Google Voice goes US only
If you update the Google Voice app, you cannot make phone calls anymore if you cannot randomly validate a US phone number. Which pretty much kills the only use case for googlevoice: having a phone number when traveling, when you cannot receive SMS on your US phone number (thanks verizon).
You can still call from the website, for now, but not the app.
edit: btw the app seems to work fine, until you try to make a call. Then it shows a dialog:
> One last thing... > Before placing a call, you must validate your phone number > [cancel] [validate]
(after removing my us number and adding a international one i can acces, the buttons change to [cancel] [associate a number] despite me having a non-us number)
if i try to associate a non-us number Then I get the dialog:
> Google is not available outside the United States. To use Google Voice, register using a US-based phone number.
(i'm translating those messages from french, so it might be slightly different)
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 141 ms ] threadMobile networks have dropped the ball for years on functionality. (it's 2023 and most mobile networks still won't let me make a call or send texts from my laptop!).
And across most of the world, mobile networks still charge $10/minute or more for group video calls... Forget about the fact video calls are impossible between some networks and others too. The UK's largest network, EE, says on it's site "Video calling isn’t available direct from EE at the moment.".
You can complain all you want about the network, but "requiring some nonsense to use the client in a way that is not related to the network" is not excusable for the client software, no matter how bad the network is.
So every time someone tries to kill the project some fancy pants google person kills the idea because it personally inconveniences them.
Inbox had a pretty easy substitute as gmail was still around.
If Voice goes away there’s nothing else googlers can use, even at reduced functionality.
The irreplaceable feature is that if you use it, switching out all your phone parts of your life interface is a pain.
I like having a proxy number that I give out and route to my “real” number. So I have an unchanging number and don’t risk revealing my actual contact info.
I also like getting texts through a web/app interface.
Is there a similar nice, simple, and cheap voip service that I can just drop in? (When google inevitably kills their another awesomely useful service that doesn’t make them money.)
Note the other responses regarding some places requiring a "real" mobile number for SMS verification. Anveo's numbers won't work for this kind of thing. Similar to how Google Voice numbers don't work for it either.
edit: but they have a dedicated UI to sell you number from a specific neighborhoods all over the US. I'm guessing their main market is online catfishers. (not saying the service cannot be a gvoice replacement, but catfishing is clearly their market)
If privacy/secrecy via obfuscation is your #1 criteria and not a nice to have then I'd just go with an enterprise cloud VOIP solution like RingCentral because they'll have real support and it's their core (and very successful) business, not another something that'll disappear in 2 years anyways.
If privacy/secrecy via obfuscation was just a nice to have and you really liked it for having the web interface then RingCentral (and I'm sure others) have a PWA and you can still go that route or you can try a sync tool like Beeper. I went the latter route as it gave a significantly better call/texting delay and quality experience to give up the obfuscation but the other cost is your phone has to be connected to the internet for the messages to relay through Beeper.
They just undid that shenanigans after the PM got his bonus. Maybe by then their bonus was tied to simplifying the tech stack :)
edit:
> If privacy/secrecy via obfuscation is your #1 criteria
lol, no. the only usecase for gvoice and the likes is to have a fixed phone number without a montly bill that you can use to make international phone calls for business. or to receive calls when abroad.
Nobody who cares about privacy etc (or any quality of network protocol for that matter) would care about gsm and sms. at all. it's mostly for cheap convenience.
I love having Mail, Meet, Voice, and Chat in a single web app. (The Gmail app now also has Meet and Chat all-in-one, but Voice has its own app)
I can definitely see how merging the services would boost MAU/DAU, but in this case it seems like increasing DAU means you’re making it easier for users to access + use the service, which is a win win.
> lol, no. the only usecase for gvoice and the likes is to have a fixed phone number without a montly bill that you can use to make international phone calls for business. or to receive calls when abroad.
Please ignore assuming meaning of a term so you can laugh at me in response. It was actually quite handy to pass out VOIP numbers for interviews, sign up forms, and the like because they could never tie back to reaching me once I stopped the forwarding. I realize that is different than worrying about government actors tracking you via standard telephony but you should realize there is more than that specific interpretation of the term, especially when GP named the same use case I just mentioned.
