watchOS 5 Beta 2 Includes Functional Walkie-Talkie App

[macduke]

I’m really looking forward to this feature but without being able to schedule it to go silent when I’m at work it’s mostly useless for me. My wife and I would use this all weekend and every evening!

 

[Whathappened]

I kinda always thought it was pretty dumb to include a Walkie Talkie option in the first beta yet non-functional...

Just a "Walkie-Talkie (Coming soon)" would have been better. Otherwise gave high hopes to users..

It's like being excited opening up your birthday present, only when you unwrap it, your face suddenly drops.

Your parents must have been very happy with such an ungrateful child..

 

[SRLMJ23]

What most people that never used Nextel didn't appreciate was it was extremely low voice latency with the walkie talkie feature. Like, nearly CB radio low latency. This is one of the reason construction guys liked it so much. When operating a crane or loading big heavy things, the delay you get with a cell phone voice call can be too much. When you say stop, you want the other guy to hear it immediately (or as close to immediate as possible). Other than using a CB radio, Nextel was the next best thing.

I loved Nextel!

In fact, I still have all my Nextel phones but no charger! I would love to charge them up and see what pictures (horrible quality obviously) are on them.

My friends and I all had Nextel in college, and it was great. Like you said, it was so fast to get a hold of someone.

Ahh, the good olé days!

 

[Bonte]

Why not just phone the person....

It' doesn't lock up the phone numbers while being in constant contact throughout the day, it's like Messenger for voice.

For example, there are 4 people working in a house, separate floors, going after materials etc, all a button away to collaborate handsfree while still available by phone.

A child can use it on a trip instead of having a phone, I think you will be amazed at how fast this feature alone will find it's way into the lives of many young people and at the work place.

 

[needfx]

Phone WiFi, phone cellular, direct WiFi or direct cellular?

and which watch models!

 

[Bacillus]

Now let Spotify port a virtual WalkMan to WatchOS

 

[newyorksole]

Ummmm.....anyone heard of Zello?

That’s like asking someone who uses iMessage if they’ve heard of Yahoo Messenger or Viber.

You ever hear of “native apps”?
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Just what we need, another way for "public speakerphone" idiots to annoy everyone around them .

Being in NYC it’s rare that I see someone talking to someone else via speakerphone...

 

[SoundJudgment]

This works like a real walkie talkie. If you’re concerned about notifications, just use voice iMessages instead. This is best used when you’re out at the park, in emergencies, etc.

The kids from 'Stranger Things' would certainly have appreciated this feature back in the Mid-'80s. Much better than those hunks of walkie-talkie metal they were forced to carry around back then.

 

[sinsin07]

Maybe the Dick Tracy "2-Way Wrist TV" will someday appear as an Apple product:
http://dicktracy.wikia.com/wiki/2-Way_Wrist_TV

Almost there but not quite:

After 70 years, a working Dick Tracy two-way watch radio is finally available

Being in NYC it’s rare that I see someone talking to someone else via speakerphone...

Fortunate for you.
Wish I could say the same.
Most annoying.
Places common in my experience:

• Elevators
• Public Transportation like NYC Express bus
• Elevated trains like the 2, 4, 5, 6 and Letter trains.
  
• Metro North
• Costco
• BJ's
• Grand Central Station
  
• Just walking down the street

 

[eggzachtly]

Why wouldn't they just add an availability toggle to the watch control center? The fact that you would have to go into the app to change your status is just bad foresight. I think the utility is there but the execution has a ways to go.

Also hoping there will be an AirPod press and hold gesture that will allow you to walkie talkie instead of having to use the screen.

Food for thought, Apple!

 

[oneMadRssn]

From what I was reading, once you establish a walkie talkie session with a contact (other side allows), it establishes a FaceTime audio call in the background with both sides muted. When you press the PTT button, it unmutes the call. So this should theoretically be pretty fast.

Have you ever tried doing a FaceTime audio call with someone across the room from you? The delay is very noticeable.

I’m sure its a cool feature, and I will use it and enjoy it. Just saying, it won’t be anything close to what Nextel was. People make a lot lf fun of Nextel without realizing how good it was

 

[Geardo_Ranger]

Next thing you know there will be a commercial with construction workers using the Walkie-Talkie mode on the watch just like Nextel did.

"What's a Walkie-Talkie?"

 

[peteo]

I’m really looking forward to this feature but without being able to schedule it to go silent when I’m at work it’s mostly useless for me. My wife and I would use this all weekend and every evening!

Yeah they really should allow you to schedule when you are available. But at the same time you know your wife's schedule, just do not use it when she is at work and tell her to do the same.
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Have you ever tried doing a FaceTime audio call with someone across the room from you? The delay is very noticeable.

