Show HN: Overtalk – Raise to ear to send quick disappearing voice messages

overta.lk

3 points·jamix··5 comments

App developer here.

Overtalk was born out of my frustration with text messaging. How many times did you want to share a spur-of-the-moment thought or idea, but then gave up while trying to type it up on the phone screen?

True, most messaging apps let you send voice messages. But the voice functionality is shoehorned into the old text chat paradigm with its message bubbles and chat history that's kept forever. And, by default, messages are played over the speakerphone so everyone around can hear them.

Overtalk is different. Raise phone to ear to listen to the incoming messages, and speak your reply after the beep. No buttons to press and no over-the-shoulder listening to worry about. To the uninitiated, it looks like you're on a phone call.

I started testing Overtalk with friends and family a few months ago, and it’s now part of our daily lives. Give it a try - you might like it, too!

P.S. At the moment, the app is only available in the US App Store.

How is this different from iMessage? You can simply raise your phone to record an audio message and same to play back a received one and they only last 2 minutes after being played (with the option to keep them manually).

With iMessage, you have to raise to ear twice: first to listen, then to record a reply. And then you need to tap a button to send it. With Overtalk, all of this is done in a single raise-to-ear session.

Thanks for the clarification, it makes sense now. While I wouldn’t personally use this (not a fan of voice messages to begin with, as I’m always in an office environment where people can hear everything) I wish you the best of luck with your project!

Thank you!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com