Apple Watch has as many fun and interesting features as it has critical functions to help you in case of an emergency or keep a solid track of your record. One such feature is the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ functionality on your Apple Watch.
Once enabled, you can quickly reach out to your added near and dear ones with just a tap, irrespective of their location. However, in order to use the feature, both of you would require an Apple Watch 1 or later running watchOS 5.3 or later.
Before you jump into enabling the feature and dive right into it to use the feature, let’s first understand what is the Walkie-Talkie feature and how exactly it works to enable you to have a better understanding of it.
What is Walkie-Talkie Feature in Apple Watch and How it Works?
The Walkie-Talkie feature, as the name suggests, works a lot like the radio-based device. It allows you to seamlessly talk to your near and dear ones with the tap of a button. Since the feature gets its inspiration from the actual walkie-talkie, it is a push-to-talk call.
The Walkie-Talkie feature on the Apple Watch sounds a lot like a simple phone call just with added steps; however, that is not the case. The feature works more like a broadcast, along with being a single-way communication, unlike a phone call, where both the parties can speak/communicate at the same time.
To provide you with perspective, the use-case of the Walkie-talkie feature can be when you wish to call a child for dinner, or if you wish to locate your near and dear ones in a crowded place if you are separated. It will work as an unavoidable audio message while also allowing them to respond immediately in real-time.
However, there is a catch to this walkie-talkie situation. Since the ‘Walkie-talkie’ feature works using the FaceTime network, it relies either on a cellular connection or a paired iPhone to communicate properly.
Now that you are acquainted with the functionality, let’s head on to send invites to people you wish to join the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ app. You’ll then be reachable to each other anywhere at any time of the day, with just the tap of a button.
Use the Walkie-Talkie App to Reach Out to your Contacts
Before you can contact people using the Walkie-Talkie app, you will first need to send them an invitation, or receive one from the person you wish to talk to. Only after accepting the invite from the other person. you will be able to talk to each other using the app.
Note: The Walkie-Talkie feature works with the help of FaceTime, hence, make sure you have FaceTime turned on for your Apple ID. The Walkie-Talkie feature is also not available in all countries or regions. If in doubt, you can check whether it is available in your region from this link.
Sending an Invite
To send an invitation to one of your contacts on your Apple Watch, press the Crown/ Home Button to head to the app screen, if not already present there.
After that, locate and tap on the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ app from the app grid or from the app list to continue.
On the next screen, scroll to locate the contact you wish to invite and tap on its tile to send an invitation to them to join you on the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ app. That’s all it takes to send the invitation.
After you send the invite, it’ll take you back to the home screen of the app, and you will be able to see it. The contact card will be greyed out until they accept your invitation. If you wish to invite more people, tap on the ‘Add friends’ tile and repeat the process mentioned above.
Accepting an Invite
In case you have received an invitation, head to the Walkie-Talkie app, the invitation will automatically present itself on your screen. Then, on the invite, tap on the ‘Always Allow’ button to proceed and allow the person to reach you via Walkie-Talkie always.
Using Walkie Talkie for a Conversation
Once you add someone to the Walkie-Talkie app, you can contact them right away.
To initiate a conversation with an added contact, from the main screen of the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ app, locate the individual tile of the person you wish to contact and tap on it to proceed. All the accepted contacts will be present under the ‘Friends’ section.
On the next screen, you will see a ‘Touch & Hold to Talk’ button. Tap and hold the button while you speak, and release it once you are done speaking. If you see ‘Connecting’ on the screen, wait for it to connect. The other person will hear your voice immediately on their Apple Watch after the Walkie-Talkie connects.
Note: To change input volume in the Walkie-Talkie app, turn the digital crown on your watch to increase or decrease it.
Turn Walkie-Talkie On or Off
Since the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ can be activated at any time by the other person, it could at times come across as inappropriate, as you could be in an important meeting, hospital, or any other such ambiance where maintaining the decorum is an absolute necessity.
To turn off the Walkie-Talkie feature temporarily, head to the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ app from the app screen of your Apple Watch.
Then, on the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ app main screen, locate and tap on the toggle switch present on the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ tile to bring it to the ‘Off’ position. When the Walkie-Talkie is off on your Apple Watch, and someone tries to reach you; the Watch will give you a notification on the same and you can then accept or decline the call.
Alternatively, you can also bring up the control center on your watch by performing a swipe-up gesture from the bottom of your screen. Then, tap the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ icon.
Note: If you enable Silent Mode in the Control Center, chimes from the Walkie-Talkie app and your friend’s voice would still be audible. But if you enable the Theatre Mode instead, you automatically become unavailable to walk over Walkie-Talkie. You can also use Do Not Disturb on your iPhone to manage which alerts from Walkie-Talkie appear and when, since your Apple Watch will mirror the settings.
There you go, folks! Hopefully, using this guide, you will be able to use the Walkie-Talkie feature on your Apple Watch as efficiently as possible.
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