GrowlVoice - Google Voice Client
By Eric Horacek
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Description
GrowlVoice is an intuitive and fully-featured Google Voice client that brings the power of Google Voice to your Mac's menu bar.
• Send texts and initiate calls in seconds flat
• Quickly read and reply to text messages
• Listen to voicemails while you read their transcripts
• Manage and search your inbox
• Receive instant and unobtrusive notifications of new messages
• Match any desktop with beautiful light and dark themes
• Keep GrowlVoice hidden in your menu bar until you need it
• Add multiple Google Voice accounts
• Use Google Contacts or your Mac's Address Book
• Configure as you desire with dozens of preferences
• Call and text even faster with custom keyboard shortcuts
"GrowlVoice takes things even further by letting you actually use many of Google Voice’s features." "★★★★½"—MacWorld Magazine
While Google Voice already has a solid webapp, you can only do so much from the browser. Sending texts and placing calls isn't easy—you shouldn't have to shift your focus to send a quick text or initiate a call through your Google Voice number. GrowlVoice fixes that.
GrowlVoice notifies you of new messages and provides a simple and intuitive interface for replying to and reading them. You can initiate calls, send texts, and read voicemails all within a couple of clicks. You'll never have to fumble with texting on your phone's tiny keyboard or constantly check the Google Voice website while you're at your Mac again.
GrowlVoice empowers you with a vast set of features that allow you to use Google Voice in the way that best suits you. Add multiple accounts, search your inbox, employ one-key inbox or customizable global shortcuts, archive and star messages, and see your contact's pictures next their messages as you communicate with them. Threaded texts provide a simple and beautiful way to have a conversation. Inbox management and searching couldn't be easier. Have all of this and more—just one click away in your menu bar—with GrowlVoice.
Please Note:
• A free Google Voice account is required to use this app—see http://www.google.com/voice.
• To ensure that GrowlVoice is able to alert you of missed calls, enable "Place missed calls in the inbox" in the "Calls" tab in your Google Voice settings on the Google Voice website.
• GrowlVoice does not function as a VOIP phone. It initiates calls through your Google Voice connected phones with your Google Voice number.
What's New in Version 2.0.3
- Added a short welcome process to easily add an account on first launch
- Small visual interface updates
- Various Snow Leopard bugfixes
- Small visual updates to the GrowlVoice icon
- Pressing a global shortcut with the corresponding GrowlVoice window already open now properly dismisses it
- Fixed a bug caused by automatic text replacement that could cause strange characters to show up in received messages
- Fixed a bug that could cause the GrowlVoice preferences window to open when clicking a Growl notification
- Fixed a bug that caused a jarring "pop-in" of the GrowlVoice preferences window
- Fixed a bug that could cause the cursor to start in the compose text message field instead of the number field
- Various small crash fixes
- Text messages can be populated via the GrowlVoice URL scheme with the new message argument (growlvoice:123456790?text&message=message)
Screenshots
Customer Reviews
BE WARNED: may not work with google apps accounts, developer will likely NEVER fix this.
A long long long long long time ago, in a much simpler time, this app worked with my google apps login. Life was great, and I really enjoyed using this app. It was terribly convienient, and fun to use.
That is only a distant memory now, because at some point last summer it stopped working with my google apps account. Countless updates have gone by with minor tweaks and other bug fixes and I am sooo tired of reporting this bug (first to the developer, but he doesn't appear to care enough to respond), but alas, my google apps login still fails with: "Sign in error: An unknown error has occurred; the request contained an invalid input or was malformed." Note, this is different from bad credentials (putting in the wrong password), which is: "Sign in error: Invalid username or password. Please verify that your username and password are correct and try again."
I signed up for a test account with my gmail addres, and sure enough, that works fine. Unfortunately, I do not use that account.
As the anniversary of this issue approaches, I still foolishly remain hopeful that one day it might be fixed. With every update, that "hope" seems more and more like insanity.
LOVE this app... Changed my life!!
Seriously, though... I do love this app. I was a little nervous by some of the reviews, but at the moment there is a free demo/trial version of this app at the developer's website. I bought the app about a minute after downloading and trying it. Note on some of the other reviews here: * I have NOT had to login to make phone calls. * I'm not using it with a Google Apps account, but it's working GREAT with my Gmail account. * One reviewer mentioned an issue where it sends text in garbled/Chinese characters... that is a Google Voice issue and NOT related to this app (I've had that problem long before ever trying this app)
Try it... you'll love it!
Terrible Support
It has a bug that makes it unusable. After it's open a while, it will simply not drop down from the top bar when clicked and it won't notify you of incoming communications. You have to restart the app or right-click and open the preferences to wake it up and allow the drop down to happen. It's not necessarily a crash, so I can't send a crash report.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app several times, did the same with Growl scoured their support pages, contacted them several times, and hoped that updates would address the issue. Nothing has helped and they have not contacted me at all.
In general, I have received much better support even from free app makers. You think that Growl Voice would want to hear from people who have run across bugs. I guess they already got my money and that's what counts. Maybe they would care if this issue would generate a crash report. It's too bad -- the app would be nice if it worked.
I am on a new Macbook Air with all software up to date.
- $4.99
- Category: Productivity
- Updated: May 09, 2012
- Version: 2.0.3
- Size: 3.4 MB
- Language: English
- Seller: Eric Horacek
- © 2011-2012 Eric Horacek
Requirements: OS X 10.6 or later
