The Zello mobile app is a communication tool that is extremely similar to the old Nextel cell phones. It is an instant talking service that allows you to use your phone in the same way that you would use a walkie-talkie. First of all downloading this app has been more difficult than it should for some people. Some people misspell the name of the app and spell it “zellow”. When you search “zellow” on the app store, the only result you will get is zillow. Zillow is an app that allows you to search for property and homes. So make sure that when you type it into the app store you spell it correctly. Zello offers a simple and effective way to use your iPhone as a walkie-talkie. When you first open the app you will have to create your account with zello. They will ask for your desired username and password as well as your email. Once you have completed these you will be prompted with a screen where you will add more information to your account. You can add a profile picture and any other information you want related to your profile.
Once you have filled out your profile you will be sent to a screen where you will test your microphone. You will call a contact called “Echo”. It is called echo because when you talk to it, it just plays whatever you say back to you. So basically you are the sender and the recipient. To talk you hold down the large circular button in the center of the screen until you hear it beep. When you hear the beep you can begin speaking. Once you have said everything you need to say, just release the button and wait for it to be played back. If the quality of the audio sounds good you know that your microphone is working. If not, get a new phone.
Once you have verified that your microphone is worked, and messed around talking to echo, you can add contacts to begin talking to whomever. To add contacts, tap the arrow in the top left corner of the screen. Then tap the same area with the three horizontal lines. This will bring you to your dashboard. Then tap on contacts, then tap “add a contact” at the bottom of the screen. There are three ways you can add people to talk to on zello. The first way is to search their username. This it the most common way. The other two ways to add new contacts are through your phones contacts and by scanning the users QR code.
Once you have added contacts you can talk to them; instantly. To talk to your contacts, just go to your contact list and select which contact you’d like to talk to. Then, just like talking to echo, just tap and hold until you hear the beep then speak. When your contact responds you will hear a beep then whatever they said will be played. Their message will be played even if your phone is asleep.
If you do not want to receive messages for whatever reason you can disable the notifications by going to your dashboard and tapping on your status. You have the option of changing your status on zello to : Available, Solo, Busy, or Offline. Available allows anyone to send you messages and you can hear the messages when your phone is asleep. Solo means you can receive live messages from selected contacts only the rest are saved for later. Busy means that you will receive visual notifications and you will be able to listen to them later. Offline means that you will receive notifications on your lock screen and you can play them back later.
This app is pretty neat and is a must try for anyone who likes a quick way to talk with friends. This app is also similar to walkie-talkies which can be fun to mess around with. Go try it out and find out for yourself.