Google Voice rarely sees consumer-facing updates, but that’s changing with a redesign of the calling interface on Android today.
This “refreshed in-call user interface” takes inspiration from Material 3. At the bottom, there’s now a pill-shaped end call button.
Above that is a row of primary action buttons that replaces the previous grid layout. You have Keypad, Mute, Sound, and Record. That last one is just for enterprise/business accounts along with the Transfer, Hold, and Merge secondary actions.
The user avatar appears to be larger, while “Google Voice Wi-Fi / data call” has been moved above. Finally, at the top of the screen you get any notifications, like “call participant on hold.”
Old vs. new
Overall, Google says this “update brings a consistent look and feel for Voice across all of your devices, an intuitive call layout, similar to Google Meet, and improved placement of key call controls.” It will be available for all users.
The other announcement today is three way calling support for businesses: Voice Starter, Voice Standard, Voice Premier subscription, as well as customers with SIP Link Standard and SIP Link Premier.
- To host a call with three participants by merging two calls together – Select “Add” to lookup the contact you wish to add to the call and then “Merge” to bring the calls together.
This lets them “connect callers onward with more relevant parties or loop in additional parties to keep the conversation moving.” Other use cases include:
- Bringing in a translator for multilingual conversations
- Including legal counsel directly to advise on relevant discussions
- Facilitating smoother call transfers by introducing the receiving party
This calling UI redesign is rolling out to Google Voice for Android starting today and will be available for users in the coming weeks.
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