The popular messaging service Voxer has now graduated from private beta to full on public release for Windows Phone 8 devices. The service is similar to a few other push-to-talk apps available on mobile devices in that it allows you to send voice clips, in addition to photos and regular messaging.
What makes the Voxer app for Windows Phone unique though is how fast it is. We’ve been playing around with the app for a little bit here in San Francisco and messages are virtually instant (and we’re talking about those push notifications). If you leave a chat windows open with a contact, voice clips come in nearly at real-time and auto-play for you, which we have to admit is quite compelling.
From the app description:
“Voxer® is more than just a Walkie-Talkie. With Voxer every push-to-talk message is live (people can listen as you talk) and recorded (as a message in your timeline). You can also send text, photos, and share your location.Voxer allows you to easily and instantly communicate with one friend or a group of friends. Friends can listen to your message while you talk, or check audio messages later. Forget about separate phone calls, voicemails, text messages and emails.”
Like a few other apps, Voxer is hands off for setting up (besides account creation), here meaning that it will go through your contacts and populate who’s-who within the app. No invites, no checking to see if they’re already a user. The app uses your phone number, like WhatsApp for account registration and then uses your friend’s phone number for account searches.
Yes, an argument can be made that we have perhaps too many messaging services out there, but we’re going to be honest: the Windows Phone Voxer app is really nice. It’s super fast, well designed and the service powering it so far seems reliable. For that reason, if you’re in the market for a new messaging service on the go, we think Voxer will fill that void.
Pickup Voxer for Windows Phone 8 here in the Store. Thanks, @HumberTX, for the tip!
Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
