Voxer Walkie-Talkie PTT (for iPhone)

Push-to-talk (PTT) is not new. Walkie-talkies have utilized this half-duplex form of communication (one person talks at a time) since they were created, CB radios made it mainstream, and cell phones have had PTT over cellular on and off for a while. Voxer makes PTT not just useful on smartphones, but maybe a life-changer because of its ease-of-use...assuming you can get everyone you'd want to talk with to also download the free app. I tested the Voxer on the iPhone, and there's an Android version, too.

Features
Voxer's interface is a lot like the Messages interface on iOS. You see a list of all your friends also using the service. I signed up for Voxer using my Facebook credentials to get access. Many might find that iffy, but I speeds up access to friends, because if they also sign in using Facebook, you're instantly notified that a friend is now vox-able. (Yes, I'm going to use "vox" as a verb, because I now do that in real-life, all the time.) If you enter your phone number in your Voxer profile, that provides another method to find friends who might have you in their address book, whether on Facebook or not. Send an actual SMS text to people to invite everyone else to download Voxer.

Click on to a friend's name and you see a list of all the current messages you've exchanged, in the form of horizontal playback sliders. Click any arrow to hear a previous message; Voxer will play the entire conversation until the end. The latest message is always at the bottom. During playback of audio, click the rabbit icon on the bottom of the page and speed up messages by one, two, or three times their speed. You may also see pictures in the conversation (a single click expands it) and text messages.

Voxer also permits a party chat. You pick multiple people, send one vox voice message, and everyone receives it. Any replies go to the full group as well. It's very handy for broadcasting that you're running late to all the people waiting. If you're sick of listening to your friends talk (or just the quick beep-beep-beep notification noise Voxer makes), you can leave a conversation. So can others. You can also add people to conversations that have already been running for a while.

The app works best when you listen to messages over the speaker like a modern-day walkie-talkie. However, you can set the speakerphone to off for all conversations and listen to messages like it's a phone call, or on just select conversations/individuals, such as that one person who won't stop dropping those effing eff-bombs. Audio auto-routing is supported, so as you listen via the speaker, hold the iPhone to your ear and Voixer will switch to playback through the handset.

Push notifications are, of course, optional, but they give you a quick way to access a conversation with minimal taps of the screen.

Voxer's most recent innovation now seems like a no-brainer. The PTT button, which reads "hold and talk" at the bottom of a conversation screen, can be slid to the right to "lock" the button. No more awkwardly holding it as you talk. Of course, you need to tap it again to release. With a combination of hands-free Bluetooth and a decent mount for inside a car, this is the safest possible way to stay in communication while driving. (Don't text and drive.)

There's a special conversation to be had under the "note to self" heading--yes, you can talk to yourself with Voxer, in a convenient way of leaving personal reminders to access later. It's not all that different from using the iOS built in voice memos.

If you sign on to Voxer with your Facebook account, it'll pull your profile pic to use as an avatar in conversations. The latest version of Voxer lets you take your own pic with the phone to replace that avatar whenever you like.

Potential Downsides
Voxer sends all this info over your data connection, so it could in theory eat up your data allowance. But the voxed voice messages are certainly nothing in size compared to using a VoIP app like Skype or Facetime. That's probably why Voxer doesn't support sending video; it would be nice if the option were there when connected via Wi-Fi instead of 3G. Because Voxer's communication is data-based, it works great for iPod touch and iPads. The service is a great way to get SMS-esque features on those devices that are Wi-Fi only. And it works internationally with no charges to you (the app comes in 12 languages for iOS.) If you're offline, you can still record audio messages and they'll send when you reconnect.

If there's any real issue with Voxer it's the crashes. In a complicated back-and-forth conversation with a lot of long messages, especially when the person on the other end is using the Android version, I've found the voice playback can hang. The only recourse then is the old double-tap of the home button, hold a finger over the icon in the row of running apps that pops up until they go all wobbly, and click the X on the icon to show down the app. A restart of the app from the iPhone home screen usually clears it up.

Pushing PTT
The convenience of push-to-talk chat compared to the time and effort it takes to send a text can't be understated (especially for drivers... don't text!). The app is thankfully cross-platform, working on iOS and Android (and soon it will share audio, text, and photos to the Web, Facebook, and Twitter). Of course, Voxer isn't alone doing PTT; there are other cross-platform PTT apps I haven't looked at, like TiKL Touch, HeyTell (which also works on Windows Phone), and Zello (which works on BlackBerry). But I can't imagine leaving Voxer for another service, particularly now that I have everyone in my inner circle using it. The app has changed how I communicate with my close friends and family, for the better.?

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