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Google or Motorola didn’t address this aspect of their hot new smartphone when announcing it earlier this morning, but many of you were wondering if WiFi calling would be supported. Thankfully we have that answer by way of T-Mobile as the UNcarrier has announced the Nexus 6 would support WiFi calling on their network. Unfortunately the feature won’t be available immediately after launch as they’ve given an “early 2015” estimation for its arrival.
They went out of their way to remind us that this is the first Nexus phone with that functionality thanks to new APIs and enhancements in Android 5.0 Lollipop. We’re not sure if the same will ring true for other carriers once the device hits store shelves, but considering American carriers will all be receiving identical SKUs of the Nexus 6 it should technically be possible on other carriers. That’s great news for sure (even if a hefty price tag has put you off on buying one for now).
[via T-Mobile]
This better be true for the N5 too when it gets the update..
And hopefully the N4. :)
This is an amazing device that dropped out of nowhere. It’s REALLY going to challenge Samsungs Galaxy brand since it will be available on all carriers
The other carriers have to roll out support. The iPhone 6 SUPPORTS WiFi calling, but it’s only available on T-Mobile here in the US :(
Might get this or the NOTE EDGE on the JUMP program……
If you can deal with Touchwiz, take the Edge since it will have Wi-Fi calling sooner rather than later.
If it’s Lolipop that’s exposing the functionality, it leaves open the possibility they’ll also support WiFi calling on the Nexus 4 & 5…
Or at least that someone at XDA will support it. :)
I hope so. I’m deciding between Nexus 5, Z3, Moto X 14′, and Nexus 6 in T-Mobile….
1. Nexus 6 (if you can bare the size difference).
2. Moto X 14.
3. Nexus 5
4. Sony Xperia Z3 (I put this hear since it doesn’t have pure android and the Bravia icons look so fugly to me.)
Sony Xperia Z3 (I put this hear since it doesn’t have pure android and the Bravia icons look so fugly to me.)……Google Now Launcher.
I don’t buy a phone just to put launchers on. I buy them for features and the looks.
for looks, the z3 is the best. Plus I really like Sony’s interface, much better than other manufacturers
I would put the z3 over the nexus 5 personally, if price isnt a sore point. I would like that Camera and waterproofing.
I was talking about mainly software, but if you want practicality, that’s fine since Sony doesn’t really do anything bad.
I mean I have a g3 so i really don’t have a horse in this race. But coming from a Nexus 4 i was willing to experiment with skins in exchange for better hardware (battery life/camera primarily).
Some are no-nos. The S4 with TW? No thanks. Same with the S5. Abysmal experience with the GS5.
yeah definitely not TW. Honestly on paper the GS5 had all the hardware I needed in a smartphone. Great screen, great camera, big battery, s801, waterproof… perfect…. but i just hated that home button and i really really do not like touch whiz.
The home button is how you get the fingerprint scanner though. I have virtual buttons on my G3, so it does help that they’re customizable too. The GS5 will be available on GPE’s site soon. I really don’t like Samsung right now, but that Note 4 looks great. Blows my G3’s screen aside.
So, Google Voice via Hangouts supports wifi calling.
On any network? Or just T-Mo?
Wifi calling doesn’t matter what network you’re on. That’s the point.
Wifi Calling in this instance refers to the t-mobile implementation which allows you to call and text (mostly) directly with your t-mobile number over wifi instead of over the air. Google voice has its own separate number.
I know the size thing is really bothering a lot of people, but I’m freaking thrilled! This T-Mobile WiFi calling thing just puts a cherry on top of an already delicious dish.
So if it was an API problem… Does that open the for for then gen 2 moto x to also get Wi-Fi calling on the pure edition?
*fingers crossed*
I would love to get this phone from TMo for many reasons. It’s just unfortunate because I know that they will add TMo bloat-ware on there which is going to piss me off
Did they do that to the n5
I’m not sure but from everything I’ve read it’s their policy.
The answer was no they didn’t
Nexus phones don’t have carrier software added, it’s part of the requirements of the line. That’s why Verizon refused to activate the Nexus 7 or 5 when they launched; they couldn’t spew a gallon of digital puke all over the pure Android experience, so they shut their doors to it, even though technically speaking an activated SIMs worked fine in them.
Thanks for the clear up. What about to enable wifi calling though. Tmo has their own software when it comes to that. Is it safe to assume that it will be there?
No, they don’t have their own “software”, it’s in your Android settings. With locked phones (every smartphone except the Nexus line), T-Mobile tweaks the OS a bit – all the carriers do this. For example, I can shut off the shutter sound on my camera but Verizon and I believe Sprint customers cannot. This article says that new APIs in Android 5.0 will allow wifi calling for carriers that support it, which makes me think that instead of T-Mo having to change Android before releasing the phone, they will somehow switch on that wifi calling – which I suppose is not visible or enabled when you use the same phone on other carriers’ networks. That or there will indeed be more than one SKU for it.
Regarding bloatware, T-Mo has relatively little. I’m looking at my Galaxy S3 now and it has only 4 T-Mobile apps I can’t delete: T-Mobile Name ID, T-Mobile TV, T-Mobile My Account, and Visual Voicemail. That’s it. I don’t care about the first two, but I use the second two regularly. I have them on my homescreen and the other two are hidden in my apps which I just ignore. They don’t affect my life.
Of course, newer phones might be worse with that now.
Sold! Although, given pre-Lollipop Android was the Wi-Fi calling limitation, i may hold out for an app on my N5.
I don’t think it’ll be available on other carriers unless those carriers expressly introduce wifi calling. I believe it’s done on both the client (in the Android settings) and server side – not just within Android. Traditionally, most phones are carrier locked, so the T-Mobile version of a GS5, for example, has WiFi Calling in the settings, but the Verizon version doesn’t. Since Nexus 6 has only the single unlocked model, my guess is when a user connects with a T-Mobile server, it sends a message to unhide or un-grey that switch within Android 5.0. That way it’s one phone, many features, some specific to a carrier.
If this happens, I maybe dropping the Samsung Galaxy S device line as my go to for phones. Hopefully the trend will continue with the Nexus phones. I just upgraded to the Galaxy S5 so not looking to switch out phones so soon.
You must talk on the phone a lot of this is such a decisive feature for you… Personally, I don’t really care, as standard cellular call quality is fine for me, but hey, everybody’s different.
I don’t talk on the phone a lot, but I have very poor reception in my house. So when I need to talk on the phone it is nice to be able to.
True. I’m curious if SMS and MMS can go through Wi-Fi too. That would be awesome. I too have spotty coverage around my house (even with Verizon…) and sometimes SMS, and MMS in particular take awhile to come.
For some reason, I hadn’t thought of WiFi calling as meaning “calling indoors with no service”, rather as “high-quality sound calling”. Now I’m intrigued… o_O
Excuse my ignorance, but Google Hangouts plus Google Voice allows my Nexus 5 to make free calls to the US and Canada as well as free SMS and MS. To receive free calls and texts, the other person must use my Google Voice number and not my cell number. I stupidly thought that this was WiFi calling and texting. Then, I was told the Nexus 5 couldn’t do WiFi calling. Once my Nexus 5 gets Android 5.0, will it be able to do WiFi calling like the Nexus 6?