[HOWTO] Comprehensive Automated Free VoIP with Google Voice

[fratermus]

I use Tasker for the criteria-based control of airplane mode, wifi, etc.

[ziddey]

Yes, Tasker is $6.49. Autoair is free and was made strictly to toggle airplane mode when wifi is (dis)connected.

[Slinkwyde]

Yes, Tasker is $6.49. Autoair is free and was made strictly to toggle airplane mode when wifi is (dis)connected.

AutoAir is also easier to use than Tasker because it does one thing well. Tasker is more suitable for advanced users, particularly those with some programming experience.

Tasker has some advantages over AutoAir, and for those reasons I have switched to it. It can be made to quit your VOIP client (GrooVe IP in my case) when away from WiFi and automatically start it when you are connected to WiFi. It can also check to see if you have an actual Internet connection instead of just a WiFi connection with no Internet. Then there are the many completely unrelated things you can use it for, like auto-responding to texts you get while driving or turning on GPS when you launch your navigation app.

If you can tolerate a steep learning curve to get powerful features, Tasker is better. If you want ease of use, AutoAir is better.

[Slinkwyde]

Good point. I started a thread in HoFo's Android forum and in the official Cyanogenmod forum, and also emailed HTC support and my city's non-emergency hotline. For something this important, I'd like to be as certain as possible. I'll let you know what I find out.

HTC said yes it can be done in airplane mode, but I don't know if that's specific to my phone or if it applies to other HTC phones or other Android phones. The people responding to my thread in HoFo's Android forum didn't think it would be possible. I got no replies from the CyanogenMod forum or my city government.

I'm going to be cautiously optimistic and go with HTC's answer, since they'd be in the best position to know.

[ziddey]

Hmm, no edit feature for older posts...

Update:

GV SMS Integration Free
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...tegration.free


GV SMS Integration Free

While not related to VoIP, a lot of users prefer the native SMS client over the GV app for text messages. Google Voice can forward texts, but it will obviously be encapsulated in a forwarded message from a shortcode instead of the actual sender's number. Not exactly clean by any means, but it is the only solution when in an area without data (i.e. roaming). Otherwise, this app will work alongside the GV app to offer seamless integration with the native SMS app (or GoSMS). You must enter your credentials in the app again for it to be able to send messages. Upon enabling integration, the phone will reboot. There looks to be three types of integration: standard, root user, and airplane mode. I've only used root user, which seems to work just fine in airplane mode.

Since I never use my cell number for texting, I have it set to send all text messages via Google Voice account. It does have the option to allow replying to texts from the number it was received from, which can be useful. There's some warning about hiding the notification bar, but I haven't had any issues yet.

Going after strictly GV SMS integration, and nothing else, I've disabled the send/receive text signatures, turning the screen on when there's a new notification, and showing popups when there's a new text.

Be sure to disable text notifications in the Google Voice app.

Do note the warning when you first enable integration-- if you decide to uninstall the app, DISABLE INTEGRATION FIRST.

[ziddey]

Scratch the above post. The free version of GV SMS Integration is a trial, and has nag messages to buy the full version.

Others have said they didn't lose their cell text messages when disabling it, but I seem to have. Didn't have anything important but just figured I'd mention it might happen.

Seems to be many issues with Jellybean as well.

[lisaco1]

Good job with your Google voice setup guide

Sent from my LG-P509 using HowardForums

[ziddey]

I found Llama, https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...om.kebab.Llama, an app like Tasker that's free and has a workaround solution for toggling airplane mode for JB4.2 (requires root).

It seems to be a little buggy, but if you can make through the setup, it should work well. I've just installed it now, so will have to see how it performs in the coming days. It may benefit a lot of you on the $30 TMO plan in automation, saving battery, and preventing double ringing.

Here are the rudimentary events I have set currently:

1. At Home - enable WiFi
2. When your phone connects to %AP% - enable Airplane Mode and enable WiFi
3. When your phone disconnects from %AP% - disable Airplane Mode
4. Upon leaving Home - disable WiFi


When you first run Llama, have it learn your home area for some time. As you walk around your house / toggle 2g/3g, it should find most/all the cell towers in your area. We use this to drive our events. This is similar to Y5 battery saver, except Y5 automatically learns all cell towers as long as you're connected to a certain wifi AP. The benefit of using llama is that it won't constantly fight with disabling wifi when it doesn't recognize any cell towers.

Event 2 requires re-enabling wifi after AP since enabling AP will automatically disable wifi. Plane Mode Tweaker allows for wifi to remain on, but it's listed as incompatible with the N4. I haven't tried installing the apk manually or seeing how it's implemented, but I suspect it may be possible to apply the same tweaks, and not require this extra step.

