Press kit

Everything you need to write about Nowza: the facts, the story, screenshots, logos and art. Questions, interviews or a review subscription: email nowza@cypressoakstudios.com.

Download the press kit (ZIP, 15 MB)

Fact sheet

App: Nowza: Walkie Talkie + Watch
Developer: Cypress Oak Studios LLC, an independent developer, not affiliated with Apple or Google
Released: November 4, 2026, on the App Store
Platforms: iPhone (iOS 17 or later) and Apple Watch (watchOS 10.2 or later). Android phones and Wear OS watches are coming soon.
Price: Free to download. A subscription is $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year in the US, with a free trial, and a Family plan shares it with up to 5 family members. One-on-one, only one of two friends needs a subscription.
Privacy: Every message is end-to-end encrypted. No message history, recordings or transcripts. Sign in with Apple; no phone number or email needed. No ads.
Links: nowza.app · App Store · YouTube · nowza.app/get (the download link for readers: it opens the right store)
Press contact: nowza@cypressoakstudios.com

The story

With watchOS 27, Apple retired Walkie-Talkie, the Apple Watch app that let friends tap a name and talk, wrist to wrist. Nowza brings that back and goes further. Tap a friend's name and you're talking, back and forth, from your watch or your phone: faster than a phone call, and more confidential than a text message.

Every message is end-to-end encrypted, all the way to the wrist: an Apple Watch holds its own keys and decrypts messages itself. Nothing is left behind, with no chat history, recordings or transcripts. Friends don't need an Apple Watch to talk back, or, once Nowza arrives on Android and Wear OS, even an iPhone.

Features

Talk from your Apple Watch. A friend's message taps your wrist: tap to listen, hold Talk to answer. The watch uses its own Wi-Fi or cellular connection when your iPhone isn't nearby.
Push-to-talk on iPhone. With Apple's PushToTalk, a friend's voice can play right away, even when the phone is locked, and you reply from the Lock Screen.
Encrypted end to end. Only your friend's devices can play a message. Nowza's relay passes the audio along without being able to decode it, and doesn't keep it.
One device rings. With a paired watch, your watch rings first. Choose watch only, watch then iPhone, or iPhone only.
Groups of up to 15 for family, a team or a trip, one speaker at a time.
Know what became of your message: ringing, Played, Busy or Missed. A message for a friend who can't be reached is delivered when they're back, for up to a day.
Polite by design. Talk steps aside during phone and FaceTime calls, and a second friend's message is saved instead of talking over the first.
On your watch face. Complications, a Smart Stack widget and a Control put favorite friends a tap away.
A cast of walkie-talkie mascots. Pick one to represent you; friends see it when you ring or talk.

Launch announcement

Nowza brings walkie-talkie conversations back to Apple Watch, encrypted end to end

For immediate release · November 4, 2026

Cypress Oak Studios today released Nowza: Walkie Talkie + Watch on the App Store, a walkie-talkie for iPhone and Apple Watch. Nowza arrives as watchOS 27 retires Apple's Walkie-Talkie app, and in time for everyone unwrapping a new Apple Watch this holiday season.

With Nowza, a friend's message taps your wrist. Tap to hear it, then hold Talk to answer, over the watch's own Wi-Fi or cellular connection when the iPhone is out of reach. On iPhone, Apple's PushToTalk plays a friend's voice right away, even when the phone is locked, with Talk on the Lock Screen.

Every message is end-to-end encrypted, including on the watch, which holds its own keys. Nowza keeps no message history, recordings or transcripts, shows no ads, and needs no phone number or email: people sign in with Apple and add only the friends they choose.

Nowza is built to be polite. One device rings, the watch first. Talk steps aside for phone and FaceTime calls, and a second friend's message waits instead of talking over the first. Groups of up to 15 suit families, teams and trips.

Nowza is free to download from the App Store. A subscription, $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year in the US with a free trial, lets people invite friends and make groups, and friends they invite talk free. Versions for Android phones and Wear OS watches are coming soon, on the same channel as iPhone and Apple Watch.

More: nowza.app. Press: nowza@cypressoakstudios.com.

Screenshots

As on the App Store. Click one for the full-size PNG.

A walkie-talkie for iPhone and Apple Watch

Logos and icon

For light backgrounds: SVG · PNG

For dark backgrounds: SVG · PNG

App icon: PNG

The Nowza mascot, a walkie-talkie with a face — The mascot: SVG · PNG

The tagline, "The walkie-talkie in your phone and watch", as art: for light backgrounds · for dark backgrounds. Please don't alter the logo or the mascot.

Mascots

Everyone in Nowza picks a walkie-talkie character to represent them. Meet them all, with their backstories, on Meet the team.

The Nowza mascots in a group photo, on indigo

Video

Short videos of Nowza in use, on iPhone and Apple Watch or Android and Wear OS, are on the how-to page and the Nowza YouTube channel. Embedding them is fine. For a video file or footage, email nowza@cypressoakstudios.com.