Fresh Apps - iPhone Apps & iPod Touch Apps.

First came the telephone, then voicemail, then SMS, and now… Rattle Me! At least that’s the narrative told by the developers of Rattle Me, a new communications tool for iOS devices. It’s sort of sending a text message without having to type. Or like leaving a voicemail without the risk of someone actually, you know, answering the phone and talking to you.

How It Works

Rattle Me works by sending short (thirty seconds or less) audio messages called “rattles” to other users of the free Rattle Me service. Both users must obviously have the app installed, and you must both “link” each other by entering the email addresses you used when setting up the account. Once you are linked with another user, you can “rattle” them anytime you want to send them a quick audio message. A push notification will hit your device if you have a new rattle.

Other features include the ability to send a rattle to multiple users at once, and the ability to send a rattle to yourself. Rattles are not automatically stored on the device: once you listen to a rattle you can archive it by using one of the several sharing options.

Pros And Cons

Once set up, Rattle Me works quickly when sending and receiving rattles. It is fast and intuitive to send a rattle: just tap to start recording, tap to stop, and tap again to cancel the send while it’s in progress. The push notification that lets you know you have a new rattle comes quickly once a rattle is sent.

I had some trouble getting my account set up, but it was a fluke that I don’t think happens often. I set up another account on another device in order to test the service and that went flawlessly. Having trouble the first time did give me the opportunity to send an email to their support folks, who were very quick and responsive in getting my problem solved.

Overall

The Rattle Me service is a unique and interesting new way to communicate with people, bridging the gap between sending a text message and calling on the phone. The service is free and the developers promise some exciting new features are being worked on, so I suggest you check it out!