Apple watch walkie talkie not working [Easy Fix]

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The Apple Watch Walkie Talkie feature is a great way to quickly chat with friends and family, but it’s also known for its frequent bugs and problems. So instead of searching the internet for answers to Apple watch walkie talkie not working, we’ve got them all in one convenient place. 

The most common problem for Apple Watch Walkie Talkie is simply being out of range, having FaceTime not set up, or having your phone on theater mode. You can also reset your watch and iPhone to get Walkie Talkie back up and running. 

Let’s take a look at the most common problems for Apple Walkie Talkie and how you can quickly fix them. 

What is the Apple Watch Walkie Talkie

If you’re dealing with your Apple watch walkie-talkie not working, we first need to cover what the walkie-talkie feature is and how it works. 

Walkie Talkie is an app native to the Apple Watch app ecosystem that aims to recreate the features of an old-school walkie talkie. You push a button to send a friend a voice note, and they push a button to send one back. It’s really that simple! 

A Walkie talkie conversation is a fun and great way to stay in touch without the hassle of a phone call, but the app needs to work properly to make the most of the walkie talkie function.

The Walkie Talkie app doesn’t even need a cellular connection. It can work on its own, but that limits the range pretty significantly. Nevertheless, it’s a fun and useful app when these common bugs aren’t causing it to glitch out. 

Did Apple Get Rid of Walkie Talkie?

Many people think the Apple watch’s development team deleted the walkie-talkie app and never put it back, but this is only part of the story. Apple is still dealing with something of a branding problem when it comes to their walkie-talkie app due to a security feature from 2019.

In July of 2019, Apple disabled the walkie-talkie app on all of their devices. This was because tech security researchers discovered that it was possible to abuse the walkie-talkie app in such a way that would allow individuals to eavesdrop on other people’s walkie talkie calls.

Apple has always been a security-minded company, and they quickly took action. They temporarily disabled Walkie Talkie on all devices until they could get the problem solved. Then, a new update was released to fix walkie talkie for all users.

This has caused plenty of people to think that Walkie Talkie is a thing of the past, but Apple has since solved this problem, and you can use Walkie Talkie today. 

How to Fix Apple Watch Walkie Talkie Not Working

There is even better news when it comes to the Walkie Talkie app on Apple watch. The problems with the Walkie Talkie app are almost always incredibly easy to solve.

We’re going to walk through a few of the basic solutions so that you can make sure that your Apple watch Walkie Talkie app is always up and running. 

You’re Out of Range

Apple watch walkie talkie not working is often caused by being out of range. Here’s how it works. 

If you have an Apple Watch with its own cellular connection, you have an effectively infinite range on your Walkie Talkie. You and your friend could be on the other side of the world, and the Walkie Talkie app will work just fine.

The Apple watch walkie-talkie feature is limited to a 35 ft connectivity range if you do not have a cellular Apple watch. This is because the Walkie Talkie needs to handle sending and receiving these messages on its own, and it has a limited range when not equipped with a cellular connection. 

Your Watch Isn’t Compatible 

Just like with all technology, there’s a minimum compatibility requirement if you want to use walkie-talkie on the Apple watch. You’ll need to ensure that both your iPhone and your Apple watch are up-to-date to get these apps running.

Your iPhone is going to need to be updated to iOS12.4+ or higher. This does mean that older iPhones which can not receive this update will be unable to run Walkie Talkie. Depending on the age of your iPhone, you might need to physically update the device to use this app. 

Your Apple watch needs to be updated to watchOS 5.3 or higher. Both watchOS and the previously mentioned iPhone update were the ones that fixed the security issue mentioned earlier. 

Walkie Talkie no longer runs on devices that don’t or can’t have these upgrades. 

You can quickly check both of your devices for an update. You can update your Apple watch by going into the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tapping on General, and then checking in for an update.

You can update your iPhone by heading to the settings and checking to see if there’s a current update clear iPhone that’s ready to download.

Keeping your devices up to date is the best way to keep them safe. 

Turn Off Theater Mode

Another common issue that disables the walkie-talkie feature on the Apple watch is accidentally having your watch on theater mode.

Theater mode is great for temporarily disabling notifications. As the name suggests, it is designed for individuals who enjoy the theater and don’t want their apple watch to be constantly buzzing while trying to enjoy the experience.

However, theater mode also turns off your ability to receive Walkie Talkie notifications. Many accidentally leave theater mode on, preventing the Walkie Talkie app from working.

You can enable or disable theater mode by tapping and holding down on the bottom of the screen on your Apple watch. Then navigate to the control center, where you’ll find the theater mode icon that you can talk toggle and off. 

