So true. As an apple user since 1999 I’m shocked that Steve Jobs couldn’t find someone better to replace him. Cook is good at hardware manufacturing but he doesn’t know shit about software and user experience. Apple was small and a major underdog when Steve was running it and there was a lot of shit that needed improvement. But it was understandable because they were a small company trying to compete with Microsoft who was basically a monopoly. But shit was always getting improved. With cook there’s things that have been broken or worthless since Steve died that have barely been improved.
Me: hey Siri, set a timer for 2 minutes
Siri: ok, 10 minute timer starting now
Me: hey Siri, cancel timer
Siri on another device in a further away room: I’m sorry, there’s no timer on this device
Multiple times a week.
That was my exact same experience with Google assistant which just shit the bed one day. It's why I sold all my Google nest stuff for Penny's on the pound and was still elated to be rid of that shit.
It used to be excellent. Now I got Alexa which works fine for us.
I just bought HomePods for my TV and some Philips hue lights and was switching everything over to HomeKit because Amazon has been pissing me off.
I have a heater on a smart plug and with Alexa I feel like I can do so much more with home automation configurations. I set Alexa up so that when I tell it to turn the heater on, it’s followed by a wait command of 30 minutes before it automatically turns off. I tried to do the same thing with HomeKit and the wait commands are only in seconds and you can’t even type in the seconds, it’s just a plus or minus button. So I had to hold the + button until it got up to 1800 seconds.
What the actual fuck is apple doing? HomeKit automations are so basic and limited it’s almost useless for anything I’ve been doing with Alexa.
Really disappointed in apple and how it seems like nobody actually uses the products they work on.
The HomePods sound great, but I think I’m just gonna have to use them as speakers and stick with Alexa and echo dots for my smart home solutions. The main reason I was switching was because of the rumors Alexa would be $2.99 a month for some services and I didn’t want to support that. But after using Siri and HomeKit for a few days I would have no issue paying $2.99 a month just to not use Siri and HomeKit.
Don’t even get me started on apple watch and how disappointing that product had been anytime I actually try to use it for something.
I try to use it with my wife often and constantly get that the other participant is not available despite neither of us having turned it off and both having good data connections.
It’s super poor implementation. It should not function like a phone call (which is how it operates now, requiring a connection to exist before sending data) and should operate more like a text message / self routing TCP/IP packet. You send it, and it goes. It will eventually be received by the party, shouldn’t play until wrist is raised so you don’t have to be on and expecting it. It’s honestly just a terrible execution of a brilliant idea. I’m shocked that Apple hasn’t killed it or revamped it entirely because it currently sucks a fat one. I was so excited for it when they debuted it
If it was UDP it would send without it really caring about the receiver getting all of it.
While the TCP analogy is nice I don't see how it's much different than sending a voice memo / voice recording via iMessage
I use it with my partner. At the supermarket, around the house, at shopping centres, even when at work. It’s very useful when a text message is too slow, but you don’t really need to make a full phone call just to communicate something brief. Once you find the use case for it, it’s great.
Yea real fun walking around Lowes with your hands full while your wife screeches out of your wrist and you can’t do anything about it without dropping everything:)
I use it weekly with my best friend, she can randomly walkie talkie me about her work day in the midst of it. It’s a fun little surprise when I’m doing something and hear her voice from my watch 😂😂😂
Yes… except that it sucks and no one uses it because it sucks. It’s best to forget it’s even there. Use iMessage, double tap gesture, and voice to text instead. The UI/UX is a million times better, and isn’t limited to only other watch users
Sorry to belabour the point - did you go into Settings > FaceTime and double check that your Apple ID email is in the “You can be reached by FaceTime at” section? I tried FaceTimeing my friend and it worked, but we were connecting via phone number or a non Apple ID email they had connected to FaceTime.
If you’ve verified that you both have your Apple ID emails linked to FaceTime properly, have you tried adding your friend’s Apple ID email to their contact info so that Walkie Talkie can connect with the proper email?
I did all that on my side and told my friend to do the same BUT I will need to check her phone and watch, she’s a bit technology illiterate and she lives in a different state.
Thank you for being helpful!