Again, I'll have to see over the next few days how well this setup works. The "danger" that I can see is that if you leave too "quickly" and are out of the home area when event 3 is triggered, you may out of the home area already, and so event 4 won't be triggered. It does seem to have a memory of your location when in airplane mode though, so it may work just fine. If not, a tweak to the event may be necessary-- Not in Areas condtion, although this may result in wifi being killed immediately in foreign areas (same problem with Y5).

All in all, it seemed to like stalling out a lot while I was setting it up, but after everything is in place, everything appears to be working fine.

[rainee]

Ziddey, thanks for all the great info here! I've set up Sipdroid, but I'm really not sure if I have it set up correctly. I'm hoping you or one of the other knowledgeable people here can advise me on the best setup for my situation. Here's my info:

- I'm using a Samsung Galaxy 3 (i5800) on Froyo. It has very little internal memory, so I have to limit the number of apps I have that cannot be moved to the SD card.

- I'm currently trying out Ptel's Real Paygo plan (on T-Mobile network). I have been on T-Mobile pay-as-you-go for quite a while, but I'd like to be able to get data when I need it (which would be *very* infrequently) without switching to the $2/$3 a day plans that T-Mo has. Data on Ptel is $.10/MB, so I don't want to use it often. Calls are $.05/min and texts are $.02 each.

- I have a Google Voice number that I would like to use exclusively, so I'd like whatever setup I have to show my GV number for outgoing calls and texts regardless of whether I'm on Wi-Fi or the network.

Here's ideally what I'd like to do: Use Wi-Fi for calls and texts when I'm at home or other places where Wi-fi is available, and use the Ptel network for calls and texts when I'm away from Wi-fi. I'd rather pay the $.02 per text than turn on data if I don't have to. I just want to be sure that my GV number shows to my recipient rather than my actual cell number.

Based on my experience after trying things out for a few days, I also have some specific questions:

1. Some guides to using Sipdroid with GV say that you should set GV to "Use Google Voice to make all calls," but others say you should set it to "Do not use Google Voice to make any calls." I would think the first option would be correct, but I was confused by that contradiction. Am I missing something?

2. Is there any way I can place a call through Sipdroid without having to dial a "+" after the number? I have tried all the different settings under "Call Options - Preferred Call Type," and every time I try to place a call through Sipdroid without the "+" at the end, I get the message "Call cannot be completed as dialed" and it hangs up. If I dial with the "+", it goes through just fine. I'd like to be able to dial directly from my contacts if possible. I think I must have something set wrong.
I'm wondering if GrooveIP might be a better option for a n00b like me...?

3. I downloaded Llama, and it seems to be a great program! I'm trying to learn how to get it set up for what I want to be able to do. If anyone has suggestions based on the setup I described above, I would really appreciate some guidance. I assume that if I have Llama, I wouldn't need the Auto Air/Plane Mode Tweaker setup any more, is that correct?

Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance to anyone who can help me out!

[ziddey]

1. The idea is that by selecting "use google voice to make all calls" will only end up applying for actual cell calls (it dials google voice's number in order to dial your requested number and have your gv# show up). By having sipdroid prompt for usage (or automatically use it when on wifi), it will hijack the dialer and not get to the actual google voice "always" selection.

2. I've never heard of this before. Have you made some sort of setting in sipdroid to require a + at the end to dial with sipdroid? Or made some change at pbxes? I've never run into this problem before.

3. Llama has to potential to be great, and may work well for older versions of Android. It was too unreliable with JB4.2 last I tried it. However, I have since found MacroDroid, https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...oft.macrodroid, to work very quickly and reliably, as well as being extremely intuitive. I originally wrote this guide for ICS and earlier versions, and so the arsenal of apps listed did the trick well. It seems a lot of them aren't overly compatible with JB4.2.. While numerous, most of the originally listed apps are all pretty lightweight, and shouldn't dominate your 512MB of internal storage.


The only issue I might see is that if you use the GV app for texts, it uses data. You'll need to remember to switch it to forward texts to your phone beforehand maybe, or set it to always forward in order to receive texts with data disabled. Of course, the drawback with this is that texts will be received from google voice shortcodes, so it won't "integrate" nicely with the native sms app, and will rely on you having the contact added to google voice if you want to see the name.

I wouldn't recommend GrooveIP all too much. It was the main app available a long time ago when I actually bought it myself, but I've never been able to get it to play nicely, mainly because it interfaces directly with gtalk, and so only supports g711 alaw/ulaw, which don't tolerate anything but the best of connections.

I did have decent results with Talkatone though, if you're looking for something simpler to try and use.