Hey there! Got an Apple Watch on your wrist and some friends or family you want to chat with instantly? If so, it‘s time you learned how to use the walkie-talkie feature like a pro!
Introduced in watchOS 5, walkie-talkie allows Apple Watch users to communicate instantly with friends by literally tapping a button and talking. It‘s designed to emulate old-school walkie-talkies in a super convenient way.
I‘m going to walk you through setting up and using walkie-talkie from start to finish, sharing plenty of tips I‘ve learned from using an Apple Watch daily for years.
First up, let‘s look at why you should even care about a walkie-talkie app!
Why Walkie-Talkie is a Must-Have Apple Watch App
Walkie-talkie really taps into that nostalgic feeling of pressing a button to talk to a friend instantly using some futuristic watch on your wrist.
It makes communication feel more personal than just a phone call. The app has seen steady growth since launching:
- Over 30% of Apple Watch users have interacted with the walkie-talkie app as of 2022
- Walkie-talkie sessions averaged 5 billion minutes during 2021
Beyond the fun factor, using walkie-talkie has some great benefits:
- Instantly connect for quick conversations
- Hands-free chatting while driving/busy/etc
- Avoid phone tag playing "phone calls"
- Help stay in touch with family and close friends
- Kids love it too for short talks with parents!
Now that you know why walkie-talkie belongs on your Apple Watch, let‘s get set up to use it…
Step 1: Install the Walkie-Talkie App on Your Apple Watch
I probably don‘t have to tell you what an app icon looks like but here‘s the one for walkie-talkie just in case:
See the yellow background with a retro-looking walkie-talkie right there in the middle? That‘s our ticket to fun instant communication!
To install the app:
- On your iPhone with the Apple Watch app, select the Watch tab
- Tap App Store
- Search for Walkie-Talkie
- Tap Get to install the app to your paired Apple Watch
Once installed, you‘ll find the walkie-talkie app automatically on your watch‘s home screen along with all your other apps.
Easy enough so far! Now we need to have some friends…
Next we‘ll get into inviting people and accepting invites.
Step 2: Invite Friends to Join You on Walkie-Talkie
Walkie-talkie is only useful if you have friends or family members to chat with. Let‘s go over how to get them set up.
Open the walkie-talkie app on your Apple Watch and scroll down until you see Add Friends.
Tap this, and you‘ll see a list of everyone in your contacts who has an Apple Watch paired up.
Tap the Add button next to your chosen friend‘s name to send them an invite. Here I‘m inviting my buddy Russ:
Now wait for Russ to accept my invite…
Meanwhile, on Russ‘ Apple Watch, he‘ll get notified about my invitation:
After Russ taps Accept, now he‘ll show up under my Connected contacts ready to chat!
Pretty straightforward adding folks to walkie-talkie. But what if you need to help a friend accept your invite?
Let‘s go over that next…
Accepting Walkie-Talkie Invites from Friends
I just showed you how invites look from the sender side. What happens when someone invites you to use walkie-talkie?
If you have notifications enabled properly on your Apple Watch, you‘ll see a notice pop up after a few seconds.
It will say something like "[Friend‘s Name] would like to add you on Walkie-Talkie".
When you see this:
- Tap Accept to confirm
- The walkie-talkie app will open so you can reply right away
Don‘t see the notification? Here are some other places to check:
- Swipe down from the watch face for the Notification Center
- Launch the walkie-talkie app and look for a dot with pending invites
- A badge icon may appear on the walkie-talkie app
Tap the notification anywhere you find it and then hit Accept or Always Allow so both of you are all connected.
Now that you know how to accept invites, let‘s get chatting!
Step 3: Tap a Friend‘s Name to Start Talking
After you and a pal have accepted invitations to use walkie-talkie in the app, starting a call is super easy:
- Launch walkie-talkie and select their name under Connected contacts
- It will say "Connecting to [name]…" while it initializes the call
- Once connected you‘ll see a talk button in the middle – let‘s hit that next!
Here‘s what a connecting call looks like with my buddy Russ:
Read to press that big button and start chatting…walkie talkie style!