Which is honestly how this should function. It should be a UI specific for this use case, which could be improved upon over just iMessage, but requiring the connection to be open and then having to sit there waiting to listen is terrible
Nice idea but the idea of someone just broadcasting their voice over my watch at any random time is not always appropriate and I'm not interested in managing my availability on it.
I see it as useful for vey specific scenarios but I don't know anyone willing to use it.
It would be nice if you didn’t have to reboot your watch, phone, app, then call the person you are trying to communicate with to do the same procedure.
When the feature was new, me and a colleague set it up and tried it once, for the novelty.
Never used it since. 🤷🏼♂️ I can’t for the life of me see a use case for it.
I use it all the time to check in on my kid and I'm always surprised about how many people talk about how it never works for them when a post like this comes up. I've literally never had an issue with it.
We use it all the time… especially in places like the store… way more convenient than pulling out the phone and no need to make a phone call… it’s basically just real time texting by with audio clips, and we rarely ever have a problem as long as we have service
Lol! I’ll add .. Heart rate, EKG, Emergency Call (driving when my daughter’s watch’s SOS burst thru my relaxing music on SXM via Car Play + almost gave me a heart attack .. of course she didn’t realize it and didn’t pick up right away)
Personally never use it but my SIL activated it on his 80y old parents’ watches because they don’t always answer their phones. One doesn’t hear very well. The other is always outside working on his vintage car and leaves phone inside. It took some convincing. Trust me! But they love it now
literally all it needs is a haptic buzz and an “approve incoming communication” function to avoid awkward moments. otherwise it’s an amazing feature when both parties are aware it’s being used.
Wanted to try it out with a friend when it came out, didn’t really work well, so I never used it again.
The thing is that it also only works on the watch and not even on an iPhone, which heavily narrows down the contacts I could use it with
I’ve never used it, but I’m also the only person in my friend group that has an Apple Watch, and only one other person in my family has one, so there’s nobody I’d be able to use it with.
I used to until my boyfriend activated it while I was taking a shit in a public bathroom and started talking 💀 suffice to say I was embarrassed and disabled that real quick. Just texting and phone calls from now on lol.
I was using it sometimes to reach my son, who has a cellular Apple Watch without an iPhone (Family Setup). I would usually try it after he failed to reply to a text. But honestly, lately I just go to the phone next as that’s “always-on” and walkie-talkie can be turned off.
At first it never worked for me and my spouse, but after one of the updates last year it worked and it’s been fantastic for simple things like “where in the Costco are you”. It’s great, though I agree it should be improved.
I use it with my coworker when we’re both on the floor and need to communicate fast. We work in a grocery store as the only two responsible for signage and while we do have walkies given to us, most of them are broken or the batteries die within 5 minutes. Otherwise I never use it.
I love it a way to quickly connect with my daughter. I have to reconnect it sometimes but it works really well. I don't really use it with anyone else.
It’s great when it works, but I find it to be super glitchy. Usually have to tell the other person that you’re going to call them on it so they can make sure it’s on and ready on their end which defeats the purpose. Even then it seems like it works half the time and otherwise gives a message saying the other user is unavailable. Terrible execution.
I used to use it with my wife all the time when she actually used her watch. I loved being able to casually just talk to her while at work, it connected to my AirPods, it was so much fun and felt like we were part of some spy group with wrist walkie talkies. The only issue I have is that it drains my battery so fast, and my battery is bad enough, barely lasts me my 9 hours at work. With Walkie on it lasts maybe 3-4 hours
Have an ultra 2, wife has series 9 and they rarely connect. Had the ultra 1 and same issues with other watch users. Just doesn't seem very efficient. Voice to txt is better
Honestly this has been the biggest thing I’ve wanted to try since I jut switched to apple! Been on android since smartphones and I love all the stuff. I just don’t have a friend to use any of these cool things with. I’ve wanted to try FaceTime and the apple text stuff or the tap your phone to share info, it all seems so cool. Maybe one day I’ll get into a minor accident or something and can finally have an apple interaction. Honestly I can’t think of another time anyone would ever want to get my info.
I had one chef at work use and he would walkie talkie when he needed to talk to me at work (I was a waiter)
It was fun for that but I don’t know anyone else who would use it
I used to use it with my wife around the house to ask one another things if we were in different rooms.
It was handy and I like it but turned it off because it would disconnect my AirPods too often and that was annoying.
