[ELI5] If smartphones can be used for long range communication, then why can’t it be used to communicate like walkie-talkies?

Question

[ELI5] If smartphones can be used for long range communication, then why can’t it be used to communicate like walkie-talkies?

In: 10

Answer 1

The technology exists, and is built into some “adventure” phones such as the [Unihertz Atom XL](https://www.unihertz.com/products/atom-xl)

There have also been mesh network programs to connect directly to other phones and create a mesh network covering a region where each phone connects to any others around, but uptake was poor. An example of that software was “[serval rhizome](https://developer.servalproject.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=content:tech:rhizome)”