Talkatone lets you call and text any US or Canadian phone over WiFi or Data (3G/4G), without requiring cell minutes. Using WiFi/Data instead of cell networks is cool for a number of reasons:
Finally, you can import your Facebook, Gtalk and Address Book contacts into one, unified address book and message any of your friends via Gtalk, Facebook or SMS from one interface.
Talkatone’s core functionality (free calling and texting to any US or Canadian number) is built on top of Google Voice. First, you need to get a free Google Voice number (if you don’t already have one) which also becomes your Talkatone number. Calls/Texts from the Talkatone app come from this Google Voice number and when people call your Google Voice number, you can choose to receive the call on your regular mobile phone (which uses cell minutes) or via Talkatone (which does not use cell minutes). Talkatone improves the native Google Voice app by letting you call/text over WiFi or 4G whereas the Google Voice app calls/texts using cell networks.
Talkatone also allows you to make free calls to any other Talkatone user without having a Google account.
Finally, you can import your Facebook contacts and chat with them via Facebook messenger without having a Google Account.
We offer almost all Talkatone functionality for free thanks to support from advertisers. We also offer a few more advanced, premium features for $1.99/month or $10.99/6 months or $19.99/year. Premium functionality includes 1. removing ads 2. support for multiple google voice accounts 3. premium support and 4. slightly better call quality. But all functionality described on this page is free and the vast majority of Talkatone users do not pay us anything!
You need a Google/Gmail account with Google Voice activated. All of this is free. You can get a Google account here. If you already have a Gmail/Google Account, but haven’t signed up for Google Voice, you can sign up here.
You also need a supported mobile device:
American’s traveling abroad:
Americans and Canadians traveling abroad can call/text home without paying for expensive international cell minutes and text messaging plans. You’ll also have a US number that your friends can call for free while you’re traveling.
Residents of Canada:
Google Voice is not available in Canada. However, Google does let Canadians make free outbound calls to other US or Canadian numbers from a web browser. This means that Canadians can use Talkatone to make free outbound calls to any US or Canadian number, but cannot receive inbound calls and will not be assigned a Google Voice number.
Residents of Europe and many other countries:
Google Voice is not available outside of the US. However, Google does let residents of many countries make calls from a web browser at very low rates. This means that Talkatone users who do not live in the US or Canada, can buy Google
Credits and make cheap, outbound international calls via the Talkatone app.
Rates are available here.
Outbound calls at low rates in Talkatone are only available in countries where Google allows "Gmail Calling." This list of countries is available here.
Everyone Else:
If you live in a country that doesn’t support outbound calling, you can always call/text other Talkatone users. So invite your friends to install Talkatone!
Skype/Viber calls are only free if the recipient also has Skype/Viber installed on their mobile phone or computer. Skype charges you to call mobile and landline numbers and send texts. By contrast, Talkatone lets you call and text any US or Canadian number for free. Finally, since Talkatone works using your Google Voice phone number, calls come from a real number and you have a number that never expires to give your friends.
Google Voice: Talkatone improves the native Google Voice app by letting you call/text over WiFi or data whereas the Google Voice app requires cell minutes. The fact that Talkatone does not require cell minutes means you can make calls even when you don’t have cell coverage, turn your iPad/iPod into a phone, make free calls from abroad etc …
Once you’ve set up Google Voice, you’ll be able to make calls and send texts from this number in Talkatone over WiFi or Data without requiring cell minutes.
Note that full access to Google Voice is only available in the US. Canadians have partial access to Google Voice. This means that Canadians can make free outbound calls using Google Voice, but cannot receive inbound calls and are not assigned a Google Voice number. People living in countries outside of the US and Canada can pay to make outbound calls, but can not receive inbound calls. Outbound call rates for these countries are available these countries have no access to Google Voice. Note that even if you are in a country with partial or no Google Voice access, you can always call/text other Talkatone users. So invite your friends to install Talkatone!
There are two possibilities here:
Google Voice has a setting that allows you to specify where you want inbound calls to ring. You can access it here. Most likely, you have checked both “Forward calls to Google chat" (which forwards calls to Talkatone) and “Forward calls to Mobile." If both are checked, the call will ring both Talkatone and your mobile phone at the same time, which is very annoying!
To adjust this “call forwarding" setting on your computer:
Receiving calls in your mobile device's native phone app is like receiving any other call. It uses cell minutes. By contrast, receiving calls in the Talkatone app does not use cell minutes, but requires that your phone be connected to the internet via WiFi or data. You can choose where to receiving calls by changing a setting in your Google Voice account:
Talkatone only periodically checks your Google Voice account to see if your Google Voice number has received any new texts. This can lead to a delay in receiving texts in Talkatone.
You can fix this in two ways:
Talkatone is built on top of Google Voice. Thus calling and texting requires you to log into your google/gmail account and set up Google Voice (all free). There is some minor functionality available without having a Google Account. For example, you can import your facebook contacts and chat with them without logging into Google. You can also call/text anybody who also has downloaded the Talkatone app. Get a google account here. Set up Google Voice here.
One of the awesome things about Talkatone is that it allows you to call any US or Canadian number over WiFi or Data no matter where you are in the world. As long as you have WiFi or Data access you can call/text your friends at home or receive calls/texts from them without paying for expensive international cell minutes. But be aware, however, that international data can be expensive. 1 minute of Talkatone call easily could cost you $5-10 on 3G data roaming! So if possible, get a SIM card from a local provider with reasonable prices or use WiFi which is always free.
You can play with your WiFi router and try to select cleaner WiFi channel (default auto selection is often not the best choice. Several users reported that they were able to significantly improve call quality by picking better channel).
Talkatone needs the following ports open for outgoing traffic:
"No-audio" on iPhones or iPod touches is a pretty common problem. Please check our Blog post where we outlined most obvious causes and solutions.
Do let us know if problem persists and you are not able to resolve it, we'll help you.
Yes, Talkatone supports Bluetooth on iPod Touch 4th generation or later and iPad as of iOS4.3.3. However, please consider following:
No, we do not store have your password. Instead, you need to follow Google's instructions to reset your password.
We enjoy making Talkatone better and it's not possible without you. There are several ways of how you can learn new things about us and provide us your feedback:
Our Customer Support team is always here to answer your questions when you need help.