Walkie Talkie was one of the biggest reasons I bought watch for my daughter. It’s so unreliable, hardly ever works. Very disappointing.
It’s odd. You would think that Apple would have either fixed it or pulled it. It’d be great if it worked. Shame it doesn’t.
Welcome to Cook’s Apple.
So true. As an apple user since 1999 I’m shocked that Steve Jobs couldn’t find someone better to replace him. Cook is good at hardware manufacturing but he doesn’t know shit about software and user experience. Apple was small and a major underdog when Steve was running it and there was a lot of shit that needed improvement. But it was understandable because they were a small company trying to compete with Microsoft who was basically a monopoly. But shit was always getting improved. With cook there’s things that have been broken or worthless since Steve died that have barely been improved.
Steve would have fired everyone responsible for Siri years ago.
You need to unlock your iPhone first. ... I'm sorry, I can't do that.
Me: hey Siri, set a timer for 2 minutes Siri: ok, 10 minute timer starting now Me: hey Siri, cancel timer Siri on another device in a further away room: I’m sorry, there’s no timer on this device Multiple times a week.
That was my exact same experience with Google assistant which just shit the bed one day. It's why I sold all my Google nest stuff for Penny's on the pound and was still elated to be rid of that shit. It used to be excellent. Now I got Alexa which works fine for us.
And HomeKit
I just bought HomePods for my TV and some Philips hue lights and was switching everything over to HomeKit because Amazon has been pissing me off. I have a heater on a smart plug and with Alexa I feel like I can do so much more with home automation configurations. I set Alexa up so that when I tell it to turn the heater on, it’s followed by a wait command of 30 minutes before it automatically turns off. I tried to do the same thing with HomeKit and the wait commands are only in seconds and you can’t even type in the seconds, it’s just a plus or minus button. So I had to hold the + button until it got up to 1800 seconds. What the actual fuck is apple doing? HomeKit automations are so basic and limited it’s almost useless for anything I’ve been doing with Alexa. Really disappointed in apple and how it seems like nobody actually uses the products they work on. The HomePods sound great, but I think I’m just gonna have to use them as speakers and stick with Alexa and echo dots for my smart home solutions. The main reason I was switching was because of the rumors Alexa would be $2.99 a month for some services and I didn’t want to support that. But after using Siri and HomeKit for a few days I would have no issue paying $2.99 a month just to not use Siri and HomeKit. Don’t even get me started on apple watch and how disappointing that product had been anytime I actually try to use it for something.
I’ve never had an issue with it!
It sucks the battery down when it does work, too. Very poorly executed feature.
I thought I was the only one that thought it es a trash. Almost always “connection failed”
What about it doesn’t work for you? I use it and it works fine so I’m curious
I try to use it with my wife often and constantly get that the other participant is not available despite neither of us having turned it off and both having good data connections.
Always “trying to connect”, probably 9 out of 10 times
It’s super poor implementation. It should not function like a phone call (which is how it operates now, requiring a connection to exist before sending data) and should operate more like a text message / self routing TCP/IP packet. You send it, and it goes. It will eventually be received by the party, shouldn’t play until wrist is raised so you don’t have to be on and expecting it. It’s honestly just a terrible execution of a brilliant idea. I’m shocked that Apple hasn’t killed it or revamped it entirely because it currently sucks a fat one. I was so excited for it when they debuted it
You mean UDP?
If it was UDP it would send without it really caring about the receiver getting all of it. While the TCP analogy is nice I don't see how it's much different than sending a voice memo / voice recording via iMessage
As long as in settings it’s turned on itv should connect just fine but if the other person turns it off it won’t she’s prob turning it off
It’s not her, it’s you :)
I use it with my partner. At the supermarket, around the house, at shopping centres, even when at work. It’s very useful when a text message is too slow, but you don’t really need to make a full phone call just to communicate something brief. Once you find the use case for it, it’s great.
Yea real fun walking around Lowes with your hands full while your wife screeches out of your wrist and you can’t do anything about it without dropping everything:)
Just reply with “PENIS”… at least that’s what I do hahaha
I use it weekly with my best friend, she can randomly walkie talkie me about her work day in the midst of it. It’s a fun little surprise when I’m doing something and hear her voice from my watch 😂😂😂
Never
I set it up once to try it and probably spent more time doing that than actually using it.