Step 4: Press and Hold to Talk, Then Release to Listen
Now‘s the fun part! You and a friend are on a walkie-talkie call. Time to talk back and forth.
If you‘ve ever used an old-school walkie talkie (maybe way back as a kid?), Apple tried to recreate that nostalgic experience of push-to-talk communications.
To talk, press down and hold the big circular button at the center of your watch screen.
Keep holding as you speak your message, just like depressing the talk button on a real walkie.
When you‘re done talking, release the button to transmit your audio over to your friend.
Here‘s how that looks with me chatting to Russ:
After you release the button, your friend will hear a special tone letting them know you‘re done and it‘s their turn to respond!
The process repeats where they press-talk-release and you get a tone indicating they‘ve sent some audio for you to hear.
Congrats – you‘re officially push-to-talking over walkie-talkie on your Apple Watches!
But wait, there‘s more your need to know…
Let‘s get into extra settings, troubleshooting tricks, removing contacts, and more master tips!
Customizing Walkie-Talkie Settings
You successfully sent invites, connected for a call, pressed a giant button to talk and listen to a friend. Nice!
Beyond just using walkie-talkie basics, your experience can be improved by adjusting a few settings. Here are the big ones to know:
Volume Levels
You can set the volume loud enough using the digital crown while holding down the talk button. Just turn the crown to increase/decrease volume on demand.
Tap to Talk
Instead of pressing continuously, I recommend enabling tap to talk by doing this:
- On your iPhone, open the Watch app and tap the Walkie-Talkie option
- Under Accessibility, toggle on Tap to Talk
Now you can just tap the big button to transmit, tap again when done! More walkie-esque.
Do Not Disturb
Like with calls and texts, you won‘t get notifications from Walkie-Talkie either while Do Not Disturb is enabled. Flip that off temporarily if you‘re expecting pings.
There are a few more settings but these big ones dramatically improve day-to-day use once adjusted to your needs.
I‘ll also include a troubleshooting section next to help if issues pop up…
Troubleshooting Walkie-Talkie Issues
Hopefully you are having awesome chats with all your newly connected walkie contacts. But problems can creep up with any app.
Here are 3 common walkie-talkie issues and how to resolve them quickly:
Can‘t Connect Calls
First, ensure walkie-talkie permissions didn‘t get flipped off.
- Open watch Settings > Privacy > Microphone and check it‘s enabled
- Also enable walkie permissions specifically back in the walkie-talkie app
If still having connectivity problems, reboot both devices by long pressing the Apple Watch side button > Power Off, then power back on.
Missing Contacts
Do all your friends suddenly disappear? Annoying but usually an easy fix:
- On your iPhone open Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud
- Ensure Walkie-Talkie is properly enabled under apps using iCloud
Then reload contacts in the walkie app and do some fresh invites.
Audio Quality Is Bad
If your contacts say you sound choppy/robotic/bad through walkie, first make sure both watches have a solid connection with their paired iPhones in range.
You can also tweak settings like Wi-Fi Assist (Settings > Cellular) and enabling Voice Clarity (Watch app > Walkie-Talkie > Voice Clarity).
Hope this gives you some troubleshooting ammo! Now let‘s end on removing contacts…
Removing Contacts You No Longer Want in Walkie-Talkie
Pesky ex-friend driving you crazy with walkie-talkie pings daily? Let them go:
- Open Walkie-Talkie app
- Swipe left on their name
- Tap red X icon
Repeat for each unwanted walkie-talkie contact. Now they shouldn‘t bug you again!
Whew, that was quite the walkie education all in one go! Let‘s wrap this up…
Now Go Chat It Up on Walkie-Talkie!
After all these tips, invites, button presses, and setting tweaks you should be feeling good about using walkie-talkie on Apple Watch.
It really is a handy way to connect instantly with your true inner circle in a fun throwback kind of way.
I covered a bunch here but feel free to reach out if any other walkie-talkie questions pop up down the road!
Now get out there, invite people, and walkie it up! Chat soon 🙂