GV provided online text messages and voice mail before everyone else. GV also allows you to add multiple lines to the same number. At one point I lost my phone and was still able to receive and make calls from the web and my SO's phone.
Its used for a lot more
You can pay for more data or voice minutes, but it's expensive and not a great deal.
eSIM is available.
But if you need a cheap US number, it can't be beat. Works great for people working overseas who need a 2FA US phone number or need to make occasional calls to US numbers (hi IRS!).
Calls and texts work, only issues I've run into are the usual some services don't accept VOIP numbers, and group texts > 10 people I can receive but not send messages (bandwidth provider limitation AFAIK).
Bonus is that their stack is all open source and since it's XMPP you can use whatever clients or server you want, or stick to their Cheogram app + a hosted server included through https://snikket.org/hosting/
This will associate the phone number permanently to your google account as well. And remove from the other account (and you cannot switch phones between accounts in the same 3month period... don't want know how I know this)
Guess it’s time to think about a new place to get a US number that works internationally for 2-factor sms. Any suggestions?
Edit: Sadly Verizon is discontinuing it at the end of the year: https://www.verizon.com/support/verizon-messages-faqs/
But now it seem it will end as everything else from google is low cost to switch.
Like it asks you to re-validate it every week or month or something?
I haven't encountered this at all. Honestly it sounds like a bug (try deleting and reinstalling the app for starters), or it's flagging your specific number as high risk for some reason.
I share your frustration but there really needs to be more evidence that it's either a widespread problem or an intentional policy change. (Because it's also hard to see why it would be intentional, and also it would have been implemented on the site as well if so.)
You might just have a US number and not yet be flagged to revalidation. Or maybe going overseas flags you for revalidation (great timing!)
...anyway. Good luck waiting for Google-I'm-altering-the-deal.-Pray-I-do-not-alter-it-any-further to be upfront about their changes.
The error message says you need to stay in the US, with "significant usage" for at least 30 days for access to international data to be restored.
I typically visit the USA a few times per year for a week at most (which is why I have the Fi plan in the first place), so this message has been on my account for over a year, and so far I have not seen any indication that Google is going to cancel my Fi plan.
> As a reminder, Fi's Terms of Service require you to use our service primarily in the United States (territories not included), and it looks like you've been predominantly using Fi abroad. In 30 days, we'll need to suspend your international roaming data capabilities unless you start using Fi in the United States again (territories not included). Your calls and texts will not be impacted.
The biggest problem I've had with Fi is that I destroed my phone while traveling, and I couldn't find a phone internationally with which I could activate Fi while traveling abroad. I could only associate the new phone w/ Fi once I returned to the USA.
I use Google Voice as my phone for nearly everything, unless it doesn't work.
Especially if you’re a digital nomad, relying on a phone number tied to a specific country and SIM card as a verification mechanism is a problem. Even if you’re not a DN, Google Voice is a much more secure 2FA than a phone that could get sim hijacked.
Yes, it does.
With Fi you run into issues if you use it for too long outside the US. And also I read that people had troubles re-activating a Fi eSIM from outside the US in cases where they (for example) lost their phone.
Guessing I’ll have to find another alternative soon.
Under Settings -> Make and receive calls -> Ensure it’s set to Prefer Wi-Fi and mobile data.
If it’s set to use carrier, then you cannot make calls. Hope this work because this would scare the crap out of me!
indeed this is the right answer. Thanks! Is this a new feature or they just changed a default on last version, because i've been making gvoice calls from that account on this phone without a sim card for months.
well, now i don't have a US phone number associated with my account anymore, hopefully i don't get kicked out for some other reason before i'm back home.
Glad this worked for you!
Is there a good reason why carriers in USA and Canada refuse to provide free incoming sms (& calls at expense of the caller) while abroad?
My experience might be limited to only a handful of sims from different countries, but prepaid Telus (Canada) failing to receive sms while visiting USA was a first and a big surprise to me. Made me transfer to PM which offers this.