If you live in the US and own an Android device, chances are you must be using Google Voice. For the unknown, Google Voice is a VoIP like service by Google that allows you to call any number in the US and Canada for free from your phone, with international call rates being extremely low as well. You can read more about Google Voice over at Wikipedia.

The problem with Google Voice is while the service is extremely useful, Google does not shower enough love towards it. The application is awfully outdated and is not tightly integrated with Android OS, like the rest of the Google services. Since Google Voice does not offer any API, it is not possible for developers to integrate the service into third-party apps.

However, Koush – the developer of ROM Manager, ClockWorkMod Recovery and a lead developer at CyanogenMod – has managed to get Google Voice to work with the stock messaging app in CM as well as other third party apps. This basically means that if you are running CyanogenMod on your Android device, you can use your Google Voice to send or receive texts and more from either the stock Messaging app or third-party apps like Handcent, GoSMS etc.

Presumably, this new integration with Google Voice will come with the new Messaging app that the CyanogenMod team is currently working on integrating into their ROM.

Update: The first CyanogenMod nightly builds with this feature baked into the messaging app are not rolling out for certain devices. You can download the ROM from get.cm. The feature won’t be baked into the ROM for legal reasons, but you can get it working by following some simple instructions from Koush.