LAXlocal

Hi

I would like to use Whatsapp with my Google Voice number ,

When I am traveling I often use local Sim cards and local numbers , so the Google Voice number would at least stay the same.

Searching Google it seems this is possible , but are there any tricks to set it up ?
Right now I do NOT have a Whatsapp account , but it seems that many people do in Europe and Asia so I would like to get one set up.

I am using a Nexus 6 running Android 7.1

Thanks for your advise

gfunkdave

Have you tried to set up Whatsapp with your GV number? Did it not work? If not, what error did it give?

deniah

as far as i remember, during initial setup, Whatsapp will derive the number from the system. i.e. the SIM on the phone. (however it is a data-based service, and if you pull the sim, that active whatssapp account will still work)

GV is a virtual number on an application layer, and thus Whatsapp cannot recognize it. to my knowledge.

***
however, BECAUSE gv is a virtual number, it will stay fixed no matter where you are, and what sim card you have. It goes through data. If you called or texted my GV number, it will ring wherever i have it set up (on my phone, on my computer, etc). the carrier is inconsequential.

mrcamp

No problem setting up my GV number with WhatsApp. If whatsapp can't determine the sim, it will just send a text to the number. Or you can choose to receive a voice call to receive the verification .

Bandicoot

It's definitely not a problem to set WhatsApp to use your Google Voice number - you just have to go through the text verification for the number during the set-up, since WhatsApp can't detect and auto-verify your number. I have done this and it worked fine.

Each time you change the SIM card, though, WhatsApp will ask you to re-verify your number. I've done this a couple of times. Whether this is something you can keep doing indefinitely, or whether WhatsApp will flag the account for some sort of misuse after a while if you keep switching SIMs, I don't know.

Dubai Stu

WhatsApp will work; Viber refuses to setup with a Google Voice number but will work with ProjectFi number.

LAXlocal

Thanks for the info so far.....

No I have not tried to set up Whatsapp yet , I wanted to ask here first so I did it right ,

Mostly worried about the change of Sim cards and new numbers , and if they want to verify with Google voice , I think Whatsapp may be able to Text me overseas but not sure , as some things on Google search says yes and some says no

I wish Whatsapp used a name and not your phone number as your ID , that is what LINE does , but I know Whatsapp is not going to change that now !

mikew99

My personal experience with WhatsApp on my Google Voice number is that I must reverify my WhatsApp (via SMS) whenever I move my WhatsApp app from one phone to another but not when I change from one SIM to another.

I ported my main mobile phone number to Google Voice about two years ago so that I can use it (and WhatsApp) wherever I am with whatever SIM I am using at the time. It was a godsend when I lost my phone on a trip to Indonesia earlier this year. I installed WhatsApp on my backup phone, reverified via SMS to my Google Voice number, and WhatsApp downloaded my backed-up chat history onto my phone.

Nobody knew I had lost my phone until I told them. If I had been using my USA SIM for WhatsApp, I would have been out of luck until I got home.

mrcamp

Same here. During my travels I just swap sims to a local country sim,and I do not need to re-verify whatsapp. I continue to use it as-is.

deniah

i like this aspect of Whatsapp, as it is exceedingly easy, and the low barrier encourages more users. E.g., if a contact's phone number is in your phone, Whatsapp will automatically pick up their being a user. One needs not add someone by name, email, handle, etc.

My usage of GV is through Google's Hangouts and Hangouts Dialer app (they morphed it 100s times...). So it functions absolutely independent from Whatsapp.

Both whatsapp messages, and GV's SMS, can be sent and received anywhere you are physically, because it is through data infrastructure.
Disclaimer: GV SMS can only be sent to phone numbers with country codes of US and Canada.

König

I use Hangouts with my GV number, and it works no matter where I am and what SIM card I am using. Is there any advantage of WhatsApp over Hangouts when both are used with a GV number?

mrcamp

With whatsap you can call/txt and share images/video with any number in the world, as long as it's on WhatsApp.

LAXlocal

For me WhatsApp seems to be on more business cards , company listings etc than Google voice ,

In Asia LINE and WeChat are very popular ,

But to use most of these for free the person or company you want to contact needs to be using the same app ,
That's how you end up with many accounts that all do basically the same thing !

lwildernorva

No matter what you use, I had an experience on my current Vienna trip that reminded me to go through GV or WhatsApp when making a telephone call. I have a SIM through Tesco Mobile Ireland which I've used for several years now on various trips to the EU, especially since June 2017. If I top up by 15 euro or more, I get a data bonus. When I arrived in Vienna, I called back to the US to touch base with my office. I made the call through the phone's regular app without thinking (shouldn't be making decisions after a poor night's sleep on a plane!). Seven-minute call, 15 euro wiped out of my remaining call credit. Quickly topped up online and remembered to make the next call through GV--fifteen-minute call used up less than 25 cents of Google call credit.

I hate to learn through stupidity, but I really like the combination of an EU SIM and GV.

Dread Pirate Jeff

As an aside, how does this work with GV? In my experience, when I make a call using GV on my phone (via the GV app) it GV actually calls my phone directly and initiates the connection that way, regardless of whether i'm on Cell Data or WiFi. I've never been able to get the GV app to initiate a call using data on my phone.