On Wednesday, Google announced new caller ID, missed call, and SMS message features to Google Voice. The otherwise minor update is notable because Google Voice has been pushed to the sidelines as Google has focused on other messaging snafus.
You can now learn why you might have missed a call (for example, Do Not Disturb was turned on) and how to prevent it from happening again from the missed calls or voicemail sections of the mobile Google Voice app (turning Do Not Disturb off). Google is also making it easier to redial dropped calls and switch to your mobile network if your call was dropped due to a bad Wi-Fi connection.
If you use Google Voice on iOS to forward calls to your number, you can now have the app display your Google Voice number instead of the original linked number on caller ID. SMS messages can now be deleted in bulk on Google Voice’s web version as well.
Google’s various attempts to connect people outside of Gmail have long been somewhat perplexing — we’ve even compiled a timeline of the journey thus far — but Voice, in particular, has felt forgotten in the wake of Google Fi offering more traditional phone service. Voice was redesigned in 2018, and a dark mode was added in 2020, but as a business-oriented Workspace product, it hasn’t seen as many dramatic changes as Google’s wild forays into text and video chats. That may be for the best for the devoted Google Voice user who does not want to be reminded of the service’s existence.