The Best Walkie-Talkie Apps for Android and iOS - Digital ...

The best walkie-talkie apps for Android and iOS · Zello · ProPTT2 Video Push-to-Talk · Voxer · VoicePing · Breakr · Two Way · Walkie-talkie — ... Trending: BestSmartphonesFromMWC2022 GPUPricesAreDropping HowtoRespecinEldenRing iPhoneSE(2022)Rumors Destiny2:TheWitchQueenReview EldenRingClassGuide IfwatchingthekidsinStrangerThingscommunicateviawalkie-talkieleftyouwishingitwasstillthe80s,we’vegotsomegoodnews.Walkie-talkieappsbringalltheexcitementofwalkie-talkiechattoyoursmartphone,allowingyoutotalktoyourfriends,sendthemmessages,andleavevoicemails.Ofcourse,theydon’tuserealwalkie-talkiefrequencies—soyouwon’tgetanyinterference—butthey’restillthecoolest,mostretrowayoftalkingwithyourfriends.Thereareevenappsthatallowyoutotalkwithusersinyourareaandworldwide. Contents ZelloProPTT2VideoPush-to-TalkVoxerVoicePingBreakrTwoWayWalkie-talkie—CommunicationWalkietoothHeyTellShow4moreitems Voxer,TwoWay,andWalkie-Talkiearejustafewoftheoptionsavailable.TurnyourAndroidoriOSdeviceintoadigitalwalkie-talkiewithourhand-pickedselectionofthebestapps. Zello Zelloisoneofthemostwell-knownwalkie-talkieappsonthemarket,andit’smostpeople’sgo-toforawalkie-talkieexperience.Partofthereasonwhyit’ssopopularisbecauseofitsusability.It’seasytoimportcontacts,andtappingononedisplaystheoptiontotalkdisplayedfront-and-center.Youcantalkdirectlywithindividualpeople,oryoucancreateagroupchannelforyourfriendsorworkgroups.Ifyou’refeelingparticularlysocial,youcanevenjoinaspecializedchanneltochataboutspecifictopics,fromcatstolocalareas.Voicemessageswillbeplayedoutimmediatelyiftheappisopen,orplayedlaterthroughavoicemail-likesystem,soyoucanpickupyourmessageswhenconvenient. It’spackedwithfeaturesandhasbeenupdatedtoworkwiththeTwiinsSmartButton.Youcanalsosendtextmessages,images,oralerts.Oneusefulfeatureistheabilitytosetavolumelevelforeachuser—whichisespeciallyhandyingroupchanneltalkswiththoseparticularlynoisypeople.Therearesomeissues.Itwon’tworkifyouuseamobileVPN,andhastroublewithsomeopenWi-Finetworks—butit’sotherwisethebestoptionavailable. AndroidiOS ProPTT2VideoPush-to-Talk Push-to-talkaudioisonething,butpush-to-talkvideoisabsolutelyanother.ProPTT2isanexcellentwalkie-talkieappwiththeabilitytotransmitvideoblastsaseasilyasaudio.Youcanchatingroupsorone-to-one,andyou’reabletosearchforandjoingroupsforavarietyofinterests.We’reparticularlyfondofthelook,whicheschewsthebrightcolorsofmanyotherwalkie-talkieapps,insteadoptingforasleek,technicalstyle.IthassupportforvariousPTTdevicesandtheAppleWatch,andyoucanaccessvariouschatfeatureslikereal-timelocationsharing.You’llneedtosignuptousetheapp’sfeaturesproperly,andyouonlygettomakeonechannelforfree,butaslongasyousignupsomefriends,youshouldhaveenoughtogoaround.Recentupdatesincludesupportfordarkmode.A30-daypasstotheProfeatureswillsetyouback$4. AndroidiOS Voxer Welovewalkie-talkieapps,buttoomanyofthemdon’talsohaveroomforthemoretraditionalmessagingmethods.Ifusinganappthathaswalkie-talkiefunctionalityseemsoddtoyou,maybecheckoutVoxer.It’sbuiltmorelikeatraditionalinstantmessagingapp,andincludesthreadedviewtextchatandsupportforsendingimages,andisoneoftheonlywalkie-talkieappstohaveend-to-endencryption.Unfortunately,there’snooptiontobroadcasttochannelslikeZello,butyoucanstillcreategroupchatsifyouneedtocontactabunchofpeopleatonce.It’snotbug-freethough,anduserscomplainaboutabunchoffairlyannoyingbugs.Still,theytendtoberelativelyminor,likedoublenotifications.Basicaccessisfree,butyou’llneedtoupgradetoaProaccountforthebestfeatures,includingahands-freemode,voice-to-texttranscription,theabilitytorecallsentmessages,andmore.Proaccesscosts$4amonth,or$30forayear. AndroidiOS VoicePing VoicePingisafairlysimpleapp—that’sbecauseit’sdesignedprimarilyforbusinessusers.ItcanbeusedbyanyonewithanAndroidoriOSdevice,andit’sbuilttoresembleamoretraditionalmessagingapp—butthere’smoreherethanthechatappinterface.Voicemessagescanbeplayedfromanycontactatanytime—evenwiththescreenoffandphonelocked,andyoucanchoosetochatone-to-one,orpickupto200contactsinagroupchat.Advancedfeaturesallowyoutopingspecificcontactsforattention,ortakecontrolofagroupchatwithanSOSmessage.ItalsoworkswithheadsetswithPTTbuttons,makingitextremelyusefulforcertainbusinessusers. AndroidiOS