iPhone Walkie Talkie App Review: HeyTell

Remember the days of using battery-operated walkie talkies with friends? Using walkie talkies during games of “cops and robbers” was priceless. If you miss those good ol’ days, you can now re-live them with a very powerful walkie talkie app, HeyTell.

I first heard of HeyTell from one of my friends who waited in line for the iPhone 4. He told me about this app and I set it up right away. The interface is really easy to use and to be able to send voice messages back and forth with Push Notifications is pretty neat.

Here’s the app description:

HeyTell is a cross-platform voice messenger that allows you to instantly talk with and locate friends and family. No account needed — just start the app, choose a contact, and push the button to start talking!

– Send and receive voice messages with other HeyTell users with the press of a single button
– Voice messages quicker than SMS – and free!
– Very low data usage, no more than sending an email
– Push notifications alert you whenever a voice message is received
– Use on 3G, EDGE and WiFi connections
– Favorites – Favorite and export messages you like to email or Facebook!
– Extras: Use the in-app purchase function to send messages to groups, change your voice, and automatically expire messages!
– Quickly friend or block contacts
– Choose from three different privacy levels to control how users can contact you without an invite
– If you want to, share your location with selected contacts while you talk
– Conversations can be saved and replayed offline, or deleted on-demand
– All data and audio you transmit to HeyTell and your friends is encrypted in transit
– Superior audio quality: At 16 kHz, HeyTell delivers messages with twice the frequency range of a cell phone call
– Earpiece and speakerphone functionality
– Supports iPhone and iPod Touch with microphone
– You do not need to share personal information to connect with HeyTell contacts.

Use HeyTell as a walkie talkie, intercom, or instant voice messaging system to send quick voice messages to friends and family with iPhones or iPods. Use the integrated geolocation feature to find your friends when they’ve given you bad directions and you’re just around the corner!

I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about HeyTell. It’s easy to setup and use. Just hold down on the giant button and speak away. Your recipient will receive the message instantly via a Push Notification. I’ve been using HeyTell to talk with friends back home while in San Diego at the iPhone/iPad DevCon. This app will save you long distance charges, that’s for sure!

With people talking less and less and relying more on texting, chatting, and emails, HeyTell will bring voice communication back–one user at a time.

HeyTell reminds me of the days when ClearNET (now Telus) operated the Mike network with its Push To Talk. Being able to quickly message your friends via PTT was the latest “craze”. Now THAT was a long time ago. It was a time when I thought monthly carrier charges would go down, not up. Boy, was I wrong!

Have you tried HeyTell? How do you like it? Click here to download HeyTell from iTunes. It’s free.