M Asad on September 18, 2010, 5:21 am

Apple Finally Approves Google Voice App for iPhone !

If you haven’t been living under a rock or something, you will know about the Google Voice app saga which probably led to increasing tensions between Apple and Google last year. Popular Google Voice clients for iPhone like GV Mobile, Voice Central and others were available earlier for a short period, but then they were soon removed by Apple from the App Store due to "duplicating features that the iPhone comes with (Dialer, SMS, etc)". Later, these apps were made available on Cydia for jailbroken iPhones.

Now in a twist of events, it seems like the recent changes in App Store guidelines have taken its effect as the first of Google Voice clients for iPhone makes a comeback in the iTunes App Store. While Apple hasn’t approved GV Mobile app yet, but another full featured Google Voice client which goes by the name of GV Connect is now available on the App Store for a mere $3.

Except for Push Notifications, GV Connect features everything that you can expect from a Google Voice client. Some of these features are highlighted below:

• Place calls using your Google Voice number rather than your mobile number – enter number directly, select a contact from your device’s contacts, or call back any number in your history.
• Send and receive text messages (SMS) from your Google Voice number.
• Listen to voicemails and recorded conversations right on your device (allowing you to pause, rewind, or fast forward to any point within the message) – voicemails will also show the transcription of the message when available.
• Mark messages as starred, attach notes to conversations, block/unblock senders, or delete conversations.
• Easily search in your history by contact, message, or note.
• Messages are stored on your device for offline access.
• Composing notes and text messages can be done in landscape mode.
• Quickly change various Google Voice account settings (call forwarding, do-not-disturb, message notifications, …) directly from within the application.
• Automatic checking for new messages while the application is active.
• Direct access to your device’s contacts without needing to synchronize them with Google
• All communication is done with the Google Voice website directly, no need to hand over your account information to a third-party.
• Full support for fast app switching in iOS4 and high-resolution graphics for retina displays.

Hopefully this will open doors for other similar Google Voice apps to follow in App Store soon. GV Connect for iPhone can be downloaded from the link given below.

Download GV Connect for iPhone [iTunes Link]

Make sure you check out our iPhone Apps Gallery and iPad Apps Gallery to explore more apps for your iPhone and iPad. [via Gizmodo]