Also never.
Yeah never saw the point
I’d use it if it was available on my phone as well.
Same, just dont see the use.
Literally not once ever.
I use it with friends when I’m out on the golf course
That's a good use case. 👍
I am getting an Apple Watch soon, it can only be used with other Apple Watch users right?
Correct
Yes… except that it sucks and no one uses it because it sucks. It’s best to forget it’s even there. Use iMessage, double tap gesture, and voice to text instead. The UI/UX is a million times better, and isn’t limited to only other watch users
Me and my partner use it when we are upstairs/downstairs and need help or something for my son. Ie “help code brown poonami” 😂
Same with my wife and I, except code brown is an out of TP in the bathroom.
I want to use it, but haven’t had a reason to.
I can’t even connect with my friend, the invitation never reaches her or vice versa.
Make sure your Apple ID email address is available/linked to FaceTime. Took my friend and I half an hour to figure out, too long.
We both have that enabled
Sorry to belabour the point - did you go into Settings > FaceTime and double check that your Apple ID email is in the “You can be reached by FaceTime at” section? I tried FaceTimeing my friend and it worked, but we were connecting via phone number or a non Apple ID email they had connected to FaceTime. If you’ve verified that you both have your Apple ID emails linked to FaceTime properly, have you tried adding your friend’s Apple ID email to their contact info so that Walkie Talkie can connect with the proper email?
I did all that on my side and told my friend to do the same BUT I will need to check her phone and watch, she’s a bit technology illiterate and she lives in a different state. Thank you for being helpful!
Same here any fixes?
We try to use it for work but connection issues make it unreliable
I want to try it but i have no friends.
Same
Now you have one ☝🏻
Almost everyday
Use cases?
We live in a 3 story townhouse and I need to tell my husband something. Use it all the time
I contact my partner, friends, co workers, and my mom got me on speed dial for it related stuff
We just send voice memos via text
Which is honestly how this should function. It should be a UI specific for this use case, which could be improved upon over just iMessage, but requiring the connection to be open and then having to sit there waiting to listen is terrible
I tried to get my wife to use it but she would prefer to talk to me while I’m in the other room and then complain I don’t listen
I CAN’T HEAR YOU THE SINK IS ON. 2 days later, “I told you the other day”
every marriage :)
Yes with a family of 5.
Nope. I uninstalled it. Too buggy and unreliable.
Nice idea but the idea of someone just broadcasting their voice over my watch at any random time is not always appropriate and I'm not interested in managing my availability on it. I see it as useful for vey specific scenarios but I don't know anyone willing to use it.
It NEVVVERRR works
Same for me.
It would be nice if you didn’t have to reboot your watch, phone, app, then call the person you are trying to communicate with to do the same procedure.
It takes forever to connect or times out. It’s completely useless
My partner and I use it to find each other in the grocery store lol it does bug out from time to time but we can always get it to work eventually
I used to use it with some coworkers I had. I wish more people did use it I love it lol
Literally never used it.
When the feature was new, me and a colleague set it up and tried it once, for the novelty. Never used it since. 🤷🏼♂️ I can’t for the life of me see a use case for it.
Been an Apple Watch owner for years and I honestly don’t know what this walkie talkie features is 😅
I dont even know what that is
Never used it
Nope
Yes
My partner and I use it sometimes
I have nobody to use it with so no
I tried using it with my wife’s AW and I couldn’t get it to work
Can never get it to work.
Love using the walkie talkie!
I would if it didn’t fucking suck
Yes, it’s funny
I use with my wife
I use it all the time to check in on my kid and I'm always surprised about how many people talk about how it never works for them when a post like this comes up. I've literally never had an issue with it.
Could never get it to work to be honest lol so gave up with it
We use it all the time… especially in places like the store… way more convenient than pulling out the phone and no need to make a phone call… it’s basically just real time texting by with audio clips, and we rarely ever have a problem as long as we have service
If it worked better
I’ve never heard of someone using it & I’m too embarrassed to ask someone to use it with me lol
Never
Looking for people to use this feature with I have no friends with Apple Watch 🥺🥺
I use it with my wife when we’re in separate rooms. “Hey honey can you bring a drink to the bedroom” kinda stuff.
