Last summer, in a move which surprised many iPhone users and iPhone developers alike, Apple banned Google Voice apps like GV Mobile and VoiceCentral from its App Store which lead to a Federal Communications Commission investigation into the matter.
But now, Riverturn, the iPhone app developer behind VoiceCentral, has announced the return of Google Voice to the iPhone in a web application avatar, christened VoiceCentral Black Swan, which will be free from Apple App Store control.
Commenting on the application, the developer said that "VoiceCentral Black Swan is the next revolution in iPhone applications. It is a feature-rich web application that enables you to view and manage your Google Voice data just like a native iPhone application".
The web application version of VoiceCentral app, which was banned from Apple app store in July 2009, will be capable of supporting all Google Voice features including sending and receiving of phone calls, SMS text messages, voicemail transcript narrations, dialer screen and Google contacts.
However, as VoiceCentral Black Swan is not a native iPhone app, it will not be able to access iPhone contact list therefore users will be required to import their iPhone contacts list to Google Contacts for the web app to access it.
Our Comments
Someone should come up with an application that allows iPhone apps to be backed up on Google contacts. The question though is whether Apple will allow such an application to reside on the App store. As for VoiceCentral, it is a disruptive application that could well make Google Voice as useful as Skype on the iPhone.
Related Links
Google Voice Is Coming Back To The iPhone Via The Browser, Thanks To VoiceCentral
(Washington Post)
VoiceCentral bringing Google Voice back to iPhone, the "Screw Apple" edition
(Into Mobile)
Google Voice returning to the iPhone via the browser
(Tech Blorge)
Google Voice Returns to the iPhone
(Cool tech Zone)