Virtual CB - VirtualWalkieTalkie



a walkie talkie for voice communication with multiple persons through (also built-in) multi-channel ip server.



 

Important Information

Virtual Walkie Talkie for Android devices was orginally created by andro iX with servers hosted by them. andro iX has since disappeared. We since grabbed the old server program and have hosted it here for those that used to use the app when it first came along. When you open the app, open "options" to get to the settings. Under "Host:", enter this address... cbradio.ddns.net Leave the port number 8575 as it is. Under "Callsign", be sure to enter your favorite CB handle, connect to the server and enjoy! No warranties are given or implied while using the apps or the server. To get started, download the app -> here <- Be sure to enable installation from unknown sources on Android. The app should work on most older and newer Android devices except for a few that are mention further down this page..

Hints

-touch top right of the speaker(left of the 3 buttons) to hide/show userinfo bar which shows who is talking atm
-touch channel display to show users on channel
-touch left side of the channel display (where the talk and net indicator is located) to clear your privacy code(lock) or to accept or dismiss pending invites(blinking i)




FAQ

1. How do you use this app. ? Do my friends have to have the same app installed ?
Your friends will have to install the same app which is only available for android.
You will all have to use the same server to be able to communicate together.
This could also be one of your mobiles. To do this start the in-built server on one phone and give the ip of this phone to all others.
The phone the server is running on will use "127.0.0.1" which means localhost and loops back to this device you are on.
You could also use services like "dyndns" to make ip sharing easier and substitue it with a constant name.
Switch the power to on after setting the ip in options. Wait until "NET" light has turned from red to green which means connected.
Hold PTT button while you are talking and the others on this same channel should hear you.


2. What is the server ip(Host)?
If you are hosting the server on your mobile by starting the built-in server, you need to use the localhost(127.0.0.1) for yourself to connect and your mobile lan or internet ip for your clients. For e.g. "192.168.1.1" is a common lan ip, you can get your internet ip by looking into your internet router configuration or by pressing the Info Button in Virtual Walkie Talkie's Options Tab.

3. So what is the server ip in LAN ?
You can determine it by simple pressing the Info Button in Virtual Walkie Talkie's Options Tab or clicking Menu Button->Settings->Wireless & networks->Wi-Fi settings and click on your wlan connection, it will display your phones wlan ip or look into your wlan ap log to find it.

4. I gave my clients my internet ip but nobody can connect ?
If you want to allow incoming connections to your mobile from the internet you have to enable TCP Port Forwarding for your server port (default 8575) in your wlan internet router configuration. The server ip would be the (w)lan ip of your phone in your local network (like 192.168.1.1 for e.g.)

5. I want to use the built-in server on my phone. But i dont know what ips i need to use ?
If you want to use the built-in server on your phone, start it and use host 127.0.0.1 and the port which is displayed below the red/green server indicator between the start and stop button (should be 8575 by default). there are 3 cases now:
Case 1: you are on 3g and nobody will be able to connect to your phone. so you will just be alone on your server. You have to be on wifi/wlan connection to be reachable for other phones for incoming connections to your built-in server.
Case 2: you are on wlan and other phones in the same wlan want to connect to you, so they need to use your phones wlan ip (eg 192.168.1.101, look for it in your phones wlan preferences)
Case 3: you are on wlan and other phones from the internet want to connect to you, so they need to use your internet ip of your wlan router (get it by pressing the info button in Virtual Walkie Talkie's Options Tab after you started your built-in server) You need to forward the used port (8575) to your phones wlan ip (eg 192.168.1.101, look for it in your phones wlan preferences) in your wlan router configuration if you want other phones be able to connect to your phone from the internet.

6. What can i do if nobody got wlan(only 3G/egde) or my mobile can not take the load of the server?
In 3G/Edge Mode people wont be able to connect to your mobile by an ip. You need to setup a standalone server on a dedicated/virtual host for this purpose. It is pure JAVA, the same as the built-in server, download it -> here <- for free and run "startserver.bat" to start it. Always update this server when you update your App, protocol will change often.

7. Can I use another server port than 8575?
Yes, simple add your preferred port as argument, for e.g. "startserver.bat 8575" and don't forget to set this port also on your mobile.

8. Does this work with real walkie talkies?
No, mobile phones are lacking the functionality of transmitting on this frequency(27MHz). However if someone is interested in building a real cb gateway feel free to contact me.

9. There appears an error when i push PTT?
Raw recording(sending) is not supported on all phones but should work on all phones with android 2.0 or greater.

10. It stops sending after 15 seconds?
This is a limitation on most phone touchscreen surfaces. Just release the button and press it again to continue talking.

11. How much traffic is generated?
While receiving or sending it should not exceed 8kb/s (16kb/s when receiving and sending at the same time).

