How to Turn Your Phone Into a Walkie-Talkie

It's faster than a phone call, warmer and more human than a text message. Voice messaging is the chat platform you should be using, explains WSJ's David Pierce, and it's already on your phone. Photo/Video: Emily Prapuolenis/The Wall Street Journal

More from the Wall Street Journal:

[mcninjafull]

A walkie talkie has real time messages. So calling someone is more of a walkie talkie than voice notes

[sumguy]

Voice notes is not a walkie talkie because it still requires phone service and/or wifi

[MiyuruWeerarathna]

SMS and voice calls are still the best ways to contact anyone nearly 100% of the time. Even if you’re off data or WiFi you can still reach anyone. I think it’s hard to beat and the option must be there to contact in an emergency. Till the. Other data based methods are useable.

[EudesRJ]

I hate voice messages, people take too long to say something, I have to listening 45 seconds to get the info that I could read in 2 seconds

[juhjordan]

Voice texting has been around a minute .. you guys need new content.

[biggie_slav]

Bruh. 3 minutes to tell me that texting is ineffective?

[bland]

The reason it took you so long to type that sentence is because you didn't hit the other microphone button that turns your voice into text that is how I commented this comment I'm not going to reread this comment but sometimes the voice to text screws up and puts the wrong words down. No you still don't get the inflections in your voice and stuff like that but it's not always necessary.

[jesuscastro]

Wrong wrong wrong texting took off because state started fining people because they where driving and talking and it paying attention to the road.
So people started to use the T9 feature and text instead. Your welcome.

[barackuse]

Great, my Alexa was trying to send a message Willson!

[broughbag]

It's not a walkie talkie though, is it?

[cindysilfies]

Yeah, but well all this work if there’s a blackout

[superandreanintendo]

I just feel sorry for him for having to describe this stuff

[goodgrieflouiser]

Nothing here to hear folks. He doesn't tell you how to turn your phone into a walkie talkie.

[redeemedadventures]

Anyone know how much data does walkie-talki use? Will it deplete my data plan?

[DeViceCrimsin_]

There's and app for this that's been around for at least 10 years . . . (Google search it).

[bland]

Whatever happened to the email style text messages I remember I had a phone that had a keyboard way back when before smartphones and every time you got a text message it would show up as its own thing just like an email it didn't show up in a long list like they do now. Having that separation from email makes texting its own thing versus why not just use email.

[marcelagadevas]

Not enough info of we can really use phone as a walkie talkie

[docholliday]

You need to change your title.... Walkie Talkie is a real time broadcast radio wave....It is not however, lets talk and THEN let the radio waves send

[ropro]

I disagree. I'd rather receive a text message so that I can read it. I don't want to have to play a message to know its contents.

[MrJohnerry]

Okay sometimes you were about to do what you did not think you were going to do