Before Google snatched them up, there was a cool little company called Grand Central. Grand Central’s idea, way back in 2007, was to have one phone number to call all of your phones, regardless if they were landlines or cellular. In fact, you could configure it so specific users could be routed to specific phones e.g. the wife would ring all phones, while your boss would ring none (or vice versa). Plus, you never have to give out your real phone numbers—just the Google Voice one.
That’s why we’re big fans of MetroTalk. As you may have noticed, we have quite a few Windows Phones laying around on various carriers. MetroTalk is the solution for the Windows Phone user that Google won’t give. It allows you to make calls from your Google Voice number in addition to getting free SMS messaging (since it uses data to transmit). It’s a nifty app that has seen continued development since early 2012.
This week, version 3.4 went live and was followed by two quick patch updates. We’ll tell you what’s new.
MetroTalk changelog
Version 3.4.2 (coming soon)
- UI fix for the T9 dialer on 480p devices
- The “+” character is now available on the T9 dialer by long-pressing the “0″ button
- Various fixes and updates
Version 3.4.1 (current version)
- New: It is now possible to undelete a message from trash by tapping it
- Bug fix: Contact pictures are now saved properly
Version 3.4
- New: Complete overhaul of the Call/Text page with support for T9 dialing
- New: Multiple accounts support with full support for push notifications
- New: Added ability to automatically configure push notifications on Gmail accounts
- New: It is now possible to (manually) configure push notifications on non-Gmail accounts (e.g. Outlook)
- New: Added a new setup wizard for automatically configuring the application
- New: Added “international filtering” calling method
- Update: Security improvements
- Bug fix: Fixed UI issue where lists would occasionally fail to display all their items
That’s quite a lot of changes. Indeed, we’re not even hardcore enough to have multiple Google Voice accounts (they are free, after all), but we can see where people have multiple Gmail accounts would need to use this.
The new setup feature is welcomed as Google Voice, like all things Google, tends to lack discoverability and therefore can be troublesome to configure.
Version 3.4.2 will bring a few bug fixes is pending approval in the Store right now, so it should go live in the next 24 hours or so.
In speaking with the developer, Andreas, we’re also told to expect a few more exciting things in the future. But for now, you’ll just have to wait.
If you use Google Voice (voice.google.com) or have thought about it, pick up MetroTalk in the Store. Between the lockscreen notification support, push notifications, Live Tile and the Modern UI, we like this app a lot. There is a free version (ad supported) and a pay version ($1.99). Highly recommended.
