GVNotifier brings Google Voice SMS to the desktop

November 18, 2009 by Dave
 

Welcome Lifehacker!  Follow @davux on twitter!

This is an old version, get the latest GVNotifier here.

This project is superseding the DigsbyGV project.  GVNotifier brings Google Voice services to the desktop in the form of a notification app.

GVNotifier.net supports one-click calling right from the SMS window.

Click the tray icon to display your personalized favorite list.  Contacts are placed on this list if they appear in the inbox.

Send messages to users not in the recent list.

Download:

GVNotifier requires the .NET Framework 3.5 and Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7.  Aero recommended.

GVNotifier.net 1.0 [ClickOnce Install]

Update: 11/19/09 (Build 20)

- A bug that prevented the ‘call’ button from working has been fixed.

Update 11/20/09 (Build 50)

- Fixed a bug loading contacts without names.

- Fixed a UI animation bug.

- Included dialog to send a message to any number.

- Fixed ‘Check for updates’ in About dialog.

- Added option to check for new SMS messages by middle-clicking the tray icon, or selecting the menu option.

- Smooth loading of contact list.

Update 11/21/09 (Build 52)

- ClickOnce installer now manages updates.

- Possible fix for sending SMS on certain GV accounts.

Update 11/22/09

- If you’re having trouble sending SMS and would be willing to let me log into your account so I can figure out why, please let me know!  Several users have reported being unable to send SMS.  I’m unable to reproduce the problem with any of my accounts.

Update 11/25/09 (Build 70)

- Fixed an issue that was causing HTTP 500 errors for some users.  Try using –mobile if it still isn’t working.

Update 11/26/09 (Build 80)

- Fixed some possible issues with logging in.  If you were unable to login (RNR_SE is missing, Invalid User/Pass), get the update and try again.  Restart twice to get the updater to launch.

Comments

63 Comments on GVNotifier brings Google Voice SMS to the desktop

  1. Doug on Sat, 21st Nov 2009 6:57 pm
  2. looks like an excellent implementation and I badly want to get it working, but have tried three builds now and still cannot get to work.

    1. Not sure if netprep is needed because I initially installed straight from the msi, but the netprep link above is broken (remove i from end of link), and when downloaded will not run, because the gvnotivier.net msi file is not labeled setup.msi (changed the name and got it to install)

    2. once installed, incoming messages and recent contacts load, but attempting to send an SMS gives an error [Unable to send message.]

    3. What is the formatting of the callback number in settings, I assumed it was just the numbers, but have tried the label assigned in voice.google.com and the phone number with formatting in attempt to get to wrok.

    1/3 should benefit everyone, but any ideas as to why I am having the issues in 2? anyone else with similar problems? running windows 7 here

    great job otherwise, i hope to get everything working and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

  3. Dave on Sat, 21st Nov 2009 7:10 pm
  4. Hi Doug – Thanks for trying my software!

    1. Thanks, I must have tapped a key when I was updating the post. NetPrep is not needed unless the MSI fails to install (Lacking Windows Installer 3.1, or .NET 3.5). If the application installs, don’t worry about it.

    2. I have had one other report of this issue, and I have an idea for a fix. Try sending a new message to “+1(An outgoing number)” (i.e. Add +1 to your unformatted 10-digit phone number. Please let me know if this fixes the problem. There is a log file located at c:\users\\AppData\Local\gv_notifier_log.txt. This file may have information that can assist in debugging. You will likely see an HTTP 500 Internal Server Error if you inspect the log.

    3. No formatting is required, just the 10-digit number. In a future build this will be populated for you from the phones on the account.

    Thanks again and please let me know! You may also email me at DaveAmenta at Gmail if you’d rather.

  5. kdev on Sun, 22nd Nov 2009 2:00 am
  6. Very nice job Dave. Thanks so much for working out those bugs with me last night. I’m now enjoying this superb app. Kudos. Kdev.

  7. Joseph Harris on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 4:51 pm
  8. Thanks for writing this. It’s much needed.

    When I click on the tray icon and the list pops up, it seems that no matter what number I click, it always tries to call the top one on the list.

