NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Puzzlement: Apple approves YouMail, but not Google Voice
Greetings. You've no doubt already seen a variety of discussions regarding Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application for the iPhone. There is, unfortunately, some confusion surrounding this story, exacerbated by the fact that relatively few people have had access to Google Voice so far. I currently use both YouMail and Google Voice, in a reasonably coordinated manner (playing each to their individual strengths, I hope). One key point about the iPhone Google Voice app (like the Android version) is that it is *not* a VoIP application. Calls made via the GV app are placed through the conventional voice channel and use whatever voice minutes are associated with the user's plan. The phones' data circuits are used for call control, setup, and for transferring stored voicemail messages to the phone for local "visual voicemail" playback. Both GV and YouMail handle voicemail in essentially this same manner. GV provides live call facilities unrelated to YouMail functionalities, but since most if not all iPhone users in the U.S. are likely to have "no long distance charges" plans, there is no obvious revenue loss to AT&T for users routing their live domestic calls through GV instead of direct. Voice minutes are used up from the subscribers' plan minutes bucket in either case. It could perhaps be argued that transferring voicemail messages through the data circuit eliminates potential revenue that might be generated by conventional (live) retrieval of voicemail via ordinary calls. But again, both the YouMail and GV apps handle this in much the same manner, and only the latter was rejected by Apple. One of the continuing complaints about Apple's handling of the iPhone ecosystem is the seemingly capricious nature of their app approval process. Since the iPhone represents a very significant percentage of total smartphone usage in the U.S., such decisions have a direct relevance to various issues broadly associated with network neutrality concerns. Apple, through their rejection of the Google Voice iPhone app, has (presumably unwittingly) thrust this issue into the forefront of current considerations related to this topic. --Lauren-- NNSquad Moderator