First off, this process requires that you have Push Notifications enabled on your iPhone, and a Google Voice account (more information). If you already have a GV account, skip step 1.
- Sign up for a Google Voice invite (or email me, I have one left). It may be minutes, hours, or days until your invitation arrives - Google is still working through their invitation process. Once you do receive your invitation, ensure that you sign up for a Google number (here's why). For more information on how to properly activate Google Voice with a Google number, go here.
- Download the Boxcar application onto your iPhone (it's free)
- Open Boxcar on your iPhone, go to Settings (upper-left), go to Add/Edit Services, hit the + sign, go to Email Account, call it whatever you please (mine is called Google SMS), choose your settings (mine are Sound:Default, Badge Updates off, Private Alerts off). Hit Save (upper right). Hit Done.
- Now go to the service you just created and you'll see your custom forwarding address at the bottom. Touch Your Forwarding Address is: and email the address to yourself.
- Go to Gmail and open the email from Boxcar containing this custom forwarding address. Select the address and Copy it (control+C, or right-click > copy)
- Go to your Gmail forwarding settings and click the button next to Forward a copy of incoming mail to: and Paste (control+V, or right-click > paste) the address that you just copied. Ensure that keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox is appears to the right. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
- This will send a verification code to Boxcar, which will appear on your iPhone. Go back to Gmail forwarding settings and enter this code into the box next to Verify [your custom forwarding address] and click Verify
- Go to Gmail filters (click the link), click on Create new filter at the bottom, and at the top next to From: type txt.voice.google.com and click Next Step
- Check the box in front of (Your boxcar custom forwarding address should appear in the box). Click Create Filter.
- (Optional) Now go back to your Gmail forwarding settings and click the button next to disable forwarding at the top. This will prevent all of your emails being forwarded to your iPhone - some people may want to leave forwarding enabled if they wish to receive a Push Notification (popup) for every new email (I don't)
You're done. If you have your GV account already, test it out: Go to your GV account and send an SMS to your own Google number. This should result in you receiving an email in your Gmail Inbox with the message that you just sent. This should also result in a popup on your iPhone with the message - just like a normal SMS message sent over the cellular network.
Three cheers for Google for providing this service, and an equal number of cheers for Boxcar for providing a free way to get popup email notifications.
Questions? Email me at mike@kerfeld.com