    This is the only problem I’ve encountered so far, I’ll keep you posted if anything else comes up!

    [...] GVNotifier.NET is a free download, Windows only. GVNotifier.NET [...]

  9. Dave H on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:02 pm
  10. I’m also having trouble sending SMS messages – they receive fine, but I get the Unable to send message. I tried to use the +1 in front of the number, but there’s no luck. Here’s the error message from the log:

    System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (500) Internal Server Error.
    at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse()
    at GoogleVoice.Voice.SendSMS(String number, String msg)

  11. James on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:04 pm
  12. The contacts don’t seem to be loading for me any suggestions? i am running windows 7 x64

  13. Dave H on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 5:10 pm
  14. Did a little more troubleshooting – I have access to two Google Voice numbers, one with a @gmail login, one with a @uconn.edu (we’re using this for a UConn Library project). The @uconn.edu GV account gives me the error when sending SMS messages, the @gmail account does not. Not sure if that matters.

  15. crazygary on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 7:02 pm
  16. its nice but cant seem to name the contacts and cant get the pictures to come up for people, although a nice feature it needs more tweaking on the developers part

  17. word? on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 9:26 pm
  18. small bug, its duplicating every message that i get.

  19. Jason on Wed, 25th Nov 2009 11:41 pm
  20. running Vista 32bit, installed ok, but never connects. Log finishes with
    RNR_SE is missing!

  21. mhaqs on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 12:05 am
  22. hi,

    the app seems nice but i can’t seem to login. it keeps giving me “Google voice username/password invalid”. I am sure I am giving the correct ones.

    character issue?

  23. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 3:10 am
  24. I haven’t heard of this before, except if messages are deleted/archived in GV, old ones may appear as new. This is fixed in one of the next updates.

  25. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 3:11 am
  26. Is your account special in any way? That basically means that the login failed.

  27. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 3:11 am
  28. Are there special characters in your name?

  29. J-othy on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 3:26 am
  30. Same issue as mhaqs, “Google voice username/password invalid.” Nothing special about my account. Running on Windows 7 64bit.

  31. mhaqs on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 6:47 am
  32. not in my name but they are there in the password. I login fine all the time through the iphone app. Oh, strangely enough, it used to give me the same error in its early stages but not anymore.

  33. Google Voice Desktop Notification Apps on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 8:58 am
  34. [...] Download GVNotifier.net [...]

  35. Sam on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 10:04 am
  36. Looks like something I want to try. The only thing I’m not sure about is providing my gmail username and password. Is this information sent anywhere besides google?

  37. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 12:05 pm
  38. Try again with the latest build.

  39. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 12:06 pm
  40. Your GV account information WILL be stored to the disk in plaintext, but it WON’T be sent anywhere other than to google.com via an SSL connection. I’d like to fix user/pass storage in a future build.

  41. HT on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 2:36 pm
  42. Same issue as mhaqs. Installed 1.0.0.80. Cannot login. Windows XP 64 bit.

  43. Bill S on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 2:50 pm
  44. I am running Win7 64bit and office 2007. When I attempt to run the install I get the following error message and the install aborts.

    Component Visual Studio Tools for the Office system 3.0 Runtime has failed to install with the following error message:
    “Fatal error during installation. ”

    The following components failed to install:
    - Visual Studio Tools for the Office system 3.0 Runtime

  45. Bill S on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 2:54 pm
  46. I did get GVNotifier to install on my laptop that is running Vista Ultimate 64bit but it will not connect with GV. I am in Brasil and have had problems with GV on my iPod Touch. It seems that GV sees me out of the country and will not allow a sign on, I think.

    [...] 点此免费下载GVNotifier.NET。 [...]

  47. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 5:06 pm
  48. As far as I know, Google blocks access to GV from outside the USA. Not much I can do about this.

  49. Dave on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 5:08 pm
  50. @Bill S:

    This is the VSTO installer that you need: http://www.microsoft.com/downLoads/details.aspx?familyid=54EB3A5A-0E52-40F9-A2D1-EECD7A092DCB&displaylang=en

    Office isn’t actually required for that part of VSTO I’m using.

