Walkie talkie Android apps for your phone/tablet
Lately I have been looking for Android apps that can enable walkie talkie (intercom) functionality over LAN/wifi/bluetooth.
Normal internet based options are not ideal as we live in a very remote area with no powerlines, phonelines or wired anything. We also don’t generally get reliable cell phone reception. So satellite internet (WildBlue) is our primary internet connection. Latency is too high and bandwidth too precious, to really support reliable voice communications when it has to be routed out over the internet (like Skype or Google Voice and myriad other centralized services).
We do, however, have a very solid local ethernet and WiFi network setup between our house and the other buildings in the areas (my outside office, the fields on our farm, and a wireless bridge setup to connect with my parents house).
The power and functionality of Android devices lends themselves ideally to supporting PTT (push to talk) and similar functionality on a local network setup. Here are the apps I have found so far:
Up to 3 people over bluetooth.
Up to 11 people over wifi.
Android Intercom acts like a walkie talkie (two way radio):
·Minimum configuration
·No registration
·No accounts
·No buddy list
Sometimes you can’t talk directly to people around you:
·Motorbike communications. Rider-copilot. There are special headsets for all types of helmets.
·Inter vehicle communications (up to 100 meters / 238 feet). Motorbikes, cars, …
·Sports (ski, cycling, hiking, climbing).
·Noisy environments (construction, concerts, etc.)
Remember, with Android Intercom you will not be charged and you will not waste data from your data plan.
Features:
*Audio Activated Connection: Connect or reconnect to the other device by saying anything loud enough (Bluetooth mode).
*Microphone calibration: To adjust to every microphone sensibility
*Audio Threshold: To avoid sending noise.
Notes:
*Bluetooth headsets are supported on Android 2.2+ devices.
*We recommend specialized headsets for each use case, just find the one that fits you best.
Recent changes:
Great performance improvement.
3 audio selection methods are now available.
Virtual Walkie Talkie | AppBrain Android Markethttp://www.appbrain.com/app/virtual-walkie-talkie/ix.com.android.VirtualWalkieTalkie“Virtual Walkie Talkie Pro” available.
a walkie talkie for voice communication with multiple persons through (also built-in) multi-channel ip server.
ad-supported.
please mail problems, errors or questions, i cannot answer to comments.
Recent changes:
-force close fixed
-icon fixed for android 1.5
-switch-on/off sound fixed for android 2.3 gingerbread
-layout fixed for small screens
-new icon
-new menu icon
Options that appear to be non-local?
- android intercom (55)
- voxer for tablets (44)
- voxer for tablet (40)
- voxer tablet (34)
- voxer vs tikl (32)
- tikl vs voxer (23)
- android intercom app (23)
- android wifi intercom (22)
- voxer download for tablet (20)
- intercom app for android (17)
I stumbled on this post from a Google search, and I am looking for the exact type of app you describe. Did you ever find anything that works well?
Hi C Lind,
Thank you for your comment.
Unfortunately, I never found a good solution for a true walkie talkie type Android (or iOS) app that will work on LANs. 🙁
I have some experience developing iOS apps so I may have to try my hand at Android development, with the first app being a walkie talkie app! 🙂
In the meantime, if I happen to find a new app that works well for this purposes I will make sure to let you know. Thanks C Lind!
Best regards,
-JD
Thanks for the list, and hopefully you’ll continue to update this blog. With the relatively inexpensive tablets available as well as great camera functionality, I am looking to use 7″ tablets throughout my house as a video intercom system. Have yet been able to find the right app. Don’t care about internet, just looking for LAN functionality
Sorry for the late reply, Ted. I never found a perfect Android LAN video intercom app that I was confident enough to recommend from that post. Most of what I was testing there was audio or push-to-talk rather than full video intercom.
I’m looking for an Android app that facilitates talkie talkie style two way communication between two Bluetooth headsets connected to just one phone, do any of the apps recommended in this article have this functionality? Would be great for a two riders on the same motorbike etc. where the two users are close together.
Sorry for the late reply, Topcatim. I am not aware of one from that list that was designed for two Bluetooth headsets on a single phone. That sounds like a pretty specialized use case, so I would not want to tell you yes unless I had tested it myself.
None of these apps is available to me in Canada. Why Not?????????
Sorry for the late reply, Gerry. My best guess is regional availability or the apps simply being pulled from the Canadian Play Store. A lot of those older apps moved or disappeared over time.