GrooVe IP – make calls Without using your cellular minutes

by Toni McQuilken Mar 30, 2012 12:33 PM – 4 Comments

Install

GrooVe IP allows you to make phone calls without using your cell phone minutes using Google Voice. It is a Voice over IP (VoIP) app that uses the Internet to make calls over Wi-Fi thus allowing to make free unlimited calls to any phone in the U.S. or Canada. Great for the cellular plan minute pinchers or those who want to make phone calls on their Android tablets.

Price: Free, $4.99

Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Content Rating: Everyone

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

Uses Google Voice, so you don’t have to set up yet another account with someone, and give them access you your data!
Allows you to make calls via your Google Voice number without using voice minutes!
You can use it on devices other than a phone – like my WiFi-only tablet!

Cons

The interface is very simple and basic.
I’m not sure the price of the upgrade is worth the small amount of extra features you get.

Features:

I’d like to say up front that I tested the lite, or free, version of this app, partially because I didn’t really think the few extra features you are supposed to get with an upgrade – removal of the ads,, the ability to call on mobile networks and not just WiFi, proximity sensor alerts, integration with the native dialer and the ability to change your status – was really worth spending $5. That said, the free version is pretty darn good.

I decided to try the app on a device that I normally can’t make phone calls on – my WiFi-only Galaxy Tab. Now, I have a phone for making calls, so it’s very rare that I would even want that ability, but I decided it would be a more true test as to how well the VoIP (voice over IP) worked in the app. I have to say, I was impressed.

You sign in with your Google Voice account, which I’ve had set up for a while. So all my contacts, even favorites, synced from Gmail and other Google products, came right over. I was able to dial out with no problem, and I found that the call quality was a lot more impressive that I was expecting. It was clear and crisp, and there was almost no delay. I was testing this on a WiFi network, which, in the lite version, is all you can use. To be honest, if I had access to a mobile network, then that probably means my cell phone, which is always right next to my tablet, is there and working, so again, it’s not a feature I’d see getting enough use out of to justify spending the money.

The interface is rather simple – just a black background with white text, but for what it is, you don’t need a whole lot. If you’re using this to make calls, you care that it works, and that the call quality is good, both of which I can say GrooVe IP does well.

: GrooVe IP Dialer

: GrooVe IP Placing Phone Call

: GrooVe IP Recent Calls

: GrooVe IP Missed Call Notification

: Groove IP Dialer

: Groove IP Contacts

: Groove IP Settings

Usefulness:

If you want to be able to make calls using your Google Voice number, without using your mobile minutes, then this is a very useful app. Even more so when you put it on a device that otherwise you can’t make calls at all from.

Ease of Use:

It was dead easy to use this app. Just sign in using your Google Voice user name and password, and make a call. It really is that simple.

Frequently Used:

This depends on how often you want to make calls. Personally, for me, I’m rarely on my tablet without the phone close by, so it’s more of an emergency thing, say if my phone dies away from a charger, or I can get a WiFi signal, but not a cell signal. But for others, it will become the way they make calls every day. So it really will depend on you personally.

Interface:

As I mentioned above, it couldn’t be simpler if they tried. There is nothing there that isn’t utilitarian and functional. There is nothing here that is graphical or flashy, but what is there just works, and does it well.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

AndroidTapp.com Rating! (4.0 out of 5)

Should you Download GrooVe IP? I was pretty impressed with this app, and I just evaluated the free version. For someone looking to make this into a replacement for their carrier, for example, I could see potentially upgrading to the full version, but for most people, the free version will do exactly what they need it to. It’s worth checking out the lite version, at any rate, if you need or want to make calls using VOIP instead of your traditional cellular minutes.

Categorised in: Communication

4 Comments

By Moebius Street on April 5, 2012 at 11:22 am:

I used this app on a recent vacation to Jamaica (the talk and data rates were absurd). By connecting to the hotel’s WiFi, I was able to make and receive phone calls from the USA with no trouble. The alternative was to use Skype, but that would require purchasing a dedicated number.

Reply
By moe on August 16, 2012 at 12:29 pm:

With all due respect I think you are missing the point in regards to paying for the full version. I have used this app for about 6 months or so and I can not tell how much money it has saved me, but here is the approximate. I don’t have a land line and my “pay as you go” cell phone is my only phone line. I do have WiFi at home so this app has saved me at least 6x(monthly phone line, in my area about $25). Now I know it is not exactly the same as having a land line, for example I can not use fax machine with it. For all that, as frugal as I am, I will happily pay $5.
I can not think of any product or service that I bought, perhaps ever, that has given me such a return, monetary that is.
So can I use the free? Yes, but do I want to? My continuous says No.

Reply
By topaz on December 15, 2012 at 12:47 pm:

My 11 year old has been dying for a phone of her own, got her a galaxy tab 2 for christmas and by using groove ip and google voice she will now have her own phone come christmas morning. Got it set up easily and test calls worked fine. One thing I couldn’t find in other reviews is whether a call will wake the tablet from sleep mode and start ringing. Turns out it does, can also set groove ip to open in the background when the tablet is booting. with wi-fi being so prolific this is a great app for the kid that wants their own phone and the parent (me) that doesn’t want the extra bill.

Reply
- By Antonio Wells on December 15, 2012 at 1:02 pm:
  
  @Topaz Nicely done. My 9 year old has the same tablet but I installed Textfree on her’s more for text on the tablet and it give 10 minutes free. More can be purchase though.
  
  Reply