  51. Bill S on Thu, 26th Nov 2009 7:36 pm
  52. 1) Tried the VSTO installer for my Win7 Ultimate 64bit machine and it too failed.

    2) Strange that I can access GV from here in Brasil using my web browser and cant’ from applications like yours.

    [...] GVNotifier.NET is a free download, Windows only. GVNotifier.NET [...]

    [...]                 GVNotifier.net [...]

  53. Jesse on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 5:07 am
  54. Does anyone have the problem of getting the same SMS three times in a row?

  55. Jared on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 7:36 am
  56. Dave,

    Very awesome little desktop app for Google Voice. I have hated it when friends send me text messages at home. When I got Google Voice it was nicer to be able to reply from my PC. And your little App provides the last piece in my puzzle. Not having to click on Refresh all the time in google Voice.

  57. mhaqs on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 12:02 pm
  58. ok, i tried logging in using a US ip, didn’t work. I tried changing the passwords, didn’t work. you might try to ask for some help from the maker of gvmobile for iphone. i’m sure that app had the same issue.

  59. Lisa on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 6:05 pm
  60. Works perfect for me!

  61. GVoiceNotifier.NET: Google Voice in the Taskbar on Fri, 27th Nov 2009 8:01 pm
  62. [...] CommentsTweet This If you’re a Google Voice and Windows user, you might like to check out GVoiceNotifier.NET, an unobtrusive little app that adds Google Voice notifications, one-click calling and SMS [...]

  63. tdfr on Sat, 28th Nov 2009 3:10 am
  64. Same issue as @word? All my notifications appear twice, with a delay of about a minute between each one.

    Also, I had to rename the executable file and tack on an “.exe” at the end to get her going.

    Otherwise, love love love it.

    [...] Download GVNotifier.net [...]

    [...] GVNotifier.NET is a free download, Windows only. GVNotifier.NET [...]

    [...] GVNotifier.NET is a free download, Windows only. GVNotifier.NET [...]

  65. idimi on Sat, 28th Nov 2009 12:43 pm
  66. It Would be good if you made it compatible to Growl. http://www.growlforwindows.com/gfw/apps.aspx
    it’s a suggestion!

    [...] GVNotifier.NET is a free download, Windows only. GVNotifier.NET [...]

    [...] GVNotifier.NET is a free download, Windows only. GVNotifier.NET [...]

  67. bbxl on Mon, 30th Nov 2009 11:37 am
  68. Loving the GV Notifier app, but upon startup, receive error “Unhandled exception has occurred in your application. Please be sure a sound file exists at the specified location”. Please advise of what file is to be used and it’s intended location. Thank you.

  69. Bob on Tue, 1st Dec 2009 5:02 am
  70. Loving the app! Working great on my XP64 rig. Only problem is my PC won’t shut down, (or even attempt to) as long as your app is running, any thoughts? Also, any way to get the text font smaller? it’s huge lol :-)

    I totally second the growl integration, that would make it SO damn smooth!

  71. Jen on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 4:55 am
  72. Looks like I’m getting the 500 Internal Server Error, too. Is there a fix for this?

  73. know patience on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 2:43 pm
  74. love the app, i like having access to my gv account without having to keep a browser window open.

    i noticed that when i have the app running there is a discrepancy in the handling of calls with blocked or unknown caller id. one of my friends has a private number that always shows as ‘unknown’ but googlevoice recognizes the number and doesn’t ask the caller to state his name. when i have the gvnotifier app running my friend is asked to state his name. when i have an incoming call there is also a huge delay before i recieve the notification of the call from gvnotifier.

    i wanted to share my experiences, as you have a great app here. if i could code i would definitely attempt to look into this deeper. keep up the good work and feel free to email me for any reason.

  75. cody racette on Sun, 6th Dec 2009 12:06 pm
  76. Sweet Program dave! i am trying this out right now!

    [...] Download GVNotifier.NET [...]

  77. Paul II on Mon, 14th Dec 2009 12:34 am
  78. The call button isn’t working for me. I also couldn’t figure out where to go to specify the -mobile flag (admittedly, I don’t know a whole lot about .NET).

