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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Updated: Confused by AT&T blocking of Google Voice App for iPhone

Update 1 29 July 09: Great article about this ongoing debate! http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/29/att-dont-blame-us-for-the-iphones-google-voice-ban/

Update 2 29 July 09: Wow the google voice and GV Mobile removal is blowing up: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/apple_admits_att_requested_gv_apps_be_pulled

Update 3: Gizmodo

Update 4: TUAW

Update 5: TechCrunch

I am confused by AT&T's decision to block the Google Voice iPhone app. As a new user to Google Voice I am struggling to integrate it into my mobile life. My wife, mom, sister and brother in law all use iphones and of course are on AT&T. To call each other its free mobile to mobile. Only myself (soon to be canceled) and mom have "landlines" to also direct a google voice call too.

Part of the features of Google voice is SMS notifications of VM. While Google Voice has integrated, free SMS in its implementation its only usable for fellow geeks. For me to text my full compliment of friends from/via google voice would confuse them. My GV number is not in their phone and its hard to get folks to use a new GV number. This is why number portability was so big. I've had my cell number since ATT was Cellular One (IIRC it went Cellular One, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, New AT&T Wireless)

My mom pointed out to call my GV number uses cell plan minutes. They won't use it and will only call my mobile number. Receiving GV VM transcriptions come via SMS to mobile number (3 seperate texts).

To address these changes in my life, I am canceling home phone to use GV number as a primary number to give to "new people and businesses". I'm INCREASING our cell phone plan to the next higher plan to allow for canceling of landline and accepting calls via GV. I've also upgraded my SMS plan from the 200/month up to the 1500/month plan.

Google Voice has made me INCREASE my services to some extent to AT&T. I'm sure there are a minority set of users that may reduce costs but in my well established existence under AT&T's rule, I see GV adding value to mobile services not lessening.

Please hit the comments to continue this discussion...


4 comments:

Oletros said...

It's Apple which has banned the application, not AT&T

Unknown said...

Yes, literally Apple pulled it down. I'm assuming at AT&Ts insistence. Apple doesn't have a real reason to block it and remove the other GV apps like GV Mobile.

Unknown said...

I am really confused why you had to up your sms messages. Just turn off sms forwarding on the phone, use a GV app client to check SMS, and call it a day. That is, unless you have an iphone and haven't purchased a GV app yet, in which case you are stuck checking with a browser. I can kind of understand the increase in minutes if you have a lot of "in plan" people who call you but if that isn't the case, there is no reason to bump minutes up either. So far, my experience with ATT has been sub-par at best. I get a better signal on t-mobile and verizon than i do on ATT in every city I have been in.

Unknown said...

@chris

I think for me, since I was looking at GV to improve my mobile phone usage I have canceled my landline. SMS and Minute increases are on the expected increased use through GV number since I have no landline.