Install the Google Voice app if you’re using that number for text messages

I love Google Voice. On the day Google decides it should be paid, like Google Photos, I might pull the trigger; having a secondary phone number that you can forward to your real number, allowing you to hide the latter, is incredibly useful. And the day Google Voice disappears – should it ever come – I’ll be very sad.

As easy as Google Voice is to use, in the sense that you literally just go to the settings and choose the option Forwarding calls and / or text messages to your real number, Google is making a change, meaning you’ll now need to download the app on your device if you want to take full advantage of the service’s capabilities. According to a recent Android police Google will soon remove the ability to forward text messages from your Google Voice number to your real phone number.

As Michael Crider writes:

This is especially bad news for those of us who have used Google Voice just as effectively as our single phone number, forwarding it to new SIM cards and devices as soon as we get them. Phones tend to rely on their default text messaging app for integration into many other services. The Google Voice app usually covers these, but it’s not particularly friendly with the rest of Android outside of the basics of notifications.

Before you blame Google for making this change, know that it’s actually not Google’s wrong This time. Apparently there are a number of carriers start blocking these forwarded text messages– maybe wrongly assuming it’s spam. My assumption is that Google would rather have a manageable experience (no function at all in this case) than an inconsistent experience.

So if you want to view and reply to text messages sent to your Google Voice number, you will probably want to install the Google Voice app (iOS AndroidAlternatively, if you don’t feel that option for some reason, you can just go to Google Voice’s settings and forward any message to your email address. You can then reply to the email to reply to the text – one more cumbersome method, especially if your friends are chatty, but an option nonetheless.