It's also hard to do privacy-wise unless every text message she sends pre-generates the audio message using her on-device voice and then attaches it. That would make every message use 10x as much bandwidth, storage, and battery power. (10x is a random number but you get the point). Seems cute but really impractical.

I would think that your phone could request audio messages from the sender only when necessary. They already sync things like your DND status to show others so this would just be another flag. Messages could also then alert the sender that their message may be read aloud in their Personal Voice. Or maybe allow turning this on per conversation.

10x compared to what though? FaceTime (and similar) is already full-duplex video and audio, which I have to imagine is at least another 10x on top of what you’re describing. Are we really budgeting our computer resources so strictly that this would even show up as more than a rounding error?

6 billion texts are sent every day in America alone. What you're describing as a "rounding error" amounts to a massive change at that scale.

It would take as much data as a phone call… except you’re only sending enough audio for the message

I think I'd rather just eliminate the ringing portion of a phone call (when I have airpods in) and instead just let a trusted list of contacts talk directly into my ear (1-way) until I "answer" and open up a 2-way channel.

The "answer" button seems to serve to also say "I'm ready to listen" as much as it does to say "I'm ready to say". IMO this kind of goal is better covered by voice messages, or, at least, starting with a voice message. This allows the receiver to pick when they are ready to hear it (including immediately), replay it as needed, and choose when they respond (if at all). Many of these are benefits for the sender as much as the receiver.

Let's have both. If you have it on do-not-disturb or don't pick it, it goes to a voice message with speech-to-text.

Isn't this the walkie talkie feature built into the Apple Watch? Could be ported over to iPhone.

Yeah I want “Apple Intercom” or something where me and my girlfriend can have linked airpods and it’s like a spy movie. Perfect for communicating in loud places or crowds without requiring data.

Not sure if you ever had a Nextel phone, but they had a cellular walkie talkie feature for awhile. It was pretty popular in my high school circa 2003, but I remember kinda hating it.

Also a bit creepy.