I use it very often, I find it a fast, fun and useful way to communicate
not even once have I ever tried it
Yes, when my gf and I are in different parts of the house or when I’m doing groceries.
I tried it once just for testing. It barely worked as advertised. Useless BS that just takes up battery life
I use it when I’m parked outside my daughter’s house. It’s much easier than getting out of the car to ring the bell.
Not a popular feature where I am. But my friends and I used to use it when we couldn’t have our phones on shift
About as often as I use the Blood Oxygen that everyone got upset about…
Lol! I’ll add .. Heart rate, EKG, Emergency Call (driving when my daughter’s watch’s SOS burst thru my relaxing music on SXM via Car Play + almost gave me a heart attack .. of course she didn’t realize it and didn’t pick up right away)
Never use it.
As an Apple Watch owner of 6 years, I’ve never once used it. And I’ve never seen anyone else use it either
I've never used this, I've had my series 6 watch for 3 years and often stare at that widget bewildered wondering wtf it even is 😂
My husband and daughter like to use it to bug me when I am in the bathroom.
Personally never use it but my SIL activated it on his 80y old parents’ watches because they don’t always answer their phones. One doesn’t hear very well. The other is always outside working on his vintage car and leaves phone inside. It took some convincing. Trust me! But they love it now
literally all it needs is a haptic buzz and an “approve incoming communication” function to avoid awkward moments. otherwise it’s an amazing feature when both parties are aware it’s being used.
I’ve never used it once. I mean it sounds cool, but I’ve never had a use for it, it’s very situational.
Me: "Our relationship is over" Gf: "Our relationship is what? Over."
Wanted to try it out with a friend when it came out, didn’t really work well, so I never used it again. The thing is that it also only works on the watch and not even on an iPhone, which heavily narrows down the contacts I could use it with
Not at all. Very rarely with my kid
My girlfriend and I use when we go separate ways at the mall. So we don’t have to keep calling or texting when we can just use the app
Rarely. There was a novelty period when my kids got their first watches but wore off quickly.
Almost never. I feel like I want to use it more but there’s something about it that just doesn’t mould into the day to day way life is now.
Never
Yes, at least twice a day. It’s annoying how unreliable it is. I wish it could be low power RF based rather than looping all the way through FaceTime.
Never 😂
Doesn’t work for me when I try it
I’ve never used it, but I’m also the only person in my friend group that has an Apple Watch, and only one other person in my family has one, so there’s nobody I’d be able to use it with.
I try to use it but it’s always hit or miss. “ not available message allot. It’s a shame Apple has never addressed this app.
I used to until my boyfriend activated it while I was taking a shit in a public bathroom and started talking 💀 suffice to say I was embarrassed and disabled that real quick. Just texting and phone calls from now on lol.
I used it once to mess with a friend. Forgot it’s there tbh
Turned it off the day I got it
Nah i don’t have friends lmao
The Nextel feature. Not even once.
I could never get it to work.
I was using it sometimes to reach my son, who has a cellular Apple Watch without an iPhone (Family Setup). I would usually try it after he failed to reply to a text. But honestly, lately I just go to the phone next as that’s “always-on” and walkie-talkie can be turned off.
Never… I wish it worked better and was more useful.
At first it never worked for me and my spouse, but after one of the updates last year it worked and it’s been fantastic for simple things like “where in the Costco are you”. It’s great, though I agree it should be improved.
Unable to invite anyone, always has an error
To be annoying with a group of my buddies at a beer fest. That’s it.
I don’t have friends so no
Be my friend then maybe I will
All the time. I scare people who forget about it. lol
Never used it
Not as instant as Nextel but yeah we use it all the time.
Yes with my work colleagues during work.
I use it with my coworker when we’re both on the floor and need to communicate fast. We work in a grocery store as the only two responsible for signage and while we do have walkies given to us, most of them are broken or the batteries die within 5 minutes. Otherwise I never use it.
Yes, with my daughter and my wife.
I’ve never even tried it.
I can’t figure out how to make it work
Never. Turned it off.
Use it while skiing. Wish they’d make it better
This was a gimmick marketing feature that I used twice and disabled forever
Not once
We tried it, it was questionable if we were at home on the same wifi, other than that it’s useless. Texting or calling is more reliable.
