Apple Temporarily Disables Walkie-Talkie App for Apple Watch Due to Eavesdropping Vulnerability

[Maticks]

Apple has disabled the Apple Watch Walkie Talkie app due to an unspecified vulnerability that could allow a person to listen to another customer’s iPhone without consent, the company told TechCrunch.

 

The company issued a statement noting that it was just notified about the vulnerability and has temporarily disabled the Walkie-Talkie functionality while a fix is developed. The Walkie-Talkie app will remain installed on users' Apple Watches, but it will not be functional until the fix is deployed. 

 

Walkie-Talkie is an Apple Watch app that offers push-to-talk calls through a tweaked form of FaceTime Audio. It was added to the Apple Watch with last year’s release of watchOS 5. The app itself is still installed on users’ watches, but calls won’t go through.

 

https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/10/apple-disables-walkie-talkie-app-due-to-vulnerability-that-could-allow-iphone-eavesdropping/

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/11/20689983/apple-watch-walkie-talkie-bug-disabled

[Guest]

weird cause it uses the Apple Watch mic for input. Not that I'd miss it, was annoying af. 

[Maticks]

5 minutes ago, floofer said:

weird cause it uses the Apple Watch mic for input. Not that I'd miss it, was annoying af. 

there must be some kind of function with the app to make it use the iphone mic.

either way it sounds like it will be disabled and the app will be pushed out without that function.

 

[DrMacintosh]

I don't even know anyone else with an Apple Watch. Lol

[Maticks]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I don't even know anyone else with an Apple Watch. Lol

i use mine for Applepay and public transport pass, i always leave my wallet somewhere.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Maticks said:

there must be some kind of function with the app to make it use the iphone mic.

either way it sounds like it will be disabled and the app will be pushed out without that function.

 

There is no function. It’s is a bug or the article is wrong.

[Maticks]

1 minute ago, floofer said:

There is no function. It’s is a bug or the article is wrong.

Several articles report the same thing.

Walkie-Talkie is an Apple Watch app that offers push-to-talk calls through a tweaked form of FaceTime Audio. It was added to the Apple Watch with last year’s release of watchOS 5. The app itself is still installed on users’ watches, but calls won’t go through.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/11/20689983/apple-watch-walkie-talkie-bug-disabled

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Maticks said:

Several articles report the same thing.

Walkie-Talkie is an Apple Watch app that offers push-to-talk calls through a tweaked form of FaceTime Audio. It was added to the Apple Watch with last year’s release of watchOS 5. The app itself is still installed on users’ watches, but calls won’t go through.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/11/20689983/apple-watch-walkie-talkie-bug-disabled

Sounds like Apple won’t tell tbh.

[The King of the Undead]

hey everything has a vulnerability if I sneak up behind it!