Apple Disables Walkie Talkie App Due To Vulnerability That Could Allow iPhone Eavesdropping

Apple has disabled the Apple Watch Walkie Talkie app due to an unspecified vulnerability that could allow a person to listen to another customer's iPhone without consent. From a report: Apple has apologized for the bug and for the inconvenience of being unable to use the feature while a fix is made. The Walkie Talkie app on Apple Watch allows two users who have accepted an invite from each other to receive audio chats via a 'push to talk' interface reminiscent of the PTT buttons on older cell phones.

Re:

[tripleevenfall]

Funny, Google would consider this a feature.

As far as I remember Walkie Talkies ...

[Anonymous Coward]

... everybody could listen to you. So this app is quite realistic

great vendor can pull the plug on paying customer

[iggymanz]

just disable a paying customer's communication, what could go wrong

Re:

[cdsparrow]

I'm sure the 6 people who use this are pretty bummed out...

Re:

[iggymanz]

you're off by a factor of about five hundred thousand

Re:

[drinkypoo]

I've seen literally one person wearing one of those abortions, but that aside, how many people are using that specific app? Or well, were using it

Re:

[iggymanz]

quite common to see them in places where people make low six figure salary... you know, real jobs

Re:

[drinkypoo]

I see Teslas, I see Porsches, but I don't see Apple Watches.

Maybe that's because I'm where there's money and class.

I might be broke, but I live in an area with loads of money running around. Nobody wears that shit. It's not a status symbol like one of those shiny lumps of metal and gears are.

Re:

[iggymanz]

ah but I'm in the midwest.

class? pfftttt.....

Re:

[mlw4428]

I use it like if I'm grilling outside and my wife is inside and I need her to bring me something so that I can continue keeping an eye on the fire/food. It has real use cases.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple is doing the responsible thing. Feel free to buy Android phones if you don't care about security.

Re:

[Anubis IV]

just disable a paying customer's communication

They disabled a walkie-talkie feature. Meanwhile, phone calls, FaceTime, e-mails, text messages, iMessage/WhatsApp/etc., Digital Touch (i.e. haptic taps sent to another Watch), and all other forms of audio, video, and haptic communication currently available on the Apple Watch (even the ability to send your heartbeat as haptic beats to another Apple Watch) remain unaffected, so it's a bit of a stretch to suggest that they've disabled "communication" when all they've done is disabled one seldom-used feature

Re:

[mlw4428]

Yes, they should continue allowing people to listen to other people's iPhones.

If you want a walkie Talkie, why not just buy one?

[pgmrdlm]

I mean, is it really that difficult of a decision. Or, isn't a real Walkie Talkie cool enough?

Re:

[pgmrdlm]

So, something that can be purchased for 30 dollars that performs the same function should be ignored. Because, Adults would rather spend hundreds for the same function. Yea, ok. Who is the adult here. You have a need for a Walkie Talkie, buy one at walmart. Not that hard. But hey, your the adult here. You would spend hundreds more just so you can have your status quo.

Re:If you want a walkie Talkie, why not just buy o

[Anubis IV]

If you want a phone, why not just buy one? Or a calculator? A compass? A GPS unit? The other physical devices that smart devices have largely obviated?

Perhaps we should flip your question on its head and ask why would you buy a walkie talkie or any other form of unitasker [wiktionary.org] if you already have its functionality provided by a different device? Isn't that wasteful?

To be sure, there are reasons for doing so (e.g. you have specialized needs not covered by the built-in functionality), but for most people's needs, their smart device is already good enough, so having separate devices for each piece of functionality makes no sense. I remember my parents having walkie talkies when we moved halfway across the country so that we could talk between our cars. We also had a "TripTik" and other paper maps provided by AAA, notebooks that had details about hotel reservations and the like, flashlights, a compass (my mother was quite the outdoorsman and liked to be prepared), a camcorder, stacks of books, and travel versions of board games. These days, all of those (as well as a number of other things that were available at the time of that move, but which we didn't own at the time, such as Gameboys, portable DVD players, and cell phones) are apps or features on my smart phone, and that one device replaces more and more physical devices in more and more situations as developers write more apps and as new features are pushed down through software updates.

And if we're talking about what's "cool", isn't the cool thing these days go with "retro" devices in favor of smart ones?

Re:

[pgmrdlm]

This is not an anti apple rant, so please do not take it this way. And I will admit, I presented my position wrong. I doubt anyone will go out and purchase any phone, no matter what manufacture just to have one specific feature like the Walkie Talkie.

But the loss of that feature, if truly needed. Can be replaced with a simple off the shelf retro item.

Also, just like any other feature of any given cell phone. Battery drain. So, maybe a retro device will better serve the purpose of that single functi

Re:

[drinkypoo]

doubt anyone will go out and purchase any phone, no matter what manufacture just to have one specific feature like the Walkie Talkie.
But the loss of that feature, if truly needed. Can be replaced with a simple off the shelf retro item.

It cannot. Walkie Talkie is an app, not a feature. PTT is the feature. PTT uses the cellular or wifi network, not CB, FRS, etc. It's fundamentally different from an actual "walkie talkie", although it behaves superficially similarly.

Re: If you want a walkie Talkie, why not just buy

[reanjr]

Because the range of a walky talky is far less than that of VOIP. And the walky talky doesn't have a nice interface where you can associate contacts to frequencies. And it's broadcast, rather than point to point. And why carry multiple devices? Do you walk around with a pocket watch, standalone GPS unit, a Tom Tom, a pager, and a netbook?

Correcting the vulnetabilty is

[denisbergeron]

Not an option for Apple, they will let others app taking avantages of it like the NSA's one

This "walkie talkie"

[Malays Boweman]

Is it like some souped up toy 'gi-joe' walkie talkie, or is it like the PTT feature on old Nextel phones?

And PRISM support

[AHuxley]

was gov approved?