Google will finally add native visual voicemail support to Android M, with a catch

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Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He's interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in (show all) Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He's interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time. Follow him on Twitter.

Android fans may like to tease Apple users for only recently implementing certain features they’ve had for a while, but one place Google has lagged behind Apple is native visual voicemail, which iPhones have supported since the original 2007 model. Android M will finally catch up.

According to Android Police, the next version of Android will finally bake the functionality right into the OS. There’s a caveat, however, as carriers need to individually implement support for Google’s service themselves. So far only T-Mobile in the US and Orange in France appear to have signed up, although there’s still plenty of time for others to catch up before Android M’s official release.

nexus2cee_15-1-329x585 — Image credit: Android Police

It’s pretty barebones support at the moment, but it’s integrated right into the dialer via a new tab. Transcriptions are supported, but that’s also dependent on the carriers to support individually.

Still, it’s about time, and accessibility right on the dialer should make it a bit easier to do than proprietary carrier apps.