Even when Apple announced the Apple Watch, people were talking about a walkie-talkie function, which, however, was only introduced with watchOS 5. This is how you use it.
Areas of application for the walkie-talkie function
Of course, many situations can be solved with messages or “real” calls. But sometimes it is much more practical if you can contact the recipient directly. Instead of calling across the house to let them know that the meal is ready. Can you use the walkie-talkie and know that you can reach someone even if you don’t have a phone at hand? If you lose sight of yourself while shopping, you can also use the function. You no longer have to hope that the other person will see the message or answer the phone.
The great advantage of the walkie-talkie function, however, is that you can always contact the other person. You always make a conscious decision in favor of an answer so that there is no spying.
requirements
To use the function, you need an Apple Watch Series 1 or newer on which watchOS 5.3 or newer is installed. FaceTime should also be set up on your iPhone. In addition, at least iOS 12.4 (or newer) should be installed on it.
Use the walkie-talkie function
Before you can start chatting with your friends, you should first activate the function. To do this, open the Walkie-Talkie app (yellow icon) on the home screen. Now scroll through your contacts with the Digital Crown and tap on the name you want. Then confirm your entry and tap on “Speak” to establish the connection. Your selected contact should now confirm the connection. Until then, however, you have to wait. As soon as the connection is established, the app automatically returns and you can talk to each other via “Talk”.
If you are connected to a friend, you can see this on the watch face too. Instead of the notification symbol, a yellow symbol is now displayed here that you can tap to return to the conversation.