I have a "Series 0" Apple Watch and it's very doubtful I'll be getting a later model anytime soon. Is there an Walkie-Talkie iPhone app in the works so I can use my iPhone instead?
I have a "Series 0" Apple Watch and it's very doubtful I'll be getting a later model anytime soon. Is there an Walkie-Talkie iPhone app in the works so I can use my iPhone instead?
I'm thrilled that this feature is coming to the Watch. I'm guessing many of the commentators here so far have never used an actual walkie talkie before. I've used them a lot when hiking, camping, biking, on multi-car road trips, and plenty of other occasions... I don't hunt, but a lot of hunters up here where I live use them as a matter of course.
Someone asked, why not just use the phone? Partly it's the convenience and immediacy of a quick, direct and (likely) brief conversation. The phone calling process, when you need to have a lot of those brief, random conversations often over the course of a day, becomes unwieldy in a hurry.
Phone:
"Hey Siri, call Bob, iPhone"
"Calling Bob, iPhone"
(pause for connection, ring ring ring)
"Hello? Oh, hi Bill what's up?"
"I'm waiting at marker 24"
"OK cool, see you in 5..."
*click*
Do that as often as 15 ~ 20 times an hour during an afternoon...
VS
Watchie Talkie:
(Tap watch, tap user, hold button)
"Hey Bob, where are you now, over?"
"I'm just passing marker 24, over"
"Wait for me there, I'll catch up in 5... over and out"
We had a walkie system that allowed multiple handsets at once. They were expensive, cumbersome (for whatever reason all the multi-user devices were heavier and bulkier), and... did I mention really expensive?
Since FaceTime is going multi-simultaneous, I could imagine the Watch doing that too at some point (since this feature is based on FT tech).
But come on. We're talking about a Walkie Talkie here. A cool gadget most people have little use for. Until they do. And the way you use it is really different from a phone. Unless you can use your phone like a walkie talkie!
As others elsewhere have opined, the Nextel phone that was popular, was extremely annoying to many of us.
Not only did we have to endure both sides of the conversation, but we got that annoying chirp.
We still have to endure both sides when thoughtless people feel the need to share their conversation with us at the supermarket, post office, wherever. But an annoying chirp, too? Seriously! Maybe a chirp and Taptic touch on the initial query, but after contact is made, the chirp should stop. There's no need for it with Taptic available.
Aside from that, it's a great function to add great for a short conversation. I hope that's the way people use it, at least with me. One of my pet peeves is people who want to carry an a conversation with me via Messages when they could be using the phone. After the fourth back and forth they get a UTDP text. Of course sometimes they're in a library or someplace where a phone call is discouraged or not allowed.
The 'open channel' thing would mean a huge drain on the battery and no real value unless it used duplex transmission. More battery drain. Eventually we might see a Raise to Talk instead of just a PTT. I'm really looking forward to watchOS 5.
"Users can add anyone, even friends who don't own an Apple Watch. It would be nice to limit contacts to those who have compatible equipment."
When I went to add contacts, those who have no iOS devices were gray, and when I select someone who owns an iPhone but not a Watch my request failed with a message that the person does not have a Watch. So no, you can't add friends who don't own a Watch.
"Users can add anyone, even friends who don't own an Apple Watch. It would be nice to limit contacts to those who have compatible equipment."
When I went to add contacts, those who have no iOS devices were gray, and when I select someone who owns an iPhone but not a Watch my request failed with a message that the person does not have a Watch. So no, you can't add friends who don't own a Watch.
That is, at present, not our experience when the contact does not have an Apple Watch -- but we have seen this behavior you describe manifest after a failed connection attempt.
We will look into it further, to see what we can determine.
I was unable to get Walkie-Talkie to work until my wife and I turned FaceTime control in Settings off, then on again on our iPhones. Called Apple Support and they were clueless at two levels, then escalated to engineering. A friend with the same issue gave the the solution.
Disappointed. I was really excited for this feature, until; 1. I found out that it is not supported on Series one, so I could not test with a co-worker, and 2. I experienced MANY problems connecting and staying connected - has anyone else experienced this? When it does work, it's very cool & potentially a killer app that will sell watches. I guess I need to wait for 12.1 for it to be more reliable?
Disappointed. I was really excited for this feature, until; 1. I found out that it is not supported on Series one, so I could not test with a co-worker, and 2. I experienced MANY problems connecting and staying connected - has anyone else experienced this? When it does work, it's very cool & potentially a killer app that will sell watches. I guess I need to wait for 12.1 for it to be more reliable?
