Voicemail

Need iPad and iPhone help? Sign up for iPhone Life Insider and Sarah will help you with all your iPhone troubleshooting and iOS-related issues. To learn more go to iPhoneLife.com/Insider. In this Hey Sarah column, one Insider wants to know how to change the default greeting on their iPhone's voicemail. Other questions include how to view more than the current month on Apple Watch and how to sort notes in the Notes app alphabetically.

Voicemail-to-text transcriptions on the iPhone aren't a perfect offering, the service often drops words and mangles names. Despite that, voicemail transcriptions are highly useful for those of us who would rather quickly scan a bit of text than listen to a long voice message. One feature I'd love to see added to the voicemail-to-text feature is a single-step method for sharing voicemail transcriptions. While we're waiting for this feature, though, there is a workaround for the lack of a streamlined transcription sharing feature. Read on to learn how to share voicemail to text transcriptions on your iPhone.

You've been trying to get in touch with a friend or family member, but they haven't returned your calls or messages. Are they just busy, is something wrong with their phone, or have they blocked your number? How can you tell if someone blocked your number? There's not a surefire way to know if your number is blocked, but there are a few telling signs that indicate someone blocked your number from texting or calling. Let's go over the clues that calls and messages from your iPhone are being blocked.

We've gone over how to block a phone number on the iPhone, as well as how to block texts on the iPhone, but did you know that even when someone's number is blocked they can still leave you voicemails? It seems odd to be able to receive voicemails from someone you've directed your phone to block, but there it is, and in a way this peculiar feature has its merits. For example, if you've blocked an ex or cyberbully, it can be useful to know if they've moved on or if you may have cause to worry. So let's get started learning what happens when you block a number on the iPhone, and how to listen to voicemails from blocked numbers, as well. 

Have you ever deleted a voicemail and then realized you should have saved it? Don't worry; there's a fix for that! When voicemails are deleted on iPhone, they move to a Recently Deleted folder, which allows you to recover a voicemail you didn't mean to delete or need to listen to again. How long voicemail messages remain in your Deleted Messages folder depends on your carrier. I have Verizon, and the oldest deleted voicemail in my folder is from ten months ago. You can retrieve deleted voicemail and move it back to your regular Voicemail inbox. It's also possible to clear all your deleted messages, permanently removing them from your iPhone. Here’s how to recover a recently deleted voicemail messages, move them back to your Voicemail inbox, or permanently delete them.

iOS 10 is, arguably, the biggest update to come to iPhone. Not since the total redesign of iOS 7 have we seen changes this big to the iPhone’s operating system. From voicemail transcription (aka visual voicemail) to Siri with third-party integration, there’s a lot of new features to learn how to use. We’re still writing tips to cover all of the iOS 10 updates, but this roundup will feature my favorite top ten iOS 10 tips that we’ve published so far. We’ll include how to search for a destination that’s on your way in Maps, how to find your parked car with iOS 10, how to register as an organ donor in the Health app, and much more. Here’s the ten best iOS 10 tips every iPhone user should know.

iPhone Voicemail Transcription: How to Turn On:

Many people want to know how to turn Voicemail Transcription on or off, but you can't do either at this time. Voicemail-to-text on iPhone is a default feature that works on devices running at least iOS 10. However, if you own an iPhone 6 or earler, Voicemail Transcription will not work on your device. It does, however, work on iPhone 6s, iPhone SE, and all newer models including the iPhone X. 

How to Use Voicemail Transcription on iPhone:

• Open the Phone app.
• Tap Voicemail at the bottom of the screen.
• Tap the voicemail you want to read just like you would to listen to it.
• You’ll see a paragraph of text above the voicemail play button. That’s the voicemail transcription.
• To listen to the voicemail after reading the transcription, tap the play button. Or Raise to Listen if you have that setting turned on.

The voicemail transcription may not be perfect but it gives you an overall idea of what the person was talking about and whether or not they’re a telemarketer. Once you’ve read the voicemail transcription, you can choose to listen to the voicemail or simply delete it.

Voicemail greetings are important; your personal voicemail greeting lets people know they’ve reached the right person and reminds them to leave a message after the beep. Whether you have the newest iPhone, or an older version like an iPhone 7, iPhone 6, or iPhone 6s, here’s how to set up or change your voicemail.

Voicemail storage is limited and, usually, most people discard the old ones. However, now and again there’s an awesome or hilarious message that you want to keep or share with friends and family. Now, in iOS 9, you can do that.