Free Walkie-Talkie App Proves Kind Of Addicting [Review]

When a buddy of mine suggested (insisted, actually) I try using HeyTell, my first feeling was that using it was like having a ridiculously slow-mo phone conversation: short staccato bursts of talking interspersed by long, frustrating periods of having to wait for a response.

Well, that feeling lasted all of about 10 minutes; the more I played with it, the more I realized that — besides the fact that I could already call, text, tweet, email, IM and use Facebook — yep, here’s another method I’ll use semi-regularly to blab with.

HeyTell is pretty simple to use. It more-or-less works like a walkie-talkie, or a phone with push-to-talk capability: just push and hold the yellow soft button on the screen, say what you want, and your monologue is delivered to a buddy, for free, anywhere in the world — so long as your buddy has the app installed on his iPhone/iPod Touch.

On the upside, sound quality is crystal-clear, even over 3G; messaging with the app is a hell of a lot easier than texting while, say, walking down the street with a taco in one hand; building a list of buddies to talk with is simple, as is starting or continuing conversations; privacy settings can be fine-tuned to keep out persona non grata, or welcome practically the entire planet (or at least, anyone who knows your email); and a map can be switched on that shows your buddy where you’re calling from.

Messages can also be saved and emailed (a feature with potential to be either cool or uh-oh), and in-app purchases like group broadcasts and a voice-changer add fun and functionality.

Now the not-so-good stuff: Most of the time, messages are received lickety-split — but conversation lags more often than I’d like because a message here or there gets hung up somewhere; the problem is perhaps no worse than with texts, but because it’s sort-of a voice conversation, it seems more irritating. Worse, once in a while messages are lost completely. There’s also a serious bug in the latest version of the app (currently 2.0.1) that rears its head after a user tries to enter a name into the “To:” text box — luckily, it’s a step that can actually be avoided fairly easily.

But even with its occasionally eccentric behavior, HeyTell is pretty much a must-have, considering its uniqueness — and its freeness.

Eli Milchman

When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of Wired.com and BIKE Magazine, among others. Hang with him on Twitter.