How to Send & Receive Audio Text Messages on Your iPhone

By Abbey Dufoe Updated 01/25/2021

* This post is part of iPhone Life's Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

Within the Messages app, you can send and receive audio messages with other iPhone users. Sending and receiving audio messages is a fun way communicate with your voice without being on the phone, and without using the talk-to-text iPhone feature. Here’s how to send and receive audio text messages.

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How To Send a Voice Message on the iPhone in the Messages App

The audio messages you send will disappear after a set amount of time unless the recipient taps Keep. To send an audio text message from your iPhone:

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  1. Open the Messages app and start or continue a conversation thread.

    Open the messages app and start or continue a conversation
     
  2. Press and hold the audio icon on the right side of the text box to record. The icon looks like a collection of lines.

    Press and hold the audio icon the whole time you're recording an audio message
     
  3. Speak your message while still holding the icon.
  4. Lift your finger to end recording. 
  5. To hear your recorded message before you send it, tap the playback arrow.

    Tap the Play button to hear your recording before sending it
     
  6. To delete the recording, tap the X icon.

    Tap the gray X to delete the recording so you can try again
     
  7. To send the message, tap the send arrow.

    Tap the up arrow to send the audio message on iPhone

Related: How to Use Effects in Messages

How To Listen to an Audio Message You Received on Your iPhone

Once you've opened a message that contains an audio recording, follow the steps below to access the voice message on your iPhone.

  1. Tap the play button on the recording.

    Tap the Play button to play a received message
     
  2. You can tap Keep to save a recording you've sent or received.

    Tap Keep to keep the message instead of allowing it to delete automatically after 2 minutes
     
  3. If you do not opt to keep a message, it will automatically delete after two minutes.

With these steps, you can now easily navigate sending and receiving audio or voice messages in the Messages app on your iPhone.

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Topics

How-To
Apps
Messages

Author Details

Abbey Dufoe's picture

Author Details

Abbey Dufoe

Abbey Dufoe is a freelance writer and a web producer at a nonprofit based in Princeton, NJ. She's always itching for the newest iOS gadget (current favorite - the Apple Watch). She tweets and blogs about the earth and the Internet on Twitter at @abbeydufoe and at abbeydufoe.com.