    I tried right-clicking on the shortcut in the Start menu but it doesn’t provide a Target field to modify the command line and also does not specify the location of the executable that the shortcut is pointing to. I also couldn’t find where the application was installed. Is there a default location where it gets placed?

    Thanks.

  79. Paul II on Mon, 14th Dec 2009 12:55 am
  80. nm, it seems to just be on windows that pop up for incoming texts. and that isnt too bad because I can just close and reopen them.

    Great application…thank you!!

  81. Brennan on Wed, 16th Dec 2009 12:15 am
  82. I’m on dialup and frequently use the highspeed connection at the local library etc. Is there a full offline installer at this point?

  83. Dave on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 11:20 pm
  84. No, but the large downloads will include .NET 3.5 SP1 and Visual Studio Tools for Office. The application download is 8MB and I think that is completely reasonable.

  85. bryan on Sat, 16th Jan 2010 6:19 pm
  86. I love this app! thank you!!! Now can we add either autoresponders… or a way to put in templates to click and auto send something real quick to them?
    Im trying to use this for my business to send quick responses to customers!

  87. Ron on Fri, 29th Jan 2010 10:38 am
  88. Looks like an awsome app! I downloaded it and installed it but, when I put in my gmail address and password it says there’s an error and the username/password is invalid even though I am sure that I am entering the correct gmail address and password. Any ideas?

  89. George on Fri, 5th Feb 2010 11:32 pm
  90. Awsome Application. It really helps so much with my use of google voice , i currently have it installed on 4 computers in my home.

    One request or suggestion, can you configure the pop up window to appear where you want, I personally like it more in the lower right hand corner where it used to be at least for incoming messages and calls. the middle window is just too intrusive since I have it running on 2 HTPCs.

    thanks again for amazing work.

  91. xyz on Fri, 12th Feb 2010 1:50 pm
  92. Great except for after its loaded, and I restart computer it doesnt come one and basically has to be re-installed each time.

    Under my settings for startup programs its checked off so it should run each time the computer starts.

    any ideas?

  93. Dave on Wed, 24th Feb 2010 12:06 am
  94. @xyz – run at startup has been disabled due to some complexities with ClickOnce. To run at startup, copy the start menu shortcut into the ‘Startup’ folder.

  95. Dave on Wed, 24th Feb 2010 12:09 am
  96. @George – both the contact list and message window should open at the location the window was last closed. If you move a window and then click the X, new windows will appear in that location.

  97. Dave on Wed, 24th Feb 2010 12:11 am
  98. @Ron – if you’re willing, you can send some diagnostic information which will allow me to determine why you can’t login. Please join the beta group if you’d like to explore this option, or send me an email directly.

  99. Esente on Sun, 28th Feb 2010 7:04 pm
  100. The application does not recognize international number in contact list well. For example, a mobile number in Australia is +61 4xx xxx xxx. But GVNotifier.NET reads it and changes it to (14x) xxx xxxx, which obviously won’t let me make call to that number. Is there a fix to it?

  101. David E. on Fri, 2nd Apr 2010 10:34 am
  102. I’m having the same login issue reported above. Program starts up no problem, but my login fails. It’s an @gmail.com account I use for my email and the chrome extension for GV, so I know it’s not a mistake on the user or password. OS is W7 64 bit. I’ll look to join the beta group and am more than happy to share diagnostic info if that helps find a fix.

  103. sean on Mon, 12th Apr 2010 2:36 pm
  104. Dave, you’re awesome. This software is the exact solution I needed for Google Voice on my desktop…and I don’t even use it for SMS, just the calling function.

    It’s the only one of it’s kind! Thanks for making it donationware as well. I expect you’ll be seeing something from me soon, as I’ve proved it is a valuable tool so far.

    Sincerely,

    A Happy User!

  105. sean on Mon, 12th Apr 2010 2:58 pm
  106. oh and, I don’t suppose there would be some way to also log into gv notifier through data connection on phone…say an android or WinMo OS? That would be so friggin’ sweet I wouldn’t know what to do with my myself. Except well use it on my winmo and android phones that is.

    Just a thought for you….

    Sincerely,

    Sean