The new Google Voice launches, bringing a modern look, group chat, photo sharing & more | TechCrunch

See this Google post for an update overview

"The update comes at a time when Google’s messaging strategy is in flux. While on the one hand, it’s trying to make its default Messenger app more iMessage-like with support for RCS, it also maintains Hangouts (but is now shifting its focus toward the enterprise), and it launched two new apps aimed at consumers, messaging app Allo and FaceTime rival Duo. But that means there’s also a lot of overlap in Google’s products today, which can be confusing.

That said, many Google Voice users had been disappointed to see this simple but useful calling app ignored, but didn’t want to shift to Hangouts. Google finally heeded those concerns, and decided to give Google Voice another shot.

In addition to the visual overhaul, the company has been investing in improvements to the underlying infrastructure, which means these new apps will also offer better voicemail transcriptions, better call quality and reliability, and other improvements."

The new Google Voice launches, bringing a modern look, group chat, photo sharing & more | TechCrunch