Add push-to-talk to your Android with Voxer
Miss the days of walkie-talkies being useful because people weren't so far apart? This app will bring that same functionality to your Android or iPhone.
Phone calls can turn into long, drawn-out conversations once you land on a tangent or 10. This is why a lot of people use texting as their primary way of communicating when they just want to share a quick thought or piece of info. Unfortunately, a lot of emotion can get lost on a text message. The person on the other end might take something seriously that was supposed to be a joke.
Voxer is a great app for people who prefer sending a quick voice message over a text. The app is available for Android and iPhone, and can also send text if you need to, photos, and your location. You will need service like Wi-Fi, 4G, or even Edge, but there's no fee for the app.
This How To will cover the Android version of the app, but the two versions are very similar. Here's how to get started:
Step 1: Download a copy of Voxer for your Android or iPhone.
Step 2: Create a new Voxer account or sign in with your Facebook account.
Note: Before you start messaging friends, you may want to head into the Settings area of the app and adjust the Geolocation option. If you want to share your location, cool, but if not, you'll need to uncheck this since it is on by default.
Step 3: A list of your friends already using Voxer will load as premade conversations. To start a conversation with one of them, simply touch on their name.
Chances are, the app will not find all of your friends, so you will probably need to manually add some of them.
Step 4: Once the conversation area loads, you can press and hold the large button at the bottom of the screen to send a message. This button can also be toggled to stay on without being held and then turn off when pressed again.
When your message has been received by the other person, a small green check mark shows on the message.
Tip: If you don't want your messages to play out loud on the device's main speaker, make sure you tap the green speaker icon in the top right-hand corner.
(Optional) Step 5: Press the Menu button while in a conversation to send text or pictures to your friends.
Tip: Messages from earlier in the conversation can be replayed by pressing on them; audio controls will appear at the bottom of the screen.
The final feature of Voxer worth mentioning is the group chat. This is extremely handy for companies with lots of Androids and iPhones, allowing a group of people to talk quickly with each other without forwarding texts or creating a conference call for shorter conversations.
What's your favorite way to communicate quickly? You may also want to check out Sharon Vaknin's coverage on HeyTell, an app with similar features to Voxer.