Hey folks! We've got lots of user experience improvements inside for you.

Let's dig in:

• We've made some changes to typography and iconography to make the look & feel more polished
• We've reduced the height for some cell rows. This way, you can see more information on the screen and spend less time scrolling
• We've changed the positioning of the "unread dot" in the navbar from top right to top left. This way, you can easily tell whether you're on "Do not Disturb" or not and how many unread conversations you have.
• We found it annoying that the most recent message was never grouped with others. No more!
• In some cases, the OpenPhone badge notification would show that there are unread conversations, even though they've been all read. Fixed.
• Sharing contacts externally was not working. Sorry! Fixed now. Thanks for noticing, Jeff!
• Made changes to deeplinking, allowing you to dial phone numbers directly on OpenPhone. So if you have a product and want to allow your users to place calls via OpenPhone, it's as easy as adding 1 line of code now. Learn more here.

Want to get all the goodies?

Update your iOS app here ⤴️

Our team has been working hard on many exciting updates to kick-off 2021.

Here's what's new:

Call transfer and advanced phone menu 🔁

Ever pick up a call and realize it's for someone else on your team? You can now forward an incoming call to the best person. Call transfer is live on the web/desktop and iOS, and coming soon to Android.

Even better - route calls to a certain member of a shared phone number through the phone menu. Check out all advanced phone menu options we're rolling out here.

Call transfer and advanced phone menu are Premium features. Want to check them out? Change your plan here. ⚡️

Muting 🔕

Do you have multiple OpenPhone numbers but only really need to answer calls or texts on one? No problem! You can now mute the numbers you don't need to receive notifications for.

Learn more about muting here. Enjoy some extra peace and quiet!

Reject an incoming call with a text message ✌️

Have you ever received a call while on another call? Or were too busy to answer? Whatever the reason, you can now reject an incoming call with a text message. It takes 2 seconds and is much more polite!

Best part? If you've set your OpenPhone status, we generate a text message that's tailored to what you're up to.

Android app improvements 🏗

We've heard you loud and clear. Our Android app needs work. This is why we're starting 2021 with fundamental improvements to the app infrastructure. Today's update is a big step in that direction.

Here's what's inside:

• Reliable push notifications for calls, messages, and all activity.
• Calls that ring reliably. If you've ever had issues receiving calls - sorry! No more.
• Ability to multitask while on OpenPhone call without losing audio (or having the call drop).

Update your Android app today ⤴️

Huge thanks to those of you who've shared your feedback with us. Keep it coming and we'll keep the improvements coming! 🙏

Delighters ✨

No release goes out without some little (yet important) details.

• You can now order or reorder custom properties on contacts. Just drag and drop them on the web/desktop. If you're OCD like me, this is a big improvement 🙂
• We consider URLs as custom properties now which means that if you're importing contacts into OpenPhone that have multiple URLs, they'll be mapped properly. Thanks to Amit for the suggestion!

We're hiring 🚀

It's an exciting time at OpenPhone as we're hiring on all teams (and establishing many teams we don't have yet), so if you or someone you know is looking for a challenge, apply here. We'd love to hear from you.

First iOS app release of 2021 - here we go, folks!💪

Lots of fixes in this update, big and small:

• Using OpenPhone on speaker caused an echo for some of you. So sorry! Fixed.
• Some links shared in conversations wouldn't be clickable. Oops! No more.
• If you muted a phone number, you'd still receive voicemail notifications coming into it. While it's nice to be informed, you wanted to get some peace and quiet when muting that number. All sorted now - enjoy no notifications when you're on mute.
• If you had a group chat, it wasn't always clear who said what from the conversation screen. Fixed!
• Speaking of all things grouping - messages in conversations weren't grouped optimally in the interface. We're modified this so you are never guessing the timeline of communications.
• Pasting links from Safari added a random .txt file that did nothing. Sorry! Fixed.

We've also made some improvements to deeplinking and a lot of other small (but mighty) UI changes to make OpenPhone better for you. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

Update your iOS app here ⤴️

PS - did you know we're hiring? We've got roles available on pretty much all teams. Check out our Careers page here.

We've got a lot of fixes coming your way on iOS, folks.

• We had an odd issue with some messages sent via the web app not showing up on iOS. Sorry about that. Fixed!
• If you went on Do Not Disturb in the web app, the mobile app wouldn't pick that up. Not anymore. Enjoy your deserved peace and quiet!
• We had an issue with the phone number symbol being erased when you change business hours. Odd, eh? Fixed.
• We found that the app would, by default, sync your personal contacts with OpenPhone. That shouldn't be the case. It's opt-in only. Fixed.
• When sharing a phone number with your team, you weren't able to see the name of the teammate who answered a call. Oops! Fixed that too.
• In some cases, you would receive a voicemail transcript without the option to listen to the audio. Sorry! Enjoy listening to your voicemail!
• For some of you, calls that have been answered show up as if they have been missed. No good! This is all fixed now.

Update your iOS app here ⤴️

Zapier integration ⚡️

If you're using both OpenPhone & Zapier and want to automate manual work, I've got some good news for you. 🙂 We're starting to give beta access to our integration.