12. What are the differences between a common analog scan and the scan implemented in virtual walkie talkie ?
-it will keep receiving on last channel while scanning (on an analog device you would need 2 receivers for this)
-if you press ptt while scanning it will break and you will transmit and receive on your last channel
-it will find the next channel, from where you started scanning, which was active in the last second
-it doesnt really scan itself, it just asks the server for the next active channel and will scroll to it
-if you break scanning by up or down button it will change the channel

13. What is the wake lock option used for?
It prevents your phones cpu from going to standby after 15 minutes of no user interaction when VWT is turned on and connected.
This avoids VWT from crashing after waking up from sleep mode and makes you able to keep receiving in the background the whole day if you want to.

14. Is there a widget?
No, you can already use the app icon of VWT as a widget.
Just drag and drop it to your home screen, when you click it, it will bring the running VWT to the foreground.
In the pro version you also can use your phones camera button to bring a running VWTPro to the foreground.
VWT is able of running and receiving in the background, so you are able to continue working with your phone until there is a need to talk.

15. How can i make conversations private?
you can already setup your own private server with the free version on your phone/pc or a virtual/dedicated host.
It can be any platform but it needs Java (Sun JRE) to run.
download it -> here <- for free and run "startserver.bat" to start it. there is also a privacy code feature available in "Virtual Walkie Talkie Pro", it's behavior is like having your own free channel and being able to only talk to one or more specific persons.

16. On which phones will this work?
It will work on nearly any android phone (for e.g. HTC Dream (G1),HTC Hero (G2), HTC Magic, HTC Legend, Motorola Droid, Google Nexus One, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, HTC Desire, Acer Liquid, Samsung Moment ).

Exceptions (problems occuring on following devices):
-Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 (audio is skipping, sending does not work sometimes)
-Samsung Moment SPH-M900 (sending does not work sometimes)
-Acer Liquid with android 2.0 (random force close happening only when "TTS Extended" is installed)

17. I accidentally pushed the ptt button to many times, sending is blocked, what should i do ?
This happens when you press PTT to often in a short period of time.
Just use Menu Button->Exit, wait a few seconds and start it again and it should work fine again.

18. What does the lock symbol in the user list mean ?
It indicates that a user has set a privacy code and will only be able to hear you when you have set the same privacy code.
A red lock means the user has set another privacy code, a green lock means the user has set the same privacy code as you have.

19. Why is my flag showing a pirate flag and not my country's flag ?
the pirate flag will remain until your phone has retrieved your coarse location, this can take a while.
on some occasions it wont work in the first 150 seconds after starting VWT and the pirate flag will remain.
this should in no way interfere with the functionality of VWT.
just try to enable/disable gps or network provided locations.

20. why does it show a different id number every time on connect?
The id is not user or phone based, it is just a random linear number the server assigns to your connection.



Version Change History

v1.31 - 10.6.15
-black status bar fixed for android 5+
-server stability fixed
-layout fixed for huge system fonts
-admob integration update

v1.29 - 16.3.15
-fixed menu button for some devices
-Menu Overflow Button for devices without hardware button

v1.28 - 9.7.14
-flags fixed for some countries
-minor compatibility fix
-another server added to list
-force close fixed
-admob integration update

v1.27 - 12.1.14
-flags fixed for some countries

v1.26 - 3.1.14
-fixed memory leak in userlist
-fixed server connection stability issue
-minor ui fixes
-minor performance fixes
-minor countryname and flag dislay fixes

v1.24 - 10.10.13
-new admob lib

v1.23 - 12.11.12
-restored layout for Galaxy S3

v1.22 - 11.11.12
-Screen Compatibility Mode (re)-enabled
-fixed user-list freeze issue on android 3 and 4
-some server stability fixes
-fixed layout issues

v1.21 - 28.1.12
-missing menu button for android 3.x fixed

v1.20 - 26.1.12
-new abmob lib (permission for ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE was added )

v1.19 - 19.4.11
-force close fixed
-icon fixed for android 1.5
-switch-on/off sound fixed for android 2.3 gingerbread
-layout fixed for small screens
-new icon
-new menu icon

v1.16 - 19.11.10
-display layout fixed for samsung galaxy tab
-minor fixes for sending on some devices
-new admob lib

v1.15 - 30.10.10
-fixed input source problems for some devices
-fixed recording silence after a few seconds on some devices

v1.14 - 19.10.10
-apps2sd
-minor audio fixes for some devices
-minor design improvement in options dialog

v1.13 - 9.8.10
-fix for sending (recording device failed) on samsung moment and other devices

v1.10 - 27.7.10
-fix for display update when menu or dialog is open, scan will now continue
-workaround fix for samsung moment audio hardware implementation limitations
-wifi lock
-minor fixes

