consumer Protection Agency, Deco Proteste (via Marketeer), which in a statement says that it will proceed with a case against the Cupertino tech giant because it...

Read Full Article • 311 comments

Prosser: iPhone 12 MagSafe Battery Pack to Feature Reverse Charging

Monday March 1, 2021 1:18 pm PST by Juli Clover

Apple is working on MagSafe-compatible battery packs that will be compatible with the iPhone 12 models, and leaker Jon Prosser today said on the Genius Bar podcast that one version of the battery pack will feature "reverse charging." According to Prosser, Apple is working on two versions of the battery packs, one that's a standard version and one that's a premium version with reverse...

Read Full Article • 103 comments

MagSafe Charging Port for iPhone Appears in Apple Patent

Wednesday March 3, 2021 1:30 am PST by Sami Fathi

In a newly granted patent, Apple envisions a type of connectivity port using an iteration of its magnetic MagSafe charger to charge an iPhone, potentially paving the way for a future without Lightning. Submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday (via Patently Apple), the patent outlines a three-pinned MagSafe charger, similar to the ones found in older MacBook...

Read Full Article • 106 comments

Apple Prefer Lightning Over USB C Feature

iPhone Sticking With Lightning Port Over USB-C for 'Foreseeable Future'

Tuesday March 2, 2021 9:32 am PST by Hartley Charlton

Apple will retain the Lightning connector on the iPhone for the "foreseeable future," with no intention of switching to USB-C, according to reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In spite of much of the industry moving toward USB-C, Apple will not be using it to replace the Lightning connector on the iPhone 13, or indeed on any iPhone model for the time being. In a note seen by MacRumors yesterday,...

Read Full Article • 284 comments

Sketchy Rumor Claims 'iPad Mini Pro' Launching in Second Half of 2021

Wednesday March 3, 2021 3:04 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple is expected to launch a sixth-generation iPad mini in the first half of 2021, possibly as soon as this March, based on long-standing rumors. However, a new rumor out of Asia that has gained traction in the last 24 hours suggests an "iPad mini Pro" will arrive in the second half of this year. According to a post on Korean blog Naver, whose rumor track record is unknown, the device...

Read Full Article • 78 comments

New Apple Pencil Allegedly Leaks With Glossy Finish and Redesigned Tip

Wednesday March 3, 2021 6:17 am PST by Hartley Charlton

Images supposedly depicting a third-generation Apple Pencil have been shared on Twitter by the leaker known as "Mr. White." The purported new Apple Pencil appears to share a very similar design to the current, second-generation Apple Pencil, which is shorter than the previous version and charges inductively on the side of an iPad. The updated Apple Pencil appears to have a glossy...

Read Full Article • 60 comments

Apple Watch ECG Feature Gets Approved in Australia

Wednesday March 3, 2021 2:07 am PST by Sami Fathi

The Australian government has approved ECG functionality on the Apple Watch, giving Apple the all-clear to launch the feature for Apple Watch users in the country, according to a regulatory document first spotted by The 8-Bit. Earlier last month, the Apple Watch's irregular heart rhythm notification received approval in Australia, although ECG did not. Irregular heart rhythm is a feature...

Read Full Article • 40 comments