Apple quietly removed the Walkie-Talkie app from the Apple Watch in the first developer beta of watchOS 27, with the app disappearing from both the apps list and Control Center.
The Walkie Talkie launched with watchOS 5 in 2018 and allowed Apple Watch users to send push-to-talk voice messages to each other over Wi-Fi or cellular using the FaceTime infrastructure. Unlike traditional walkie-talkies, it worked at any distance, making it a new way to communicate without picking up an iPhone. Despite the feature’s promise at launch, Apple has given it very little attention in the years since, with no significant updates across eight major watchOS releases.
Shortly after its debut, Apple was forced to temporarily disable the walkie-talkie following the discovery of a security flaw that could allow a user to listen through another person’s microphone without their knowledge. Apple fixed the problem with a watchOS 5.3 update, but the episode did little to generate lasting enthusiasm for the feature.
The removal of the app has not been officially confirmed by Apple, but users running the early beta of watchOS 27 are finding that the app is nowhere to be found, with no option to reinstall it.
watchOS 27 is still in its early beta testing and there remains a small possibility that Apple will reintroduce the app before the software is released to the public later this year. However, given how little attention this feature has received over the years, its removal feels more like a quiet retirement than an accidental omission.
A public beta of watchOS 27 is expected to arrive next month, followed by a fall launch, likely alongside new Apple Watch models.
