This is the controversial app that takes control of your cell phone and turns it into a “walkie-talkie”

The mobile phone was born as a communication tool that did not depend on a geographical location to be able to be in contact with whoever you wanted. This was the main difference from ordinary landlines, radio frequency stations or much older devices such as Morse code machines. But These weren’t the only devices that allowed this.

The bone walkie talkies They appeared as communication tools for military use. Its creator was Motorola in the 1940s., who, non-causally, was also the inventor of cell phones. The use of walkie talkies This never became massive because both people had to be available at the same time and within a certain coverage range.

As communications via mobile networks are much more powerful and convenient, The use of these devices has fallen into disuse except in specific environments, such as isolated areas without coverage., communication between security forces, etc. This is why the mobile phone has not absorbed this device as it has absorbed many others. But the paths of technology are impenetrable, and in 2024, an application of French origin, TenTen, has gone viral in allow cell phones to be used as walkie talkies, but with a safety tweak that set off alarm bells among many experts. It went from just over a million downloads a few days ago to over 5 million in the Google app store alone.

How to use it

The app is available for free for Android and iOS and requires the user to register, either by email or using logins with Google or TikTok. The request indicates that Its use is reserved for people over 14 years old.although it is easy to set the desired age and skip this step.

After installation we need to give permissions to the app, in addition to giving ourselves a name and an avatar image, which will be vertical and occupy the entire screen, since they will appear on the mobile at all times when we send a message to someone. The name and image can be changed later if we wish, as in any social network.

To add our friends we need to add their PIN code, a sequence of numbers and letters that serves as an identifier. If someone has our number, they can add us, although it will be up to us to accept it or not. Of course, when we do this, you can send us audio messages that They will play without doing anything, without even having to unlock the device. This is to be expected, because the same thing happens with walkie talkiesbut unlike these devices, we always have a cell phone with us, even in the bedroom.

In the Add people section there is also a gear icon, which gives access to the settings, where we can change the name, profile photo, delete the account, etc. A disadvantage, also obvious but to which we are not accustomed, is that If we have the cell phone far away or covered with something and we do not hear the sound, there is no way to replay it

The system is simple and the audio is heard well, but by not controlling the playback time, it may ring at an inopportune moment, like when you are with someone, or on public transport, etc. In addition, if we speak very quickly or send a very short message, sometimes the beginning of the message is not sent, so communication is not as effective as with a voice note from applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram.

Another difference with these apps is that Ten Ten It cannot be used on tablets, TVs and also does not have a web version.. The concept of the walkie-talkie is quite unique for a small personal device, and perhaps that’s why its crea tors focused on mobile phones.

Privacy issues

The application is simple to use, as we have seen, but for this it requires full access to the device, to be able to operate in real time on top of the system to be able to reproduce the messages that our friends send us directly on your mobile, without having to interact with them.

To do this, the application requires the contact, location, camera, network, microphone permissions and prevent the mobile from entering sleep mode. The latter is also a disadvantage because if you prevent the mobile from entering this mode, the battery will drain much faster.

But the biggest disadvantage, apart from those linked to the confidentiality of this data, is the not being able to control when messages are read. The app allows you to silence one contact or all of them, but only manually, not on a scheduled basis, to, for example, avoid messages during school or work hours.

This can be controlled by adding only the closest friends, which is the main goal of the app; He even puts it in his name in the app stores. The problem is that Among young people, sharing user code on networks like TikTok is becoming a trendso that anyone who sees it can add them to the application and send messages of all kinds without any filter.

It is dangerous especially for minors that, as a result, they can receive messages of all kinds, not only from people their age, but also from adults. And it is possible to silence users, as we have seen, but the first message will still be heard since that is why they publicly give out their login PIN. The spokesperson for the French Ministry of the Interior, Camille Chaizeasked parents to talk to their children if they use this app to limit the times they can receive messages and, most importantly, to only add people they trust.