Seagull Phone review

We review Seagull Phone on iPhone, an app that creates a fast and simple communications system on your Wi-Fi network

Okay, so it's not like device-to-device communications are anything new or revolutionary for the iPhone. After all, the iPhone is still a mobile phone (the clue is in its name,) so voice calls and text messages are kind of obligatory.

But that hasn't stopped developers from coming up with a plethora of alternative ways to communicate using your trusty iOS device; with varying degrees of sensational success and pitiful failure.

Seagull Phone lands somewhere in the middle, with a great, impressively simple concept that sadly falls a bit short in terms of usability.

You could reasonably think of Seagull Phone as a Wi-Fi-based walkie talkie system. Again, there are no shortage of short-range communication apps out there, but this one works it's magic by going down the ultra-efficient route. This austere approach is both the strength and downfall of the app.

It works by automatically detecting any other iOS devices - including the iPad and iPod touch, with the iPad running the iPhone app - on the same wireless network you're currently using. Whether you'd want to launch it in a public place on an open signal is debatable, but presumably, this is the kind of application you'd be looking to employ around the house - how many iPhone owners don't have a Wi-Fi signal buzzing about their heads these days?

A list of devices n the network is displayed, and you can initiate a two-way voice call between them simply by tapping their entry in the list. The audio is superb, what with Wi-Fi actually having a wider bandwidth than traditional telephone systems, and although it suffers a little if the network is a bit throttled or you're on the fringe of reception, that's hardly the apps fault. Indeed, Seagull Phone copes pretty well with low signals, making this a great way to quickly open hailing frequencies with folk around the house. But...

The app only works when it's in action. That might sound unfair to criticise something for not working all that well when it's not working at all, but Seagull Phone doesn't even run in the background.

Therefore, all participants are required to have the app open in order to receive a call, and that's not remotely practical. It would be more understandable if it at least had to be running in the background, though, ideally we'd like to at least see a notification if the app is closed down.

If it weren't for this operational drawback, Seagull Phone would be spot on for replacing those garbled shouts betwixt kitchen and a kid's bedroom when tea is ready, or bathroom and living room when Doctor Who's about to start. As it is, it's hard to imagine much of a legitimate scenario other than playing soldiers and deliberately and specifically launching the app on all devices across the network.

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