Windows Phone App of the Day: Talk2Me

My boyfriend’s friends love this app, which I honestly think might have been made solely to allow ex-frat boys to send fart noises through their phones. Talk2Me, released by NT World last November, allows you to send and receive voice messages to other Talk2Me users with the click of a button. Actually, every really fun way I can think of to use this app is geared toward twenty-something year old guys, like using your phones as walkie-talkies so you can feel like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. The features, however, far surpass sharing inappropriate noises and participating in make-believe. With full Mango 7.5 support, Talk2Me offers fast app resume, push notifications, and a two-sided live tile.

Pros

• Free trial includes all features! Full version only $0.99
• Full Mango 7.5 support
• Fast app resume, push notifications, two-sided live tile
• One touch send voice message simulating through Walkie Talkie feature
• Control your friend list: search, approve, and remove contacts
• Toast notification for new messages
• Auto play of new messages if app is running
• New, all, and current message pivots
• Live tile update showing number of current messages
• Toast notification for requests and approvals
• Contact images for matching Email and phone numbers
• Last 15 messages accessible
• Auto contact look up / add for matching phone numbers

Cons

• Playing a corrupt message renders UI unusable; requires restart
• Max message length of 20 seconds for trial version and 45 seconds for paid version

How It Works

• Download from the “Social” section of your marketplace
• Open from your app list
• Agree to the terms and conditions
• Click on the “…” icon to edit Settings
• Click “Yes” next to “New User” to create an account (My username is ATaylorWalker-Add me!)
• Choose a username and pin
• Choose whether to receive push notifications, auto find friends by their phone numbers, and show contact pictures; Click “Back” when done
• Click on the icon at the bottom of your screen to find friends from your list of contacts
• Click on the “To” field in the red box in the center of your screen to choose who to send a voice message to
• Press “Hold to Talk” and begin recording your message; Message will automatically send when you release

Conclusion

I’ve decided I’m getting three new toys for the summer: Kangoo shoes, roller blades, and a set of Walkie Talkies. At least, that was my plan until I decided I would just recruit all of my friends to use Talk2Me. I’m having a bit of a hard time with the Live Tile, and most of my friends are on iOS or Android, so my contact list is embarrassingly short. Great idea, simple UI, but I think it definitely needs to work across all platforms for the app to really grow in popularity and should include an option to share, save, and record voice messages.