Why Apple would want to reject the Google Voice app

I got my Google Voice invitation awhile ago, but I couldn't use it because I was in Japan. I was back in LA two weeks ago, and had a chance to try Google Voice out. And I can understand why Apple would want to reject the Google Voice app and still let apps like Skype on the iPhone.

How Google Voice works when you want to call a person

Instead of calling people directly, with Google Voice (GV), you tell GV to connect you to the person. So GV is like an operator. So here's what happens:

1. Go to GV via the web, find the contact you want to call, and initiate the call.
2. GV will call you first.
3. After you pick up, you will hear a ringtone connecting you to the person you want to call.

In the case you don't have web access, you can call the GV, and then dial the number you want to call. GV will then connect you.

You might be wondering why wouldn't you just call directly from your phone. The reason is by calling directly, your phone number instead of your GV number will be exposed to the receiver. Only by having GV connect you can you expose the receiver to your GV number.

Fully utilizing GV = say bye bye to Contacts

To fully utilize GV, you will route all your calls through GV, which means that you will be abandoning the Contacts app and functionality of the iPhone. And I don't think Apple is to happy for that.

For the users, this means that you might end up with two set of contacts to manage - one on Google and one on your phone. And that could disrupt the user experience. If your contacts aren't synced properly, there might be cases when you want to email someone from your phone and find their email isn't there or outdated.

Impressions of GV

Personally, I think it's a wonderful, but "geeky" service right now. What I like the most is the ability for me to attach and remove numbers from the GV account. That means I can just hand out one universal number, and when I'm in town with a different mobile number, I can simply assign that.

GV also offers call screening, which is a nice feature, but annoying to your friends. You do have the option to turn of call screening for selected individuals / groups, but that just mean more configuring work for you to do.

The other thing I like about GV is that is emails you when you get a SMS or Voicemail. It's also nice that they are consolidating communications from the phone. Once they integrate this with GMail, you can have all the communications consolidated. And that would be cool, and kind of scary...

And finally, there's also a neat feature of "Do Not Disturb". When this is turned on, every call placed to your GV number will be sent right to the voice mail. So it's very useful if you don't want to take any calls or you're outside the country.

Ways of using GV when you're out of the country

GV currently only works in US. Though once you activate the service, you'll be able to access the page from other countries. So you could still check voice mails.

Now back in Japan, I was thinking how I can still use it. And although it's not free, with the help of Skype, you can still receive calls via GV when you're abroad. I have yet to try it out, but here's how I imagine it would work:

1. Get a Skype online number that's based in US.
2. Make sure you have credits or an unlimited Skype calling plan to the country you're in.
3. Forward all Skype calls to your international number.
4. Hook up the Skype number to GV.
5. So every time someone calls your GV number, it will connect to the Skype number.
6. Skype will then forward the call to your international number. This is also the part that will incur fees, meaning the NOT FREE part.

Hopefully, I'll try this out one of these days. That is unless Google rolls the service out internationally before I do =)