v1.09 - 2.7.10
-free versions can now be invited to join a privacy code group by pro versions
-new icons in menu
-on/off switch layout changed to fit for android 2.2(froyo)

v1.08 - 20.6.10
-sound file format unified for better android audio system compatibility

v1.07 - 7.6.10
-minor fix in recording mechanism
-force close fixed in options and server part if port>65535

v1.06 - 15.5.10
-close button in userlist moved to top
-new auto connection keep alive packet every 5 minutes to avoid wlan sleep
-now a minimum buffer size should fix error on phones like samsung moment where getminbuffersize is implemented wrong

v1.05 - 10.5.10
-talk and net indicator fix for HTC Legend
-new notification message in phones status bar when on
-new close button in userlist

v1.04 - 4.5.10
-special minor bugfixes for nexus one for server status display in options
-error message changed when recording device fails for sending

v1.03 - 27.4.10
-minor bugfixes
-new admob lib

v1.02 - 29.3.10
-new option for wake lock (prevents the cpu from going to sleep mode when switched on and connected)
-minor bugfixes

v0.44 - 21.3.10
-new exclusive theme
-encoding and sending is single-threaded now for more performance and less load
-general minor bugfixes
-app file size optimization
-minor server bugfixes
-time to establish connection improved in server part
-server connection stability improved

v0.43 - 20.3.10
-stability improved
-general minor bugfixes
-new theme added
-theme is now saved
-new time linear encoding and sending mechanisms
-new server functions added for coming features

v0.42 - 18.3.10
-new theme
-general performance improvements
-minor bugfixes
-new mechanisms to avoid step overs on server and client side
-new threaded send mechanisms to provide a more fluent stream
-nickname check on connect

v0.41 - 15.3.10
-starting up should now go faster
-new userinfo bar (click speaker to hide and show)
-bugfixes in server

v0.40 - 14.3.10
-hotfix for force close on start when coarse location is not yet initialized yet
-server country name fix
-country name is now always english

v0.39 - 14.3.10
-new userlist dialog when you click on the channel display
-new info button for built-in server in options tab
-names of roger beep types changed
-improved design
-about text changed
-added new server functions

v0.38 - 10.3.10
-new roger beep type
-bugfixes/improvements in server part

v0.37 - 9.3.10
-persistent now when turned on to avoid app being killed by android on phones with low memory when running in background
-stability of server improved
-memory usage of server optimized
-Roger Beep Type default is now "Cop"

v0.36 - 4.3.10
-more threadsafe now when switching channels manually
-about/error dialogs should not cause any force close from now on
-auto reconnect will now wait 5 seconds untils next try
-force close fixed when auto reconnect was applied to many times and AudioTrack object crashed
-bugfix on sound when switching on or off

v0.35 - 3.3.10
-bugfix: initialization to channel 1 fixed after connect
-new about dialog shown at first start
-auto reconnect implemented if connection is lost

v0.34 - 1.3.10
-small bugfixes on server and client side
-improved scan functionality
-new roger beep sound type Real "Cop", Old "Cop" is now known as "CB"
-improved error handling when switching channel fails on the serverside(NET will now turn red)

v0.33 - 25.2.10
-works now on android 1.5 and greater
-should now be visible for all android 1.5 or greater devices on the market
-small graphic improvements
-new sound when switching on or off
-small performance improvements

v0.32 - 23.2.10
-new scan mode
-new segment display
-small bugfix:amplitude meter gets now black when turned off while receiving

v0.31 - 20.2.10
-new amplitude meter
-phones volume buttons will now always control media volume when Virtual Walkie Talkie is running in foreground
-some minor bugfixes and improvements

v0.30 - 19.2.10
-some minor bugfixes on server and client side

v0.29 - 17.2.10
-fixed another force close in receiver part
-receiver speed optimized, delay between sending and receiving should now be shorter

v0.28 - 17.2.10
-test server host changed
-FAQ url changed

v0.27 - 12.2.10
-FAQ Item in Menu which guides to faq on homepage
-options and serverlist are now saved for next use
-ad color has changed

v0.26 - 28.1.10
-small bugfix on adpcm stream encoder

v0.25 - 28.1.10
-avoids force close on adpcm data stream errors

v0.24 - 28.1.10
-small bugfixes on Force Closes while receiving

v0.23 - 28.1.10
-small bugfixes on server/port settings
-small bugfixes on Force Closes while receiving
-added new cop style roger beep

v0.22 - 17.1.10
-crash on PTT fixed
-sending should now be supported on more phones (including nexus one)
-editable Server List
-test server added

v0.21 - 16.1.10
-protocol improvements
-send roger beep
-channel buttons click sound

v0.2 - 14.1.10
-ui speed optimization
-new protocol with optimized connection handling on channel change
-local roger beep
-settings are saved for each session