Zapier integration is a part of our Standard plan and all triggers are included at no extra cost. If you want to send automated messages via Zapier, there will be an additional cost of $0.01 per text message sent.

While the integration is in beta, these will be free for you.🤗

For instructions and tips on getting started, check out this post.

Want to get early access? Sign up here ⤴️

Hey folks - we've got some news!

💸 $14M Series A to Redefine the Business Phone

We're thrilled to announce our $14M Series A funding round, led by Craft Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Slow Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Garage Capital, and a group of incredible angel investors.

This is a huge milestone for us as we continue on our mission to build the world’s most delightful, reliable, and smartest business phone platform.

If this sounds exciting to you, consider applying as we're hiring across the board.

Our CEO Mahyar reflected on today's milestone on our blog - check it out.

With this announcement, we are also launching our biggest product update yet. It's live on Product Hunt today ⤴️

Here's what's new.

💬 Group messaging

You probably use group chats to talk to friends and family. Now you can communicate in groups on OpenPhone too. Save time and keep everyone on the same page. Plus, it's fun. Especially if you love sending GIFs as much as we do.

👋 Direct messaging

Need help from your team? You can quickly DM your teammates right from the app to make collaboration faster for everyone.

You can now see when your teammates are online or away. Even better - set a custom status to share what you're up to. Maybe you're on a call with a customer or taking your dog for a walk.

If your colleagues aren't on OpenPhone yet, it's a good time to invite them 😉

🌍 International calling and messaging

Many of you requested the ability to call and text people outside of the US & Canada. Good news - you can now call and text anyone in the world, at low rates. Enjoy!

📈 Analytics and reporting

How much time did you spend talking to customers last week? What's the busiest time of the day for your team? Get insight into these and more with OpenPhone analytics. Available as a part of our new $25 per user per month Premium plan.

🔍 Search

You can now find any contact, message, activity, or voicemail transcript easily. Try it out, it's pretty magical.

⚡️ Integrations with HubSpot and Zapier

If you use HubSpot CRM, we've got more good news. You can now see a full picture of your customer interactions and sync data between both systems. Get early access ⤴️

And through our Zapier integration, you can connect OpenPhone to thousands of applications you use. Airtable, Typeform, Intercom, Zendesk, you name it. If you hate manual work and want your tools to work nicely together, apply for access here ⤴️

📹 Send videos, GIFs, and all sorts of files

We now support sending all types of files. Try it! If you love sending GIFs like us, type '/giphy' to pick the one that perfectly suits your conversation.

😍 Tons of UX improvements

As you'll be able to tell very quickly, all our OpenPhone applications look much cleaner and more streamlined. And we have a brand new website. There are lots of little details we've worked on to delight you. Here are some of them.

• Give your phone number an emoji symbol to help you and your team distinguish it among all other numbers in your workspace. It's also way more fun!
• Set an outgoing caller ID for your number to control what shows up when you call
• To easily access the command bar no matter where you are in the web & desktop apps, type Command + K

🚀 Live on Product Hunt

Our entire team is available to answer any questions on Product Hunt today. Check us out and let us know what you think. We appreciate your support. ♥️

Go to Product Hunt ⤴️

🙏 Thank you!

From the early days of OpenPhone, we've been incredibly fortunate to have awesome customers like you on our side. You're the reason we wake up every day to keep building and improving. We wouldn't be here without your support and we're excited to continue this journey together.

As always, we'd love to hear what you think. Let us know how we can make OpenPhone better for you.

Using OP on iOS? It's your day! Check out what's new in our big product update.

Send GIFs via GIPHY 💃

We've integrated with GIPHY so you can find the perfect GIF for any situation. Want to wish your client a happy birthday? Or send a TGIF to a teammate? No problem! Just tap on the / button or type /giphy and search for the perfect GIF to express how you feel.

Who said your business phone should be boring?🤘

Send files, videos, and contacts 📹

You can now send and receive any and all types of content via OpenPhone. Want to share someone's contact information with a colleague? Or a quick video? You can even send a spreadsheet!

Tighter integration with iOS 🤝

iOS now recognizes OpenPhone as the communication app (about time!) so you will see OpenPhone show up as the option for sharing that picture you took or that file you have on your phone. Just go to your camera roll, pick any photo and then tap share. Hurray!

More intelligent voicemail playback 🎧

If you ever played back a voicemail or a call that you recorded on OpenPhone, you noticed they'll play over speaker. This isn't great, especially if you're in a public place or dealing with sensitive information. Now, OpenPhone will play via headphones or the speaker based on your selected media source. Thanks to Mallory for this suggestion!

Improved call quality (when your Internet isn't the greatest) 🗼

We don't always have the strongest Internet connection so we've optimized the bitrate needed for calls. This will allow you to have a great call even on slower networks. Let us know what you think!

Deep-link to OpenPhone from your service 🌟

If you want to deep-link to OpenPhone from your service, you now can! For example, openphone://dial?number=4101234567 would open the dialer with the number you're passing on. Or if you want to draft a text message, use openphone://message?number=4101234567&text=Hello,%20buddy - get in touch if you'd like more info!

