Why does Apple get to decide what applications your iPhone can run? That’s a question on customers’ minds today after Apple rejected Google Voice as an iPhone application, apparently to protect AT&T’s lock on iPhone users.
This is another example of how Apple’s monopoly control over iPhone apps is bad for customers.
Google Voice is a next-generation telephone management system that allows users to share a single number among all their phones. It also provides SMS, voicemail, and speech-to-text conversion of incoming voicemail messages. All for free.
It’s easy to imagine Google Voice users might not to want to pay AT&T for features that Google is giving away. So, apparently to protect AT&T, Apple rejected Google Voice.
Currently available by invitation only, Google Voice is already available as a mobile application for Android and BlackBerry handsets. The app provides access to Google Voice features, including the ability make a call appear to be coming from the user’s Google Voice number.
A friend who uses Google Voice says the BlackBerry app is a life-changer, though I think he’s overenthused. Still, I am starting to use Google Voice in my office and am generally pleased thus far. I especially like getting transcripts of voice messages sent to my email.
If you are interested in using Google Voice, request an invitation here. Google is clearing out a backlog of requests and the waiting time is now only a week or so.
Apple is well-known for its control-freak tendencies, but rejecting Google Voice as an iPhone application is just too much. Apple should be ashamed. And it’s iPhone applications monopoly should be broken.
Industry veteran David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.