A buddy of mine and I used it for about 5 minutes and then we were disconnected and couldn't connect again. It was kind of cool because I was in the process of packing stuff for the kids hockey practice and I felt more at ease being able to respond whenever I could, and not having to put a phone down, or having that awkward moment of silence while I'm trying to remember what I forgot to pack, lol.
I think its one of those features where until you go to use it, you don't realize how handy it is. I'll definitely use it more as more of my friends get Apple Watches.
"Users can add anyone, even friends who don't own an Apple Watch. It would be nice to limit contacts to those who have compatible equipment."
When I went to add contacts, those who have no iOS devices were gray, and when I select someone who owns an iPhone but not a Watch my request failed with a message that the person does not have a Watch. So no, you can't add friends who don't own a Watch.
That is, at present, not our experience when the contact does not have an Apple Watch -- but we have seen this behavior you describe manifest after a failed connection attempt.
We will look into it further, to see what we can determine.
For those without a Watch I get "(name) is not available for Walkie-Talkie. You can only chat with people who also have an Apple Watch." The grayed-out contacts I saw earlier no longer appear that way, maybe that was only when speed-scrolling through the list, my mistake.
Perhaps what you meant to say was "Users can try to add anyone ...", the way it reads makes it seem like the addition is successful but not the functionality.
2 x Series 3 Apple Watches with v5 firmware all I get when inviting is a message saying “[Person’s name] Inviting ...” and it never goes further. Unpaired and then re-paired both phone but no difference. FaceTime is installed on both phones. Hopefully will figure out how to get this fixed.
Lesson: The Series 0 won't do all the things the Series 4 does. And in eight years, the Series 12 will do more than the Series 4, but it won't do all the things the Series 16 does. Do you see what's going on here? It's called progress.
I was unable to get Walkie-Talkie to work until my wife and I turned FaceTime control in Settings off, then on again on our iPhones. Called Apple Support and they were clueless at two levels, then escalated to engineering. A friend with the same issue gave the the solution.
Could be that Applecare is subbed out to a bunch of third party companies who are not Apple employees and don't have the same training. Next time you call, ask them if they work for Apple or are they a 3rd party that is assisting in taking support calls. The answer might surprise you.
Comments
Someone asked, why not just use the phone? Partly it's the convenience and immediacy of a quick, direct and (likely) brief conversation. The phone calling process, when you need to have a lot of those brief, random conversations often over the course of a day, becomes unwieldy in a hurry.
Phone:
"Hey Siri, call Bob, iPhone"
"Calling Bob, iPhone"
(pause for connection, ring ring ring)
"Hello? Oh, hi Bill what's up?"
"I'm waiting at marker 24"
"OK cool, see you in 5..."
*click*
Do that as often as 15 ~ 20 times an hour during an afternoon...
VS
Watchie Talkie:
(Tap watch, tap user, hold button)
"Hey Bob, where are you now, over?"
"I'm just passing marker 24, over"
"Wait for me there, I'll catch up in 5... over and out"
We had a walkie system that allowed multiple handsets at once. They were expensive, cumbersome (for whatever reason all the multi-user devices were heavier and bulkier), and... did I mention really expensive?
Since FaceTime is going multi-simultaneous, I could imagine the Watch doing that too at some point (since this feature is based on FT tech).
But come on. We're talking about a Walkie Talkie here. A cool gadget most people have little use for. Until they do. And the way you use it is really different from a phone. Unless you can use your phone like a walkie talkie!
Not only did we have to endure both sides of the conversation, but we got that annoying chirp.
We still have to endure both sides when thoughtless people feel the need to share their conversation with us at the supermarket, post office, wherever. But an annoying chirp, too? Seriously! Maybe a chirp and Taptic touch on the initial query, but after contact is made, the chirp should stop. There's no need for it with Taptic available.
Aside from that, it's a great function to add great for a short conversation. I hope that's the way people use it, at least with me. One of my pet peeves is people who want to carry an a conversation with me via Messages when they could be using the phone. After the fourth back and forth they get a UTDP text. Of course sometimes they're in a library or someplace where a phone call is discouraged or not allowed.
The 'open channel' thing would mean a huge drain on the battery and no real value unless it used duplex transmission. More battery drain. Eventually we might see a Raise to Talk instead of just a PTT. I'm really looking forward to watchOS 5.
But MORE WATCH FACES!
I think its one of those features where until you go to use it, you don't realize how handy it is. I'll definitely use it more as more of my friends get Apple Watches.
Perhaps what you meant to say was "Users can try to add anyone ...", the way it reads makes it seem like the addition is successful but not the functionality.
further. Unpaired and then re-paired both phone but no difference. FaceTime is installed on both phones. Hopefully will figure out how to get this fixed.