Bug Fixes 🐛

• In iOS 14 Apple changed how incoming calls show up. To be able to show you the name of the OpenPhone number on the call screen we had to come up with a clever solution. You will now see a tag representing the name of your OpenPhone number on that screen. We still love you, Apple!

• In certain cases, contacts added via the web or desktop app wouldn't show up on mobile. We know how frustrating this can be. Fixed.

• Sometimes you'd open the app and it would appear as if you're on a phone call (when in fact, you're not). Oops! That's fixed now.

• Sometimes you'd get a Missed Call notification while OP is ringing. It wasn't our intention to play mind games, so we've fixed that.

• Sometimes when you receive a message from a new contact while the app is closed and tap on the notification, OP would open the conversation screen that's empty. No more!

• iPad users would sometimes get a crash when changing business hours or sharing a message in a conversation. Fixed!

• Sometimes the checkmark below a sent message would overlap with the date stamp 😬 It's in the right place now.

• Some of you experienced an issue with adding contact properties in the app. The app would become unresponsive. Sorry about that - fixed!

Get all these goodies in iOS 2.1.7 on the App Store. Update your app here ⤴️

And do let us know what you think. You know how to reach us 😉

Text us at (855) 746 6304

Android friends, we've good a big update for you today.

Here's what's new in Android 2.3.6:

Enriched contacts

• We've revamped the contacts experience on Android, allowing you to add custom properties to your OpenPhone contacts.
• You can also add internal notes to your contacts so you never miss a single detail.

Google Contacts sync

We've made it easier to sync your Google Contacts with OpenPhone if you choose to do so. Check out Contact Settings right in the app.

Delete conversations

You can now delete your conversations right from the app. Tap on the "More" icon inside the conversation screen and you'll be able to delete the conversation or block a contact.

Drafts

Did you ever type something in a conversation and then have to switch to something else? You won't lose any of your drafts.

Bluetooth connection

We've improved OpenPhone's connection with Bluetooth so that you can use any Bluetooth device for your calls. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Want to get all these? Update your app here ⤴️

As always, let us know if you have any feedback. Text 855 746 6304

iOS users, we've got some updates for y'all today.

Snippets ⚡️

Tired of typing the same response over and over again? Then you should use snippets (or message templates). You can create, share, edit, and use snippets on-the-go now. And if you made a snippet with the web / desktop app, you'll be able to use it on mobile seamlessly.

GIFs 💃

Love GIFs? You can now send both GIF and PNG images from the app.

Easier to block callers and senders 🙅🏻‍♀️

Hate spam? We do too! Save time by blocking a sender or a caller right from the conversation screen.

Delete conversations 🗑

You can now delete your conversations from the conversation list view via the "More" menu. Keep your inbox clean!

Oh, and by the way, this doesn't un-send or delete the conversation for your contact. It only deletes it from your end.

Update your app to get all the new features 🎁

Have feedback for us? Send us a text! 💬(855) 746-6304

Oh, and if you're curious to see OpenPhone in action join us for a live demo.

As we've added a lot of useful features to the web dashboard, we've realized something.

Many of you wanted to use it on-the-go through your mobile browsers. This wasn't possible before. We had a blank screen.

Well, no more!

You can now launch your admin dashboard on your phone or tablet browser and do everything you expect:

• Invite team members
• Add phone numbers
• View and modify phone number settings like auto-replies, auto-recording, and more
• Set up integrations (Slack, email, Google Contacts, and more coming soon)
• Make changes to your billing

Check it out on my.openphone.co ⤴️

Got feedback? Text us at (855) 746 6304 💬

Today's 2.1.5 release has tons of improvements and fixes to make your OpenPhone contacts better.

Contacts settings ⚙️

We've introduced a simple Contacts Settings menu with three explicit options for syncing your iOS contacts.

Tap on your OpenPhone account on the top left -> Settings -> Contacts to access them.

• 🙅🏻‍♀️ Don't sync your contacts at all (keep your iOS contacts completely away from OpenPhone);

• 📲 Sync locally on your existing device (sync your iOS contacts with the existing device so that if someone calls or messages, you know who they are based on your iOS address book);

• ☁️ Sync remotely (upload your contacts to OpenPhone servers so that you can see them when using OpenPhone web + desktop apps).

Bulk select for contacts ✅

You can now select multiple contacts in order to share them or delete them from OpenPhone.

Bug fixes 🐛

No release is complete without bug fixes. Here's what we've fixed:

• We had an issue on iOS with calls being dropped in some cases at the 10-11 minute mark. Sorry about that, it's solved now!

• If you're a user with the issue of duplicate contacts from different devices, it's fixed. You can now disable contacts sync from one of your devices from the new Contacts Settings screen in the side menu.

• If you're a new user and have multiple devices, you won't have your contacts duplicated between them.

• Revoking access to the device contacts on iOS didn't remove them from the web app. This is solved now.

• Rarely, you'd get a notification about a message without the content of that message. You'd have to open the app to see the content of the message. We've fixed this issue now. No more mysterious notifications.

Update your app here to get all the new stuff 📲

Have feedback for us? We're all ears!💬

Enjoy!