Google Voice iPhone Web App Hands On: Users Still Lose

On Tuesday, Google announced that it had released a version of Google Voice on the iPhone. While certainly better than nothing, it still leaves iPhone users trailing BlackBerry and Android users for usability and friendliness.

In mid-2009, Apple booted all Google Voice enabled apps out of the App Store. They also refused to allow Google's official Google Voice app into the App Store. While saying they never officially rejected the app, Apple has had months to approve it, and have not done so.

Apple's contention is that any Google Voice-related app duplicates functionality on the iPhone, and thus, they have blocked such apps. It's also the case that because of Apple's App Store policy, and the way applications are installed on the iPhone, only "approved" apps can be installed on a device.

That is, of course, with the exception of jailbroken devices, which have been hacked to work around that restriction. Estimates of jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches run into the millions, but that is still a small percentage of users.

To get around this restriction, developers can use web apps instead. That is, they build an application by using HTML 5 and other technologies to enable a device, in this case the iPhone, to run a service or function that Apple has not approved. Apple cannot block that sort of thing.

Still, Android and BlackBerry users have a native application, and as such, a much better experience? Why would that be? We took Google Voice, still invitation only, for a spin on the iPhone.

Google Voice allows a number of "cool" functions. For one, you can call and it disguises your number. Instead of caller ID revealing your actual number, it shows the Google Voice number. Additionally, if you receive a call, you can route it to one or more phones, or straight to voicemail, based on rules you set up through their web interface. Finally, SMSes sent from Google Voice also show up with GV's number, and are free.

The problem with Google Voice as implemented on the iPhone is the same thing that enables it to bypass the App Store. It is not a native application. Therefore, it cannot access your native contacts for one. For those who have those same contacts in some other Google service, such as Gmail, that might be OK. For those who do not, it will be painful.

Also, as a web app, we aren't able to get Push Notifications when a call occurs. That would be an ideal feature, letting the user know when they received a call that went, for example, straight to voicemail.

There is a native application for Google Voice. Unfortunately, it is only for jailbroken devices. Once in the App Store, GV Mobile, written by Sean Kovacs, is now available for free for jailbroken devices. A more advanced version, GV Mobile+, is available for a fee. Kovacs has also said on his blog that he will be implementing Push Notifications, as well.

There is a nice feature in the web app version of Google Voice. It might confuse users, however. When you make a call from Google Voice, it used to have to call both you and the recipient of the call. Instead, the web app will pop up a prompt asking if it's OK to call a 3rd-party number, which is, in effect, a Google number enabling the call. Nice, but confusing, if you don't watch the demo video here.

To be honest, this is a nice workaround, or perhaps "end run" around Apple's continuing contentious App Store approval process. It still leaves iPhone users with a bad taste in their mouths, when they compare their experience with other smartphone platforms.

P.S. Google has seen fit to make this work on the Palm webOS platform, as well. That's a nice plus for those users.

Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com

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