The Making of Talkie: Multi-interface broadcasting and multicast

Part 2

TalkieTalkie is my newest product, a Walkie Talkie for iPhone and Mac.

In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about basic broadcasting. This works fine with one network device, but it’s worth discussing how to send through all devices, so you can communicate with others connected via, say, Ethernet and WiFi simultaneously.

So, in Part 2 I’ll write about the approach I took in Talkie for broadcasting from all network devices (a.k.a. network interfaces), so that one can communicate with others connected via WiFi, Ethernet (on a Mac), and any other network devices simultaneously.

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The Making of Talkie: Broadcasting

Part 1

TalkieTalkie is my newest product, the result of a collaboration with a good designer friend, Tim Churchward, who did the user interface.

Talkie is a little different from many of the other walkie talkie applications on the App Store (aside from the fact that much of it was written by me from our motorhome in Tunisia!), and I thought I’d write a little about some of the tech underpinning the app, and some of the choices we made. Along the way it may get a little tutorial-esque.

  • This first part will introduce our initial motivations, and will talk about basic broadcast communications — the broadcast communications part may be very familiar to some, in which case it may be worth skipping to the next instalment.
  • In the second part, I’ll continue the theme of networking, and will talk about what I ended up with for Talkie’s network code after addressing a couple of things, including switching to multicast.
  • Finally, I’ll talk audio, dual platform development, and anything else I think of along the way (Actually, I’m aching to talk about one particular upcoming feature that had me jumping up and down when I first thought of it, but for now, mum’s the word on that one.)
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Talkie 1.1 for iPhone

Talkie 1.1Talkie 1.1 is now available on the iPhone App Store, and it’s better than ever.

The new version connects to other Talkies via Bluetooth completely automatically — start Talkie on your iPhone and within seconds you’ll be connected to anyone nearby using Talkie on the same channel.

Also new are WiFi and Bluetooth connection indicators, and an audio meter for when you’re transmitting or receiving.

For a limited time only, Talkie is available for $1.99. Grab it on the app store.

— And don’t forget, Talkie for Mac is absolutely, 100% free for use with Talkie for iPhone.

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Introducing Talkie

Talkie
A Tasty Pixel’s new application has hit the App Store: Talkie!

This bad boy stands out from the crowd with an engine that works not only over Bluetooth, but also over WiFi networks. Talkie will broadcast over the network so that any other iPhones running the same app — or any Macs running Talkie for Mac — will pick up the signal. No setup needed, it just works.

Should be great for uni students, or folks in large offices, and Talkie for Mac should fill the gaps for those without iPhones.

Talkie for Mac will come in a free edition, which offers two-way communication with the paid versions of Talkie, and the ‘pro’ edition which works with everything. That means you only need to buy one copy, then set your friends up with the free version to talk away.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be writing a little about Talkie’s guts and development, so stay tuned.

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