Google announced today on the Google Voice Blog the availability of the official Google Voice widgets for the Android mobile platform. As some of you might recall, the Google Voice widgets were leaked a couple of weeks ago after they were extracted from a T-Mobile G2.
In order to install the new Google Voice widgets, Android users must update to the new version of Google Voice, which can be found in the Android Market now. From there, users will have access to two new Google Voice widgets — the Inbox Widget and the Settings Widget.
Google explains:
- The Google Voice Inbox widget brings your most recent voicemails and text messages to your home screen. You can now quickly flip though messages in your Inbox with the widget, and selecting any message preview will open it in the Google Voice app.
- The Settings widget gives you quick access to four handy features.
- Get instant access to the full Google Voice app by clicking the Google Voice icon.
- Quickly compose and send free text messages.
- Change your dialing preferences on the fly. You can have your phone use Google Voice in four different ways, depending on your calling preference.
- Select Do Not Disturb and all calls to your Google number will be sent straight to Voicemail.
In addition, Google indicates that the credit balance is also displayed on the Settings Widget. Do take into account that the widgets can be used individually or together. It all depends on the user’s personal preferences.
User must have a valid Google Voice account in order to use the widgets.