How about a native Google Voice app now?

[eprisencc]

Yeah a native Black Swan app would be ideal but here is the kick, Black Swan is still better than the native apps in the app store (GV Connect and GV Mobile). Neither app offers any benefits over Black Swan other than multitasking. The other apps have no push notifications, do not have direct dialing like Black Swan and Black Swan still has the better looking UI. I've bought GV Connect, GV Mobile + and I have a premium Black Swan membership, however, I prefer Black Swan to the others when its paired with the perfect browser plus app for multitasking. Using Black Swan in this way kicks the rockers off of GV connect and GV Mobile.

Chris, have you guys ever thought about releasing a native Black Swan app that still uses the browser to host the Black Swan code? Is it possible to allow the browser to communicate with the web app to get access to native functionality like contacts, phone speakers, and push notifications? Wouldn't this allow you to at least update the UI without waiting for app store approval? Would this violate the developer agreement?

[recycle]

Yeah I agree with eprisencc. I downloaded GV Connect and GV Mobile+ last night and Black Swan still blows them away. That's an interesting idea about making a hybrid app of sorts. Over time clearly the native app will be able to do things the web one can't, but maybe that is a good way to transition...

[joey]

This reminds me of one of those bad relationships we all go through that was total crap when you are first together. You go date other people and things look good on the other side. Then you reunite with and remember how good your really had it with the super model GF.

Apple seems to have matured in the app approval process. BlackSwan has the chance to be number one and blow everybody out of the water. Push notifications with a already killer UI. I hate to see the towel thrown in on the webapp but for BlackSwan it would be ideal to be in the AppStore. More Traffic and revenue and no need to 3rd party servers. Direct API's I think right? I say the apps store and for now people that still want the webapp just keep it funtional right.

I do like the webapp since you can update when you want and I work at a Mircosoft campus and my wifi goes through a proxy and GV Moblie doesnt work on WIFI and Voice Central Does

[abelriverturn]

@eprisencc - I agree with you. I honestly don't understand how GV Mobile + has more than a 2-star rating on the App Store. Oh well, I guess many people disagree with me, but I believe the GV Mobile + UI is just horrible. I bought it from Cydia and hated it. It's like there was no thinking involved in its design. I can tolerate BlackSwan's inherent limitations because I believe it's extremely well-designed, and I can't wait for a native version to show up on the App Store.

[eprisencc]

I do understand, however, the issues developers are having with implementing push notifications for a gv app. There is no easy way to do it. Polling takes resources either on the client end or a server end and server side would require that they store your credentials. Using the current mail forwarding system could work but you would have set up a mail server and tie that into apple's push notification system. The whole problem is that you could possibly do all this work and then Google undercuts the effort with their own app or release a much easier to use api.

[KrisM]

And here i just plunked down money on Voice Central and Prowl to setup push notifications for my GV SMS.

All the same, what I have works for me, and while I liked using GC Mobile+ in the past, I'm highly likely to continue using Black Swan. I would be a bit ticked off to suddenly find support for it dropped in favor of an AppStore app (unless I got a promo code )

[seankovacs]

@abelriverturn -I hate stepping on a competitors turf, as I'm slowly trying to play nice (Hey Kev!), but I'm a little confused as to why the UI of my app is any different than the old Voice Central and the new Blackswan? I'm not knocking BS at all either (it's good stuff)...we both have tabs at the bottom...we list data in a similar fashion. It sounded as if you were comparing a UI design such as Facebook to my app...which BS clearly is not a FB (nor my app). Not sure if the riverturn portion in your name indicates anything... just sayin', the two apps are structured the same. Even GV Connect is...
<sarcasm>And it has 4 stars across 500+ reviewers because I pay people to review it..</sarcasm>

RT, do this...keep the web app but put it in a native app. This allows you to gain functionality from the native app but keep the flexibility of the web app (updates on the fly, nice).

[Chris]

I just want to thank everyone for the discussion and make sure you realize we're "listening." Keep the feedback coming!

@seankovacs: To the best of my knowledge, abelriverturn is in no way affiliated with Riverturn. Don't take people's opinions personally; we're all different, and we encourage everyone's feedback--positive and negative--on these forums. Thanks for your input, too!

[eprisencc]

Actually the new 1.03 version of GV Mobile is pretty impressive. The ui is cleaner, multiple sign in support, everything loads faster and Sean added support for direct dialing. GV Mobile's direct dialing implementation does not require u to click on a call prompt either. Very smooth and extremely close to the feel of a native dialer. I actually feel comfortable hiding the native phone icon now.

[Chris]

FYI: If you are using the latest version of iOS and running VoiceCentral in standalone mode (not in Safari), then you do not need to confirm direct dialed calls.