How to Use Airpods as a Walkie Talkie

The latest watchOS update brought a great new addition to the Apple Watch. It’s the Walkie Talkie app! It uses your internet connection to allow you to instantly talk to your friends. Pretty cool, huh?

This means that you don’t have to wait until your call is established and it won’t count against anyone’s minute quota. By adding your AirPods to the mix, you’ll make this push-to-talk communication even more comfortable.

To use the Walkie Talkie app, you’ll need the following:

1. Apple iPhone running iOS 12.4 or later.
2. FaceTime app installed on your iPhone.
3. Mobile internet to be able to use FaceTime audio calls.
4. Apple Watch Series 1 or later, updated to watchOS 5.3.

Of course, the people you would like to talk to over this app also need to fulfill these basic requirements.

Connecting Your AirPods

The first thing to do is to connect your AirPods to your iPhone. This will automatically connect them to your Apple Watch.

1. Go to the Home Screen on your iPhone.
2. Open the AirPods case with the AirPods inside.
3. Hold the case next to the phone.
4. Your iPhone should display a setup animation.
5. Tap “Connect”.
   
6. Once you’re notified that the connection is established, tap “Done”.

If you have purchased the 2^nd generation AirPods and you have “Hey Siri” already set up on your iPhone, you’ll be able to immediately start using “Hey Siri” with your AirPods. If “Hey Siri” still needs to be set up on your phone, once you connect these AirPods, a guide will appear to help you with the setup.

Now that you have your AirPods connected, you can start setting up the Walkie Talkie app.

Adding Friends to the Walkie Talkie App

To use the app, you’ll need to select the people you’d like to communicate with this way.

1. Press the digital crown on your Apple Watch to see the apps.
2. Tap on the yellow Walkie Talkie app.
   
3. Tap on the button “Add Friends” to open the list of your contacts.
   
4. Find the contact you want to add and tap on it.
5. This will send a notification to your friend’s Walkie Talkie app, requesting permission to connect with you.
6. Until your friend accepts the invitation, their contact card will remain gray.
7. Once your friend taps “Always Allow” on the invitation, the friend’s card in your app will change to yellow.
8. As soon as this is done, you can start talking to your friend over the Walkie Talkie app.

In the menu “Friends You Invited”, you can find all your friends previously added to the app who have yet to respond to the invitation.

If you miss a friend’s invitation to talk over Walkie Talkie, you can find it in the Notification Center on your Apple Watch, as well as in the app itself.

Talking over Walkie Talkie

1. Open the Walkie Talkie app on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap on a friend’s contact card.
3. Tap and hold on the “Talk” button, and say something.
   
4. You should see “connecting” displayed on the screen. Wait until the app connects you to your friend.
5. When the two of you are connected, your friend will receive an alert on their Apple Watch, informing them that you’d like to talk.
6. After that, they’ll hear your voice and be able to respond instantly.
7. From here, all you need to do is to tap and hold on the “Talk” button and say what you want. When you finish the sentence, just let go of the button so your friend can hear what you just said.

To adjust the volume of your conversation, simply turn the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch.

Turning the Walkie-Talkie App On or Off

1. Open the Walkie Talkie app on your Apple Watch.
2. On the app’s home screen, you’ll see the On/Off slider.
   
3. Slide it to the desired position.

You can also do this through the Control Center on your Apple Watch, where you’ll see the yellow Walkie Talkie icon. Just tap it to turn the app on or off.

Please note that if someone tries to reach you while your app isn’t running, you will receive a notification asking if you’d like to respond.

Removing Friends from the app

If the list of friends in the Walkie Talkie app builds up, you may consider deleting some of them, such as those that you don’t talk to that often. As with the previous steps, this is quite simple to do as well.

1. Open the Walkie Talkie app.
2. Navigate to a friend you wish to delete.
3. Swipe their icon to the left.
4. You’ll see the delete icon appear (red “x”).
   
5. Tap on it to remove the contact from the list.

Another way to remove friends from the app is to do it from your iPhone.

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Walkie-Talkie app.
3. Tap on Edit.
4. Find the friend you’d like to remove.
5. Tap the minus sign.
6. Tap Remove.

Improving Your Daily Activities

Walkie Talkie is a welcome addition to Apple Watch functionalities, and it can certainly find great use in your everyday life. When you need a quick back and forth communication, you’ll no longer have to make a call every time you have something to say. For example, when shopping in the grocery store or when you’re separated from your friends in a huge shopping mall. Just push to talk, and you’re all set.

Does it remind you of the old Sprint walkie talkie function? Please leave a comment to share your experiences with the Walkie Talkie app. We’d really love to hear from you!