I’m sure its a cool feature, and I will use it and enjoy it. Just saying, it won’t be anything close to what Nextel was. People make a lot lf fun of Nextel without realizing how good it was

Nextel does not exist any more

 

[RedRaven571]

Can I just say "Kirk to Spock" if my name is Kirk and I want to speak to Spock? Can Spock just say "Spock here" to accept Kirk's summoning of him?

If so, I will buy an Apple Watch right now, solely for the purpose of making this bit of Star Trek come to life.

I wonder what Verizon's coverage is like on Vulcan?

 

[adamski23]

Go go Power Rangers! I've always wanted this as a kid. What a time to be alive.

I don't know why this is appealing to me, but its making me rethink purchasing a watch.

 

[parseckadet]

Yeah they really should allow you to schedule when you are available. But at the same time you know your wife's schedule, just do not use it when she is at work and tell her to do the same.

More useful would be to make it location based. Make it so it turns off automatically while I'm at work. Or the inverse, it only turns on when I'm at home.

 

[skellener]

Two Apple Watches.... $658.
Two Walkie Talkies.......$29.

 

[C DM]

Two Apple Watches.... $658.
Two Walkie Talkies.......$29.

The difference between what an Apple Watch can do and what a walkie-talkie can?

 

[BeefCake 15]

Kind of defeats the point of silent mode IMO

I'm guessing they'll make an update down the road before going live.

Enjoy waiting three minutes for the app to load.

What model is giving you this issue?

 

[parseckadet]

Two Apple Watches.... $658.
Two Walkie Talkies.......$29.

Snarky internet responses........Free

 

[Krayzkat]

Two Apple Watches.... $658.
Two Walkie Talkies.......$29.

Walkie talkie range...... 200 metres or so
Apple Watch range...... infinite (as long as you got WiFi or cellular signal)

 

[macduke]

Yeah they really should allow you to schedule when you are available. But at the same time you know your wife's schedule, just do not use it when she is at work and tell her to do the same.

Yeah, I could, but accidents happen. She runs her own daycare business and I'm sure some kid crawling all over her will hit the button at some point when I'm in a meeting with the vice chancellor and dean or someone else important. She's never had an Apple Watch but is interested with this new feature and she doesn't realize how much you have to guard that thing with little ones. Last year my son who was a little over a year old at the time called 911 from my Watch when I wasn't paying attention and I'm used to guarding my wrist. There needs to be a parent mode that can be activated/deactivated with Siri voice recognition or something because just carrying your kid around they push all kinds of buttons.

 

[SRLMJ23]

Yeah, I could, but accidents happen. She runs her own daycare business and I'm sure some kid crawling all over her will hit the button at some point when I'm in a meeting with the vice chancellor and dean or someone else important. She's never had an Apple Watch but is interested with this new feature and she doesn't realize how much you have to guard that thing with little ones. Last year my son who was a little over a year old at the time called 911 from my Watch when I wasn't paying attention and I'm used to guarding my wrist. There needs to be a parent mode that can be activated/deactivated with Siri voice recognition or something because just carrying your kid around they push all kinds of buttons.

You and your wife, when dealing with little kids could turn on Water Lock. That will make it so any input on the screen will not work so the little ones she takes care of at work will not be able to activate anything on her watch, and also your son will not be able to activate anything on your watch, though holding down the side button will still activate SOS.

I use it when I am watching my cousins twins, who love to crawl all over me and also have a fascination with my Apple Watch, kind of like your son and I am sure like the kids your wife takes care of at Daycare.

I know it is not the official use case for Water Lock but it is a pretty simple work around to make any input to the screen not register on your Apple Watch. Hope this helped you in some way. Give it a try, and let me know how it goes, good luck!

 

[Hessian]

Love how they even use the Nextel color theme.
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Next thing you know there will be a commercial with construction workers using the Walkie-Talkie mode on the watch just like Nextel did.

"What's a Walkie-Talkie?"

Even went with a Nextel color theme.

 

[SRLMJ23]

Love how they even use the Nextel color theme.

I noticed that as well, actually laughed out loud during the keynote. I welcome this feature, as I said above, I loved Nextel.

One thing I am not clear on (I might have missed it) is how this works officially. Does it use whatever connection the watch has to the phone, or is it always using WiFi when available. I know when I have Apple Watch (Series 3 GPS+LTE) using LTE, it will use LTE but I am just curious about how it works when the Apple Watch is not on LTE?

My guess is, it just uses whatever connection the iPhone and AW are using, but I would like some clarification if anyone knows. Thanks in advance!