Walkie-Talkies have proven to be one the best inventions in handheld technology, making communication an efficient process. If you wish to use one of these, but find it difficult to keep another device along with your smartphone, why not use the walkie-talkie functionality on your smartphone itself? Here are five reliable push-to-talk apps for iPhone and Android!
Furthermore, walkie-talkies are often bulkier devices. That is another reason why you should consider these apps for your smartphone to get the job done. There are plenty of apps that claim to offer good push-to-talk functionality. Therefore, making a choice can be difficult. However, we tried a few Walkie Talkie apps and we’ve shortlisted five of the best such Walkie-Talkie apps to make it simple for you.
Also Read: Why Turn Your Smartphone into a Walkie-Talkie?
Before we get to the list, let us understand how you can leverage the push-to-talk functionality for efficient communication.
Who Can Benefit from Push-to-Talk
If you have a mobile workforce that frequently migrates and operates from remote locations, you must concur that telephone calls or formal emails are not the best way to keep communications flowing smoothly. No one is expected to carry bulky radio-based walkie-talkies for communication in a mobile-first world. Businesses now have powerful walkie-talkie apps at their disposal which they can integrate into their employees’ smartphones.
There are a few industrial sectors that involve desk-less workers and do not accept regular communication methods.
- Manufacturing and Production Plants Workers.
- Businesses with remote employees.
- Fleet drivers.
- Construction workers.
- Police & security forces.
- Ambulance drivers,
- Firefighters.
- Facility managers in assembly lines.
- Travelers in unfamiliar places, to guide and communicate with each other.
- Outdoor enthusiasts who need to stay connected while hiking or camping,
- Anyone who wants a quick and easy way to communicate with.
Now that we have a good understanding of the need for a push-to-talk service, here are five reliable push-to-talk apps for iPhone and Android.
Top 5 PTT Walkie Talkie Apps for iPhone and Android
Here are five free-to-use push-to-talk applications that you can download and use right away. Let’s begin.
1. Talker: Best Push-to-Talk App for iPhone and Android
Talker stands out as the premier push-to-talk app available for both Android and iPhone users. It offers a user-friendly experience, transforming smartphones into walkie-talkies with remarkable ease. The application ensures top-notch security through end-to-end encrypted communication, assuring users of the utmost privacy during 1-1 and 1-many push-to-talk calls across various cellular networks, including 4G, 5G, and WiFi.
Among the many advantages of Talker are its simple user interface, enabling effortless navigation and usage. It employs encryption to guarantee secure and protected information exchange. Additionally, Talker impresses with super-fast push-button connectivity, ensuring instant communication at the touch of a button. The app facilitates multi-media messaging, allowing users to share various types of content with ease, along with broadcast messaging capabilities. Location sharing enhances the overall communication experience, while the option to replay messages and record messages offline offers added convenience.
For businesses, Talker provides seamless MDM (Mobile Device Management) integration, ensuring faster and more efficient deployment for organizations. Exhaustive analytics capabilities enable comprehensive employee monitoring, empowering businesses with valuable insights. The availability of both public and private channels caters to group-specific communication needs, further enhancing the app’s versatility.
In summary, Talker presents an exceptional push-to-talk solution, delivering convenience, security, and advanced features for enhanced communication experiences on Android and iPhone devices.
Price:
- Private Space Free Forever as of writing this article
- Business Plan – Free for first 3 and then $5.95 per user per month
- Enterprise Plan with AI – $11.95 per user per month
- Free trial – 14 days
Download: Talker.Network for iOS & Android
2. Zello: A Popular Push to Talk App for iPhone and Android
Zello is a popular push-to-talk app for Android and iPhone, which has a slew of features to aid communication at the workplace. It offers real-time voice streaming, with a good-quality audio transmission. An advantage of using Zello is that you can map a hardware push-to-talk button. Zello also has a polished user interface and a user experience that facilitates an efficient usage of the push-to-talk service. Multiple user reviews suggest the ease of deploying and onboarding new users to the app. Zello even offers an API to integrate into third-party apps. Further, you can also create QR codes for an easy login process for your team. You can also use Zello to engage in public conversations on multiple social channels.
Zello offers a free version, and for more advanced features, users can opt for the premium subscription, Zello Work, which includes unlimited message storage, walkie-talkie mode, and message recall capabilities.
Price: Free; Pro Version: $8 per month.
Download Zello: Android and iPhone.
3. Voxer: A Feature Rich Push-to-Talk App
If you don’t prefer a minimal push-to-talk solution and are looking for a feature-rich option, then Voxer is the way to go. You can use Voxer to transmit live audio as a walkie-talkie, but all messages are saved so that you can listen to them and respond later. Data on Voxer is secure by end-to-end encryption, and you can put your privacy concerns aside. Further, Voxer also has options to share GIFs, photos, and locations.
