When hiking with family in the backcountry often have no cell service. It would be helpful to keep in touch (range 1-3 miles) with other family members evn so. Since iPhones send and receive cell signals, has anyone developed a way to use them as walkie talkies?
Use of the cell service without access to cell towers would be impossible; the technology just can't work that way. The only way two iPhones could communicate over more that a few feet in absence of cell service would be via WiFi and that would require a WiFi access point, obviously not practical in the back country. Phones that offer some sort of "walkie talkie" service have incorporated extra radio hardware to allow them to function in this manner and that's not a feature of the iPhone.
Regards.
Use of the cell service without access to cell towers would be impossible; the technology just can't work that way. The only way two iPhones could communicate over more that a few feet in absence of cell service would be via WiFi and that would require a WiFi access point, obviously not practical in the back country. Phones that offer some sort of "walkie talkie" service have incorporated extra radio hardware to allow them to function in this manner and that's not a feature of the iPhone.
Regards.
Updating an old post with some 2017 tech that will sort your back country problem right out: Rey these babies from www.beartooth.com
Work with iPhones or Android with btooth to a small standalone 900 MHz transceiver with a 5 mile range for speech not 10 miles for text. No cell or web connection needed!!
Try this https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/walkie-talkie-wifi-bluetooth/id361424957?mt=8 . It can work over Bluetooth so gives a short range way of communicating. If this is too short for you, try the SatSleeve http://www.thuraya.com/SatSleeve
Bluetooth in a class 2 device has a range of only about 10 meters under most circumstances, not remotely close to the 1 to 3 miles the OP asked about back last year. The satellite adapter is worth knowing about, though.
Regards.
The Thuraya Satsleeve can be an option,if you have NO GSM signal in a particular area.
(ie. your mobile phone/smartphone will be useless if there is no GSM service.)
At present,your Iphone4/4s/ or Iphone5, will turn into a satellite phone,if you place these into
a Thuraya Satsleeve(of course with Thuraya SIM CARD) + the Satsleeve(with docked IPHONE) must
have a "line of sight" un-obstructed view of the sky/horizon, wherein the satsleeve antenna must see (at all times),the
Thuraya Satellite in the sky. These setup presently works in IPHONE4/4S/5/5C/5S and who knows,,
maybe these technology would be made available to other smartphones
(samsung/blackberry/HTC/NOKIA/SONY etc...)
Message was edited by: ece_guy76
Great info, thanks a million!
Using iphone as walkie talkie when no cell service
