About This App
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Category
Social
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Installs
10,000,000+
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Content Rating
Rated for 3+
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Developer Email
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Privacy Policy
http://www.google.com/policies/privacy
Screenshots
Editor Reviews
Google Voice is a communication app designed to help you manage calls, texts, and voicemails from one central number. It launched back in 2009 and is available on both Google Play and the App Store. On Google Play, it has over 100 million installs. The app is completely free to download and use. You don't need to pay for the basic service. To get started, you do need to register with your Google account, which is quick and easy. Once you're in, you can pick a free phone number. The app doesn't have annoying in-app purchases for its core features, and you won't find any ads cluttering up the screen. It's a straightforward tool from Google that ties into your existing account.
I use Google Voice mainly to keep my personal number private. When I sign up for websites or give my contact to stores, I use my Google Voice number. This way, all those calls and texts go to the app instead of my real phone. It's great for filtering spam. I have it installed on my phone and also check messages on my computer through the website. A simple tip from a user: set up voicemail transcription. It sends you an email with the text of your voicemails, so you can read them quickly without listening. I also use it for making international calls at lower rates than my regular carrier. It's very simple to just open the app and dial.
Compared to other apps like TextNow or Burner, I choose Google Voice because it feels more reliable and is tied to my Google account. It doesn't feel like a temporary solution. The integration is seamless if you already use Gmail or other Google services. Some other apps have more ads or try to upsell you constantly. Google Voice stays clean and does its job without fuss. For a free app, the call quality is consistently good, and having a permanent number that isn't linked to my SIM card gives me real peace of mind. It's my go-to for a second line.
Features
- 📞 Provides a free, dedicated phone number for calls, texts, and voicemail, separating your personal contact info from online forms and business cards.
- 📞 Transcribes voicemails to text and sends them to your email, letting you read messages silently and quickly, which is faster than apps that only offer audio playback.
- 📞 Forwards calls and messages to multiple devices, so you can answer on your tablet, computer, or phone, offering more flexibility than apps tied to a single device.
- 📞 Offers low-cost international calls directly through the app, a built-in feature that's more convenient than switching to a separate calling app.
Pros
- ✅ Seamless integration with your Google account makes setup instant and management easy across all your devices, unlike standalone apps that require new logins.
- ✅ Completely free core service with no ads, which is rare compared to similar freemium apps that fill the screen with promotions or subscriptions.
- ✅ Excellent spam filtering for calls and texts, automatically protecting you better than the basic filters on your native phone dialer.
Cons
- ⚠️ Lacks some modern messaging features like rich media group chats or reactions, falling behind apps like WhatsApp or iMessage in social functionality.
- ⚠️ Can sometimes have a slight delay in receiving text notifications compared to your native SMS app, which might cause you to miss time-sensitive messages.