Are you still using Google Voice? Better hope it’s an official Google Voice app, because third-party access is being yanked later this year. Most users won’t be affected, unless, of course, you use Windows Phone … then you will definitely lose Google Voice early next year!
According to WPCentral, third-party Google Voice app MetroTalk has been told their access to GV is being cut off by May 2014. Officially the reason is security, which makes sense, but it does fit with a pattern of Google pulling services or denying services to Windows Phone users. It also makes me wonder what the future is for Google Voice, since it hasn’t exactly been given the white glove treatment since it rolled out several years ago.
After all, Google Voice has lived in its own little silo for quite some time. It has some basic integration with Android, but nothing special, and it famously was booted from iOS before coming back much later. Google had some carrier deals in place, but those have been quiet for years, so exactly what is the plan with GV? It’s easy to see a conspiracy theory here, that third parties are being pulled to hurt Windows Phone, but the other possibility is that this is step one in a long process to either rejuvenate or kill the service. If people are using it as their main phone, GV isn’t as easy to kill as Google Reader. There will likely be a more complex migration and backup needed, and that’s certainly easier to coordinate if everyone is coming off Google’s apps instead of third parties. Likewise, if Google is trying to develop a better Google Voice, it makes sense to keep it internally developed for better deployment.
Or, maybe it really is all about sticking it to Windows Phone … maybe Google just really hates live tiles?
Do you still use Google Voice? Are you using a third-party or Google app?