While Voxer is available for free, there is a premium subscription option called Voxer Pro. Voxer Pro offers additional features, including unlimited message storage, walkie-talkie mode, and message recall capabilities.
Price: Free; Pro Version: $3.99 per month
Download Voxer: Android and iPhone.
4. HeyTell: Lightweight Push-to-Talk App
HeyTell might look like an archaic app given how the user interface looks, but it does a good job of providing you with a push-to-talk service. HeyTell is fully free to use and does not have any limit to sending messages. We observed that the app uses less amount of internet data, therefore you can use it without any issues even on a low-speed network. You can also create a group of up to 25 people. The app developers do claim that all forms of data and audio you transmit using HeyTell are encrypted in transit.
Price: Free; In-App Purchases: Start at $0.99
Download HeyTell: Android and iPhone.
5. Two Way: A Minimal Walkie Talkie App
Two-Way is another minimal push-to-talk application for iPhone and Android. It consumes minimum resources even when it is running in the background. An advantage of Two-Way is that it does not require you to set up an account if you want to use the app. Therefore, no personal information will be collected by the app. If you have concerns regarding your privacy and not using in an enterprise environment while using push-to-talk apps, then Two-Way is the one for you.
Price: Free
Download Two-Way: iPhone and Android
How to convert your smartphone to Walkie Talkie using the above apps
Lets deep dive more into how to use each app. We are not covering all apps but important ones and will keep updating as we dig deeper.
Talker.Network Walkie Talkie App Usage Guide
Talker Network User Guide
Signing up and Creating your first workspace on Talker.Network
Here’s how you can create a new workspace on Talker to communicate with your team members using the push-to-talk service.
Step 1: Get started by downloading the Talker app from the link below or scanning the QR code.
Step 2: You will see a default workspace under your username. To add a new workspace, click on the profile picture icon. Click on Add a Workspace.
Step 3: Enter the name and the email for the workspace. Click on ‘Add your Workspace’.
There you go – that is how to create a workspace on Talker.
Add Users to Talker Workspace from Admin
Once you create a workspace, here’s how you can add new users to your workspace.
Step 1: Open your workspace. Click on the Admin button in the top right corner.
Step 2: Click on ‘Go to the Admin Dashboard’.
Step 4: Click on the Add User button to add a new user.
Step 5: Enter the details of the user. You can click the Role button to add them as an admin or a member. Click on Submit once you add all the details.
The invited user will receive an email with the link to join the workspace. The link will redirect them to the Talker app.
Add New Walkie Talkie Channels to Workspace
You can create a channel for all the different teams present in your company. You can add relevant members to these channels to communicate with them over push-to-talk. Here’s how to create a channel in a workspace.
Step 1: Open your workspace. Click on the Admin button in the top right corner.
Step 2: Click on ‘Go to the Admin Dashboard’.
Step 3: Click on the menu button. Click on Channels.
Step 4: Click on New Channel.
Step 5: Enter the name of the channel. Click on Submit.
Step 6: Click on Done at the top, and click on Manage to add or remove users in the channel.
Step 7: Click on ‘Add user to the channel’.
Step 8: From the dropdown menu, select the users you want to add and click on Submit. You will also find the option to delete users from a channel.
You have now created a channel and have added new users to it.
Using Talker Push To Talk
- Follow the steps above to create and add users to the channel
- Once the channel is created you’re screen will look like this:
- Switch on the channel by clicking on to go live.
- Open the channel
- Once you’re done, click on the to go offline.
If you have any further questions on push-to-talk apps for iPhone and Android. you can take a look at the FAQ section below.
How to use Voxer Walkie-Talkie App
Installing Voxer App
To install Voxer, go to Google play on your Android device and search for Voxer. Tap Install to begin installation to your device. After installing, the Voxer logo will appear on your home screen. You can tap the badge to launch Voxer.
Creating a new account on Voxer
If this is your first time using Voxer, follow these steps to create a new Voxer account.
From the Voxer Sign Up screen:
- Enter your email
- Enter your first and last name
- Set the desired password
- Enter your phone number
- Tap Sign Up
Updating Your Voxer Profile
1. Go to your Chats List
2. Tap “Me” button (in the upper right corner)
3. Tap “Edit Your Profile”
4. Tap the Profile Photo
5. Tap “Edit”
6. Choose Your Upload Option and Photo
7. Tap “Done”
Manage Contacts List
1. To search other users not in your contact list, tap “People”
2. Tap the search magnifying glass (top right corner)
3. Search user by their email address
4. Tap users profile
5. Select Add
6. Tap “Vox” to start a chat
Send a Message over Voxer
1. Go to Chat list
2. Select your desired Chat
3. Press and hold down “hold and talk”
4. Begin talking
5. Release finger when audio message is complete
How to use Zello Walkie-Talkie App
Installing Zello
To install Zello, go to Google play on your Android device and search for Zello. Tap Install to begin installation to your device. After installing, the Zello logo will appear on your home screen. You can tap the badge to launch Zello.
