Zello is relatively new to the push to talk space — having launched in April 2012 — but the app has traveled far in its short lifespan, with releases available for Android, iPhone and more, and a version planned for Windows Phone in the future.
The app continues to evolve as new features and fixes are added to the app. Take the most recent iteration, version 2.4 on iOS, for instance. This update was just released only hours ago, and adds a very large number of new pieces to an ever growing and changing puzzle. These changes are as follows:
- Added option to use PTT button in toggle mode
- Added option to turn off busy mode automatically when user presses PTT button
- Auto-play channel audio profile when connecting to a channel for the first time
- New optional audio notifications when network connection lost and restored
- Show who and when blocked a user in a channel in the blocked users list
- Display notifications when somebody is unblocked in a channel
- Added Swedish translation contributed by Jonas Bohdén
- Many bugfixes and performance improvements
Zello works over 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi networks. The software can also be used with existing 2-way radios along with mobile devices and allows up to 300 users through its unique “channels” feature to simultaneously chat with real-time, high-definition voice transmission, effectively turning the phone running the application into a wide-reaching CB radio or walkie-talkie with no bandwidth restrictions.
Zello currently has over 40 million users worldwide. To date there are over 200,000 active Zello channels devoted to a variety of topics, with over 2 million users online a day. The app is popular in Europe, the Middle East, Mexico, and Latin America.
Grab the most recent edition of Zello Push to Talk through the iTunes app store.