ARK Phone 1.27

What's new

Caller announcement no longer goes silent for good after a Speech Services update: when the speech engine's binding dies underneath a long-running app, the app now rebuilds it and speaks the name again (this was eleven days of vibrate-only calls in voice-only announce mode).

Android 17 notification rows now show the handset for call notifications and the speech bubble for message notifications again — Android 17 had started drawing the app's launcher icon on every row, which made a missed call look like a text message.

A conversation opened but never sent no longer leaves an empty row in the conversations list.

The version shown in Settings now names its build (for example 1.27-release).

ARK Phone 1.26

What's new

Group MMS now works end to end. Group messages you send reach every member (a formatting quirk in saved contacts could silently drop recipients before), incoming groups collect into one conversation titled with its members, the notification shows the group, and replying — from the conversation or straight from the notification — stays in the group and goes out on the SIM the message arrived on.

Messaging polish: a conversation that receives a new message surfaces at the top of the list immediately, delivery reports are now actually read so "Delivered" means delivered, messages from blocked numbers stay silent, and text sender names like "INFO" can now be blocked too.

The app has two launcher icons now: Phone and Messages, with the Messages one opening straight into your conversations (names follow the device language). Status-bar icons tell the two worlds apart as well — call notifications carry a handset, message notifications a speech bubble.

Dialing: typing three or more digits on the keypad now also suggests matching numbers from your call history, not just from contacts.

Call blocking is stricter where it matters: a blocked prefix now always blocks, even when the same number keeps calling back, and prefixes match across the "+44" and "0044" spellings of the same country code.

Plus a round of smaller fixes from several external code reviews, including a crash fix in the conversation view.

ARK Phone 1.25

What's new

The in-call screen now follows the same task model as Google's Phone app: it lives in its own task, hidden from the recent-apps list. After a call ends you return to wherever you were, answering a call leaves no trace in recents, and the app itself is no longer force-closed after calls — if you called from within the app, it stays open in the background like any other app.

This also makes call-failure explanations structurally reliable: nothing outside the call screen can close them anymore.

ARK Phone 1.24.1

Fixes a 1.24 issue where the call-failure explanation dialog was closed automatically after about two seconds. It now stays on screen until dismissed.

ARK Phone 1.24

What's new

• Wi-Fi call indicator: calls carried over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) are labeled in the call history and in the number's detail view.
• Call failures now explain themselves: when a call cannot be placed (for example airplane mode without Wi-Fi calling), the system's explanation is shown instead of the screen closing silently.
• Select all works both ways: on the messages screen, tapping select-all again clears the selection.
• WhatsApp filter only when relevant: the WhatsApp chip on the home screen is hidden when WhatsApp is not installed.

v1.23

ARK-phone gets its own look.

• New app icon: a white speech bubble with the phone handset inside it, on a blue gradient — calls and messages in one mark. Includes a Material You themed icon that follows your wallpaper colors.
• Notification icons use the same mark, drawn so the silhouette stays crisp in the status bar.
• Release APKs are now named ARK-phone-.apk.

v1.22

Messages gain selection tools, sharing in both directions, and live links.

Messaging

• Long-press a message to start selecting; checkboxes let you pick several and delete them at once
• Share the selected messages to other apps as text
• Share text or a picture from any app into ARK-phone: pick the recipient and it becomes a new SMS or picture message
• Web links, email addresses and phone numbers in messages are now tappable; tapping a number asks first (Call / Copy / Cancel)
• Dates such as 01.08.2026 are no longer mistaken for phone numbers
• Opening a conversation clears its notifications and the launcher badge, and a picture message that finishes downloading while its conversation is open no longer leaves a notification behind
• Detected links are available to TalkBack through the message's accessibility actions

v1.21

ARK-phone becomes a full messaging app. Set it as the default SMS app from the banner on the Messages tab — until then it keeps working as a dialer only.

Messaging

• Conversations tab with search, unread indicators and a new-message flow
• Send and receive SMS and picture messages (MMS)
• Group conversations: pick several recipients in the new-message screen; replies go to everyone as group MMS
• Delivery status stays visible under every sent message; picture messages show their send progress
• Message notifications with quick reply and mark-as-read; blocked numbers stay silent
• Long-press a conversation to delete it, long-press a single message to delete just that one
• Copy the other party's number from the conversation menu
• Failed picture downloads offer tap-to-retry, and re-sent carrier notifications no longer create duplicates
• Outgoing photos keep their correct orientation

Calls

• Missed-call notifications no longer reappear after a reboot

v1.20

The screen turns off at the ear during a call and wakes when the phone is lifted away. The app closes fully once a call ends. Missed-call notifications no longer return after a reboot once dismissed. Blocked calls can be rejected immediately or silently passed to voicemail, individually blocked numbers follow the same choice, and a quiet notification keeps a trace of blocked calls. The system call settings screen now opens for the right SIM instead of failing with a network error on single-eSIM phones.

v1.17 — Speech setup guidance

Makes the spoken caller announcement honest about what a phone can do.
Installs over v1.15 and v1.16.

• A phone with speech engines installed but none of them chosen as the
  default announced nothing at all, with nothing explaining why. The
  settings now check what the device can actually do: with no usable
  engine the announcement choices are hidden and a notice points at the
  system speech settings, where the engine is chosen. When the engine
  works but lacks the app's language, the choices stay and a button opens
  that engine's voice download directly.
• The notice names the language it is missing.
• The settings end with the app version, so a phone can be identified at
  a glance.

Choosing a speech engine and downloading a voice are two different system
screens; the button now opens whichever one the phone actually needs.