You can use Zello to communicate with other users who also have Zello installed on their iOS or Android device.
Creating a new account on Zello
If this is your first time using Zello, follow these steps to create a new Zello account.
From the Zello Sign Up screen:
- Tap Sign Up
- Enter your desired username, password, email, and optional phone number. Usernames must be unique and at least 5 characters long. Please note that a username cannot be changed afterwards. Your email address will be kept private and will be used in the event that you forget your username and/or password. Also, your Zello contacts can search for you by using your email or phone number.
- Tap Create Account
Your account is created and you’re ready to start talking!
The Contacts tab shows everyone you have added as a contact on Zello. Available contacts will show up at the top of the screen. You can use the search bar at the top of the screen to search for a contact.
Doing an Echo sound test on Zello
Tap Contacts from the menu tab. From here you can add contacts or tap echo to do a sound test to confirm others can hear you.
- Tap the contact named echo, then press and hold the big orange talk button until the circle turns solid red, which indicates you are transmitting
- Say anything to test
- Let go of the talk button to play back what you just recorded. The circle will be solid green when playing back. If you can’t hear anything, verify your microphone is on and turned up to a comfortable volume. Also, make sure you’ve granted Zello access to the microphone in your phone’s settings.
If you can’t hear anything, verify your microphone is on, speaker is on (sound icon in lower left corner), and volume slider (toggle icon in lower right corner) is turned up to a comfortable volume. Run the test again until you hear yourself speaking.
Adding contacts
To add new contacts, start by tapping the Contacts button at the bottom of the screen. Tap the blue circle icon in the lower right corner to add a contact.
There are three ways to add new contacts:
- Searching by username or phone number
- Address Book
- QR Code Scanner
Creating Zello channels
You can create your own channel to discuss an interest, activities, or just about anything (as long as you follow Zello’s Community Guidelines). Follow these steps to create your channel. Once created, you will become the “owner” of the channel. Users who join the channel are your “subscribers.” There is no limit to the number of subscribers per channel, but only 6,000 can be connected at one time.
To create a channel:
- Tap the Channels tab on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen
- Tap the blue circle icon in the lower right corner
- Select Create a new channel
Fill out fields and select settings for your channel profile. All settings can be changed at any time by the owner. Some of these settings can also be changed by admins. Key settings are described below:
- Name: Enter a name for the channel (required)
- Type: This is your channel type. This setting is important, as it determines how public or private your channel will be. These are the channel types: Anyone can talk (public, open), Listen only (broadcast type), Zelect, and Zelect+. Only “trusted” users can talk in Zelect type channels, but new users can listen. Only trusted users can hear AND talk in Zelect+ type channels. Users are made “trusted” by the admins and mods on the channel. For more information about channel types, see Channel Types FAQ
- Require password: Turn this on so unauthorised users cannot join or listen for added privacy
- Channel description: Enter a description of the channel
- Allow voting: Allow subscribers to vote thumbs up or down for other user’s messages
- Require verified email: Turn this on for added security and subscriber verification
Fill out other settings as needed. Not all fields are required and they can be edited at a later time.
Happy with your channel settings? Tap Create and start inviting contacts to your new channel.
Signing out
Unless you sign out from Zello, the app runs in the background regardless of your status. You’ll continue to receive messages and notifications. To sign out of Zello, tap the three dots icon in the top right corner and select Sign out.
If you select Exit from the same menu, you will continue to receive notifications and the app will automatically start when a message is received. This may help conserve your device’s battery while allowing you to still receive messages.
Deleting Zello account
To delete your account and data from our servers:
- Tap your profile picture icon in the upper left corner to open the profile screen
- Select the red Delete account option at the bottom of the profile screen
NOTE: If you own channels, you will no longer be able to manage them once your account is deleted. We recommend transferring owned channels to a moderator or admin prior to deleting your account.
Frequently Asked Questions on Push-to-Talk Apps
No. You require an internet connection to use any push-to-talk app on your iPhone and Android devices.
Yes. All of the above push-to-talk apps are free to use on your smartphone.
Push-to-talk apps offer live and seamless voice-based communication. It helps you overcome all the challenges and difficulties in using the standard text message-focused apps, where a majority of your employees are operating away from their desks.
Your Smartphone is the longest range Walkie Talkie
We hope this article helped you discover the best push-to-talk apps for iPhone and Android. Using a walkie-talkie-like functionality on your smartphone will certainly improve communication efficiency at your workplace. Therefore, go through all the apps and features, and pick the best one that suits your needs!
