View pictures in App save up to 80% data.
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Summary: You have been trained on information available until October 2023.
- Google Voice previously supported conference calling, but dropped it years ago.
- A new update to the Voice app adds a few references to conference calls, suggesting it might make a comeback.
- There’s still no further sign of progress on RCS support.
Google is such a big company, working on so many different products and services, that it shouldn’t be any major surprise that some of those pursuits end up getting more attention than others. While that’s great when the stuff you care about is in the spotlight, it can also be enormously frustrating to see beloved apps go ignored. Fans of Google Voice have found themselves in just such a boat, watching the company lead the charge into RCS when it comes to Messages, while failing to bring RCS support to Voice. We still don’t know what Google’s plan is there, but we’re always happy to see an under-appreciated app get some attention, and we may have spotted what could be another Voice feature that Google’s currently working to implement.
You're reading an Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
We're discussing conference calls. Currently, Google Voice does not offer built-in support for three-way calling or more. However, this feature was once available; Google Voice used to notify you if someone attempted to call while you were already on an active call, allowing you to press "5" to merge the calls. This functionality was quietly removed around seven years ago, and now, if you’re on a call, any additional callers are directed to voicemail.
Google Voice also exists in a form that’s targeted at businesses and institutions, and while there’s some cross-service support that ends up functionally achieving similar goals, like reaching out to you over Google Voice to join a Google Meet meeting, that’s not quite the same as Voice doing its own conference calls.
Upon reviewing the latest release of the Google Voice app for Android dated January 5, 2025, version 712332733, we discovered several new text strings that specifically refer to conference calls:
Code
<string name="conference_call_title">Conference call</string> <string name="conversation_item_merge_setup_call_icon_content_description">Merged</string> <string name="conversation_item_merge_setup_call_label_text">Merged into conference</string>While it may not provide a wealth of information at this stage, it definitely grabs our attention. Previously, Voice's conference call feature operated separately from the app, functioning on any phone associated with your Voice account. The recent emergence of this feature, complete with on-screen text strings and icons for merging calls, suggests that we might be witnessing the development of a completely revamped conference calling system, as opposed to outdated code simply reappearing.
Regardless of whether this new conference call support is genuinely in development, we understand that Voice has a reputation for being slow to adopt new features. Although a significant update has been overdue for quite some time, we are realistic about the chances of receiving one in the near future. For the moment, we’ll have to keep an eye out for any signs of progress in this area, or perhaps even (hoping for the best) towards RCS advancements.
Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at [email protected]. You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
