Nowza

Nowza is a walkie-talkie for your phone and watch. Tap a friend’s name and you’re talking, back and forth, from your wrist or your phone. It’s faster than a phone call and more confidential than a text message.

Nowza was made for people who relied on Walkie-Talkie on Apple Watch before watchOS 27, and for anyone who wants quick voice conversations without placing a call or starting a chat thread.

Features:

Talk from your Apple Watch. A friend’s message taps your wrist: tap to listen, hold Talk to answer. The watch uses its own Wi-Fi or cellular connection when your iPhone isn’t nearby. Push-to-talk on iPhone. With Apple’s PushToTalk, a friend’s voice can play right away, even when the phone is locked, and you reply from the Talk button on the Lock Screen. Or have Nowza notify you first and tap to listen. End-to-end encrypted by default. Every message is encrypted on your device, and only your friend’s devices can play it, including their watch, which holds its own keys. The relay passes the audio along without being able to decode it, and doesn’t keep it. Nothing left behind: no chat history, recordings or transcripts. A message you missed waits on your device for up to a day, and you can replay the last one. One device rings. With a paired watch, your watch rings first; choose watch only, watch then iPhone, or iPhone only. Groups of up to 15 for family, a team or a trip, one speaker at a time. Know what became of your message: ringing, Played, Busy or Missed. If your friend can’t be reached, your phone keeps the message, still encrypted, and delivers it when they’re back, for up to a day. Polite by design. Talk steps aside during phone and FaceTime calls, and a second friend’s message is saved instead of talking over the first. Watch-face complications, a Smart Stack widget and a Control put favorite friends a tap away. Only friends you accept can ring you. Block and report are built in. No phone number or email needed: Sign in with Apple. No ads and no tracking.

Platforms: iPhone (iOS 17 or later) and Apple Watch (watchOS 10.2 or later). Android phones and Wear OS watches are coming soon, on the same channel as friends with iPhones and Apple Watches.

Pricing: free to download. One-on-one, only one of you needs a subscription, so friends you invite talk free. A subscription lets you invite friends and make or join groups: $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year in the US, each with a free trial, plus a Family plan on the App Store.