Breakr Oneofthepurerversionsofawalkie-talkieapp,Breakrcommitsitselftotalkingandverylittleelse.It’saseasytouseasyou’dexpect;holdthebuttondown,talk,andreleasethebuttontosendyourmessage.Buttherearedevilsinthesedetails.Can’ttalk?Typeyourmessageandit’llbereadouttoyourrecipientwithBreakr’stext-to-speechservice.There’savoicechangerifyou’dprefertochatanonymously(orjustsaysomethinginasillyrobotvoice),andthe24-hourchathistorymeansyoushouldn’tmissamessage.Thedownsides?There’snorealtextchatoption,andit’siOS-only,soyou’relimitedtoonlychattingtofriendswithiPhones. iOS TwoWay Amuchsimplerappthansomeoftheotherentriesonthislist,TwoWayisthewalkie-talkieappofchoicefortheextrovert.There’snooptiontopick-and-chooseindividualcontacts,andyoucan’tsendtextmessagesorimages.Instead,youcanpickaspecificgeographicalarea(localornational)andbroadcasttothatarea.Assuch,you’reopeningyourbroadcastsforabsolutelyanyoneelsetohearandrespondto.Sodon’tbesurprisedwhenyoustartgettingrepliesfrompeopleyoudon’tknow.Ifyoulovestartingconversationswithstrangers,thenthisisanexcellentwaytodoso—andthankstothewaytheappissetup,youdosowithoutanyriskofgivingawayintimatedetailsofyourself.Thankfully,ifyouwantamoreprivateconversationyoucanheadintotheKeyPadfeatureandchooseachanneltochatininstead.Thehugeselectionofchannelnumbersshouldmeanyouwon’thavetosharewithanyoneelse.Therearereportstheappdoesn’tworkproperlyonAndroid9.0PieandAndroid10,butifyouturnoffBatteryOptimizationyoushouldn’thaveanissue. AndroidiOS Walkie-talkie—Communication It’spossibleyoudon’tneedallthespecializedmessagingfeatures,the“listenlater”messages,orfriendslists.If,upuntilthispoint,mostofthecomponentshavebeenabitoverthetopforyou,thenwerecommendWalkie-talkietosatisfyyourminimalistneeds.Tobeblunt,it’ssolelyawalkie-talkieapp—turniton,selectyourpreferredfrequency,andbeginchatting.Youwon’tneedausernameorpasswordtologintoanaccountbecausethere’snoparticularaccounttoaccessanyway.Justdownloadtheappandstartspeaking.Theuserinterfaceissimpletouse,anditresemblesaclassicplastic-stylewalkie-talkie.Besidesitsnicenostalgic,minimalisttouch,therereallyaren’tanyadditionalfeaturestothisapp.Youcanlistentodifferentfrequenciesandchangethebackgroundcolor,butthat’saboutit.Currently,theappisavailableoniOS.However,youcanalsocheckoutawebsiteversion,whichwecouldn’tgettowork.Still,thisisafunandeasywaytostayintouchwithsomeonewithouttheeffortthatotherappscanrequire. iOS Walkietooth Walkietoothlandedonourlistforacoupleofreasons:it’samoney-saver,andit’sversatile.Whiletheirneedforadataconnectioncanbogdownotherapps,Walkietoothusesotherconnectionsinstead.ThisappcancreateadirectconnectionwithadevicebyusingBluetooth,Wi-Fi,orbyconnectingwithotherdevicesonthesamenetwork.Youcanopttousethiswalkie-talkiesolelytoshareaudio,oryoucanaddavideotothecallatanytime.Wegetthatvideocallingdoesn’talignwiththeclassicwalkie-talkies,butitsdual-usabilitymakesitafarmoreusefulproduct.Forexample,youcoulduseitasapossiblebabymonitorifyou’reinquickneedofone.OragroupofmotorcyclistscantakeadvantageoftheBluetoothfeatureandstayintouchwhileyou’reontheroad—although,bepreparedtopossiblyloseconnectionifyoudrivethroughanareawithzeromobiledata.Youcanhonestlythinkoutsideoftheboxandusethistoolforwhateveryouneed.ThisappiscurrentlyonlyavailableforAndroidusers,andit,unfortunately,doesn’tlooklikeWalkietoothwillproduceaniOSversionanytimesoon. Android HeyTell HeyTellisareliablecross-platformappthat’scapableofconnectingalargegroupofpeople.It’savailableoniOSandAndroidandhastheuniquecapabilitytolinktoFacebook,soyoucanconnectwithfriendsviayourprofileorcontactlist.HeyTellmakesitextremelyeasyforyoutoconnectwithwhoeveryou’dliketotalktoontheservice.ThecompanybehindHeyTellvaluesprivacyaswell—theyemployathree-tieredprivacysystemtokeepyourinformationsafewithintheapp.Youcanalsouseanin-appvoice-alteringtooltomodifyyourvoiceanddisguiseyouridentityasyou’reusingthefeature.Onemajordownsidewefoundisthatthisisanolderapp.Theproducershaven’treleasedanupdateforitsince2016.Itstillhasmanyusefulfeatures,butyoumayhavetojumpthroughafewhoopstogetthemtowork.YoucancheckthroughHeyTell’sapppagestoreadmoreaboutthecaveatsyou’llhavetofollowtogettheoutdatedapptowork. 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