Restart Your Apple Watch

restart Apple Watch

A common fix for the Apple watch walkie talkie not working problem is just to restart your Apple watch. 

Your paired Apple watch is just like any other piece of technology, which means it will have its share of glitches and bugs along the way. However, many of these problems can be quickly cleared out by simply resetting your device and giving it a chance to clear out any errors.

You should always try resetting your devices before moving on to more complicated solutions. This will save you time along the way as a reset often fixes these problems that might not have been fixed otherwise.

You can reset your watch by holding down the side button until you see the power-off option appear. Then, wait until your Apple watch is completely powered down before holding the side button to power it back up. Once you see the Apple logo, your device will be up and running. 

Restart Your iPhone

Did you know that the problem with your Apple watch might not be with the watch itself?

The Apple watch relies heavily on your iPhone for its operation. It’s constantly sending data back and forth to your iPhone, which means that any problem with your iPhone could disrupt your Apple watch.

This is even more important for features that rely more heavily on being connected to the iPhone. The Walkie Talkie app is one of those features.

People are often surprised by how quickly restarting your iPhone can solve problems with their Apple watch, but it’s actually one of the best solutions out there when it comes to fixing this device in any problems with it.

All you need to do to restart your iPhone is hold down the power button on the right side. This will open up a similar menu where you can select restart or power down.

Once your iPhone is completely turned off, hold down the side button until the Apple logo appears, and your device will restart. 

Enable Apple Watch Walkie Talkie

One reason that your walkie-talkie app isn’t working is that it might have been accidentally disabled. There are a few separate features we’re going to look at when it comes to getting the Walkie Talkie app up and running.

Many people accidentally disable the tap-to-talk feature that makes the Walkie Talkie app so popular. You can fix this by opening up the settings menu on your Apple watch and navigating to accessibility.

You’ll be able to find an option to turn “tap to talk” on for your Apple watch Walkie Talkie app. 

Sign Into FaceTime

The Apple watch walkie talkie not working error can also be caused by not having the right settings for the FaceTime app. This might be a surprise to some Apple watch fans, but Walkie Talkie is actually an extension of FaceTime.

This means that you’re going to need to have the FaceTime app properly set up and enabled for this app to work.

Open up the settings menu on the iPhone your Apple watch is paired with. Next, navigate to the FaceTime app options in the settings menu. Then, log into FaceTime using your iCloud username and password.

You also need to ensure that your contact phone number and email were signed with the FaceTime app. This is absolutely required for a Walkie Talkie to work. 

You need to be signed into FaceTime, have a phone number associated with your FaceTime, and have a contact email associated with FaceTime All for the Apple watch Walkie Talkie app to work. 

Contacts Not Appearing on Walkie Talkie

There used to be a major problem with the Walkie Talkie app that would cause contacts to not appear. This was a bug that Apple fixed in iOS 12.04. However, it’s still a problem that can occasionally occur. It has to do with how the Apple watch is paired to the iPhone.

You can fix this problem by going into the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. There you can unpair your Apple watch from the iPhone itself.

Then you have to reconnect the Apple watch to the iPhone. All you need to do for this is restart your Apple watch and then hold it close to your iPhone as the power is on.

You’ll be given some on-screen prompts that you can walk through to get to your Apple watch connected to your iPhone. This should restore your contact list on your Apple watch. 

No Shared Apple IDs

Another problem that people face when it comes to getting connectivity features to work on the Apple watch, in general, is that you cannot have a shared Apple ID when using FaceTime features.

Features like FaceTime calling and end, of course, the walkie-talkie app do not work between individuals who are sharing an Apple ID. This means that everyone is going to need to get their own Apple ID to use these features.

The good news is, that it’s free and easy to get your own Apple ID. You just need to sign up on your device, and you’re good to go. 

Why is Walkie Talkie Flashing on Watch Face

The last thing we have to consider is a common situation that many people consider to be a bug. This isn’t surprising, given that the history of the Walkie Talkie app has been one of constant bugs and connection problems.

You’ll occasionally see the Walkie Talkie app icon flashing at the top of your watch face. This notification simply lets you know that the Walkie Talkie app is running. Apple watch recently introduced a new feature where applications that are running, or have notifications, will occasionally flash at the top of the Apple watch face.

All you need to do is tap on the flashing walkie talkie icon to either use your Walkie Talkie app or close out the app to get rid of the flashing light off. 

To wrap up

The Apple watch walkie talkie app may not be the most innovative, but it is still fun and easy way to play spy game when at school or at the office. Despite being crippled with bugs that Apple worked hard to fix, I suggest that you give it a try. If the walkie talkie app does not work, we hope that this article put you on the right track on how to fix it.