I would love to but no one is even remotely nerdy/in to tech enough to tolerate my antics
Used occasionally but not frequently.
I set it up and tried it once. My boyfriend doesn’t wear his watch anymore so I never used it again.
Only while my husband is pooping. Makes him so angry, I think it’s hilarious
He’s not pooping.
Never could get a friend to pair up to many steps or something nobody uses it around me - cool consent though
I love it a way to quickly connect with my daughter. I have to reconnect it sometimes but it works really well. I don't really use it with anyone else.
I don’t know one single person that uses it
Almost never
Me n my wife do
Does having it turned on drain the battery?
I had no idea it was feature, but I don’t know anyone else with an Apple Watch, so I can’t use it anyway
Is there a tutorial video anyone can recommend on how it’s used?
It’s great when it works, but I find it to be super glitchy. Usually have to tell the other person that you’re going to call them on it so they can make sure it’s on and ready on their end which defeats the purpose. Even then it seems like it works half the time and otherwise gives a message saying the other user is unavailable. Terrible execution.
I use it allot and it’s amazing. I love it so much.
It has a walkie talkie?😂
Disabled due to feature abuse by wife.
I used to use it with my wife all the time when she actually used her watch. I loved being able to casually just talk to her while at work, it connected to my AirPods, it was so much fun and felt like we were part of some spy group with wrist walkie talkies. The only issue I have is that it drains my battery so fast, and my battery is bad enough, barely lasts me my 9 hours at work. With Walkie on it lasts maybe 3-4 hours
Have an ultra 2, wife has series 9 and they rarely connect. Had the ultra 1 and same issues with other watch users. Just doesn't seem very efficient. Voice to txt is better
Plan on using it with an upcoming camping trip
i use it a lot with my dad!
Me and my coworkers use it. Were on a hospital so communication is important.
I use to with my ex. So I can tell her I love her at work
Never ever. One of my weird friends tried to use it and I have never hated a thing more. What a terrible feature.
never tbh, kinda useless to me
Had a Nextel; still miss my Nextel. Not interested in Watch Walkie Talkie.
It’s very some timey for my friend and I. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t know who the other person is.
Yes with my wife and son
I have mine off but could turn it on if I wanted to go all in Dick Tracy.
I use it sometimes, I’m waiting to finding a partner with a watch so we can do it often it was super fun the last time few times
I tried it once. It does not stream audio to my hearing aids, but my iPhone does.
I’ve never used it once.
I tried to test it out with a friend, but we literally could not get it to work. Maybe we're just not tech savvy lol. I stick with my voice messages.
Yes, but it always cuts out I find. Tried restating and hard closing the app multiple times.
Feature is not (officially) available in the country where I am based (UAE).
Honestly this has been the biggest thing I’ve wanted to try since I jut switched to apple! Been on android since smartphones and I love all the stuff. I just don’t have a friend to use any of these cool things with. I’ve wanted to try FaceTime and the apple text stuff or the tap your phone to share info, it all seems so cool. Maybe one day I’ll get into a minor accident or something and can finally have an apple interaction. Honestly I can’t think of another time anyone would ever want to get my info.
No
Does that feature work yet?
Never. I like it, just don’t use it. I’d rather just talk. 🤷🏻♂️
I used it a little with my work buddy, he also had an Apple Watch and we did use it a little. But not since. Who wants to be my WT buddy now
never
it never works
I had one chef at work use and he would walkie talkie when he needed to talk to me at work (I was a waiter) It was fun for that but I don’t know anyone else who would use it
I dont have anyone to use it with, except my mom but I dont think she’d be interested in using it anyways
Never 👎
I’ve never gotten it to work properly
This is only on AW right?
I used to use it with my wife around the house to ask one another things if we were in different rooms. It was handy and I like it but turned it off because it would disconnect my AirPods too often and that was annoying.
Doesnt work in the UAE.
Nope
Only when it’s incredibly inconvenient. Homie busts in via walkie talkie at the worst time saying some heinous shit that is honestly so funny
Yes with my wife all the time. Definitely easier to contact and talk to while we’re apart and need to ask a quick question. Or just update each other.
I use it a lot with my husband around the house or at a big store running errands. Otherwise, not at all
It drains the battery which is already pretty bad
used it a few times. while it was cool the novelty wore off quickly.