Google releases Voice for iPhone as web app

Google looking to beat Apple approval system
Google looking to beat Apple approval system

Google has announced that it has released Google Voice for the iPhone as a web app that can be accessed through the phone's web browser.

This appears to be Google's way of getting the application on the iPhone without the approval of Apple.

Jobs' Lot has delayed the approval of Google Voice as a native app for the handset since July, when Google claimed Apple had rejected the app. Apple insisted that it was under review and has since not made a decision with Google claiming not to have received any updates.

Things escalated to the point where the US Federal Communications Commission asked for more information on the affair from both parties.

Since the summer, Google has been stomping around Apple's turf with the release of the Nexus One smartphone, which could be the reason Eric Schmidt left the Apple board earlier last year.

New and improved Google Voice

Although Google Voice is already available via mobile web browsers for a number of handsets, the company describes this brand new version, which it calls a "web app," as more interactive then previous iterations.

It has been designed for the iPhone 3.0 and higher, and will also work on the Palm webOS platform.

Google Voice will let users listen to voicemails from the browser and use the interactive onscreen keypad to make calls.

More importantly, users can forward calls from a single number to multiple phones and make cheap long-distance and international calls.

Via Reuters

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.