Walkie is the mobile app's push-to-talk voice channel for the shop team — hold a button to record a short voice clip, let go to send it, and it plays out loud on the other end like a real walkie-talkie. It lives in the mobile app's More menu (tap More, then Walkie), and it's built for shop staff with mobile access — installers, sales, and managers can all open it. It's for internal team communication only, not customer messaging, and it's a native mobile app feature — there's no Walkie in the web app.
Recording and sending a message
Press and hold the large button in the middle of the screen — it reads "Hold to talk" — to start recording. While you're holding it, a recording indicator and a running timer show, along with "Release to send." Let go to send the clip.
Letting go almost immediately (under roughly half a second) doesn't send anything — that's treated as an accidental tap rather than a real message, so a stray brush of the button won't fire off a blank clip.
When you send a clip, your phone also tries to caption what you said, using its own built-in speech recognition — nothing is sent anywhere else for this, it happens right on your phone. It's best-effort and never holds up sending: when a caption comes through, it shows as a quoted line of text under the clip in Recent; when it doesn't (permission not granted, the phone doesn't support it, or it just didn't catch what you said), the voice clip still sends normally with no caption attached. It only recognizes English for now.
The first time you open Walkie, the app asks for microphone permission. If you decline, the next time you try to record you'll see a "Microphone needed" alert reminding you to turn on microphone access in your phone's Settings first.
Choosing who hears it
Above the talk button is a "Send to" row of chips. "Whole shop" is selected by default and sends to every other staff member; tap a teammate's name instead to send that message to just them. The talk button itself shows who you're about to send to, so you can double-check the audience before you start talking.
Live and Muted: how incoming messages play
By default, new voice messages play out loud through your phone's speaker the moment they arrive — that's the point of a walkie-talkie, no tapping required. A "Live"/"Muted" pill at the top of the screen controls this: switch it to Muted and new clips stop auto-playing. They still show up in your Recent list underneath — you just tap one to play it when you're ready.
A few things auto-play does not do: it doesn't replay your own sent messages back to you, it doesn't replay message history from before you opened the screen, and it won't interrupt you with a new clip while you're actively recording or a message is still sending.
Replaying past messages
Below the talk button, "Recent" lists past voice messages — broadcasts to the shop, messages sent directly to you, and your own sent clips. Each row shows who sent it, whether it was a shop-wide broadcast or a direct message, how long ago it arrived, and its length — plus a quoted caption underneath when one was captured for that clip. Tap any clip to play or pause it.
If a message doesn't send
A failed send — a bad connection or an upload that times out — doesn't lose the recording. It's staged in a "Not sent" section showing its length and who it was addressed to, with a Retry button and a way to discard it. These staged recordings are saved on the device, so even if the app closes before you get to Retry, Walkie will offer to resume or discard them the next time you open the screen.
Things to know
- Requires microphone access — turn it on in your phone's Settings if you skipped the initial permission prompt.
- Walkie is for shop staff with mobile access to installer, sales, or manager screens. Without one of those, you'll see a "Team access needed" message instead of the screen.
- It's internal team communication only — no customer contact info and no payment activity runs through it.
- Walkie is built for short clips — it's not meant for long recordings.
- New-message push notifications generally go to teammates who are currently clocked in; if nobody in the shop is clocked in at that moment, everyone gets notified anyway so a time-sensitive message isn't missed. Either way, the clip is always waiting in everyone's Recent list.
- Walkie can caption what you said using your phone's own speech recognition (English only, best-effort) — when it catches it, the caption shows under the clip in Recent; when it doesn't, the clip still sends fine with no caption.
- Walkie is a native mobile app feature only; there's no equivalent screen in the web app.
- Standard data rates apply when sending and receiving voice clips.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Where do I find Walkie in the app? A: Tap More in the bottom bar, then Walkie. It's available to any shop staff with mobile access — installer, sales, or manager.
Q: How do I send a voice message? A: Hold down the large button on the Walkie screen to record, then let go to send. A quick tap under about half a second is ignored so you don't accidentally send blank clips.
Q: Can I message one teammate instead of the whole shop? A: Yes. Tap their name in the "Send to" row above the talk button before you record — it replaces the default "Whole shop" broadcast with a direct message to just them.
Q: What does the Live/Muted toggle actually do? A: Live means new incoming clips play out loud automatically as soon as they arrive, like a real walkie-talkie. Switch to Muted and they stop auto-playing — they still show up in your Recent list, you just tap to play them.
Q: What happens if my recording fails to send? A: It's not lost. It's kept in a "Not sent" section on your device with Retry and discard options, and it'll still be there — or Walkie will offer to resume it — even if you close the app before retrying.
Q: Can I get a text version of what someone said? A: Sometimes. Walkie tries to caption each clip using your phone's own speech recognition right as you send it, and shows the caption as a quoted line under the clip in Recent when it catches one. It's best-effort — no audio leaves your phone for this, it never delays sending, and if it doesn't catch what you said the clip still sends fine with no caption. English only for now.