Galaxy Watch 4 gets a ‘Walkie Talkie’ Wear OS app, doesn’t work on other devices

Ben Schoon | Aug 31 2021 - 9:44 am PT

Samsung has a more complete smartwatch experience out of the box than any other Wear OS watch that’s ever hit the market, and now that it’s available for purchase, that experience is only expanding. This week, Samsung launched a new “Walkie Talkie” app for the Galaxy Watch 4 that’s now available for download.

Distributed through the Play Store since this is a Wear OS app, Samsung’s new “Walkie Talkie” app is a pretty straightforward offering. Once installed, the app asks for permissions including your contacts and microphone access, then prompts you to invite a friend. You can use your contact list, which Samsung will automatically filter to find who else is registered in the app, or search for anyone around you who is using the app.

Notably, this app requires a SIM card in your phone and uses the phone number on that device to function and search for contacts.

If you actually have someone to talk to, the app will allow you to tap on their name and then tap-and-hold to send a message. Incoming messages are also played through the app, presumably as soon as the message arrives.

The Walkie-Talkie app is an exclusive Galaxy Watch app, which allows two or more users to have instant conversations, just like if they were using a walkie-talkie. Create an instant Walkie-Talkie channel on your Galaxy Watch and enjoy instant conversations right away with the friends, colleagues, or family members who are in your Contacts and using the Watch.

The app, obviously, was inspired by Apple’s similar “Walkie-Talkie” app on the Apple Watch. That feature was launched in 2019.

Unfortunately, the app doesn’t work on any other Wear OS devices. It can only be installed on the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic through the Play Store with other Wear OS devices marked as not compatible. It’s likely that the app has the same Android 11+ requirement as Maps and YouTube Music. Obviously, the app would be considerably more useful if it were also available on older Wear OS and Tizen smartwatches, but it seems neat as is, too.