This article explains how you can troubleshoot when the iPhone 18 Pro voicemail to text transcription feature stops working. Apple’s voicemail feature is called Visual Voicemail.
One of the essential Visual Voicemail feature is the transcription service. Listening to your voicemails may not be the best option for you. For example, you may be in a crowded room. Sometimes, reading is the best option. A lot of users find this feature very useful because it lets you read your voicemails instead of listening. This is done by converting audio voicemail messages into text format. This means that your iPhone will transcribe your voicemail messages.
Sometimes you may notice that your iPhone 18 Pro voicemail transcription is not working as expected. Sometimes it may take a lot of time. And sometimes transcription may not show up and you may not see some or all of your voicemails when you want to view a transcribed voice message. Are you having issues seeing the voicemail transcription? This article explains how you can fix it.
There are no settings for this feature. There is no “on/off” settings. Voicemail transcription is supposed to work automatically. You just need to tap on one of your voicemails in the Phone app.
To see your voicemails transcription:
- Go to the Phone app on your iPhone.
- Do one of the following, depending on which Phone app layout you’re using:
- Unified layout: Tap Calls, then tap a message in the Recents list. To view just your voicemail messages, tap the Filter button, then tap Voicemails.
- Classic layout: Tap Voicemail, then tap a message.
- A transcription of the voicemail appears in the bottom half of your screen.
How to fix voicemail to text transcription on iPhone 18 Pro
Please make sure that you follow these instructions in order. Test between steps to check if your issue is resolved.
Transcription requirements:
- Not all carriers (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, etc.) provide voicemail transcriptions. This feature is provisioned by the carrier. However, most major carriers support this. You can contact your carrier and ask them if they support this. Also, note that there are no additional fees for this service.
- Apple says Voicemail, Visual Voicemail, and Live Voicemail are available from select carriers in select countries or regions, and that Live Voicemail isn’t available in all countries, regions, or languages. You can check your language settings by going to Settings > Siri > Language.
How to troubleshoot:
- As stated above, Siri is essential for this feature to work. Make sure that Siri is enabled on your phone. To check your settings, go to Settings > Siri. If Siri is turned on, then try the following:
- Turn Siri off: go to Settings > Siri > Requests, then turn off “Siri” or “Hey Siri” and Press Side Button for Siri. Restart your iPhone (step 4 below explains how), then turn Siri back on.
- Check your Internet connections. If your iPhone 18 Pro is not connected to the Internet, through Wi-Fi and/or a cellular connection, transcription will not work. Make sure that your iPhone 18 Pro is connected to the Internet and then test to see if voicemail transcription starts working. To check your connection, open Safari on your iPhone and type geekschalk.com in the address bar and tap Go. If the site loads, then your connection is working. If not, you may try the following tips:
- If possible, try a different Wi-Fi network.
- Turn on Airplane Mode, wait five seconds, and then turn it off by going to Settings > Airplane Mode.
- Restart your iPhone. If you do not know how it is explained below.
- Reset your network settings by going to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Note that doing so will wipe your network settings such as your Wi-Fi passwords etc.
- Update your iOS software. It is important that your device is running the latest version of the iOS software. There are two ways to do this:
- You can update wirelessly. On your iPhone, go to Settings > General, then tap Software Update. Then follow the onscreen instructions, if there is an update available.
- You can also update your iPhone using your computer. Simply connect your iPhone to your computer, then open iTunes or Finder and follow the onscreen instructions.
- Restart your iPhone. Here is how:
Press and hold either volume button and the side button together until you see the power off slider. Then drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. To turn your device back on, press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
- Check for a carrier settings update. There may be a carrier update. You can check this by going to Settings > General > About. A popup will appear if there is an update available. Tap Update.
- Check your Siri language settings. As stated above, Siri language settings should be set to English (United States) or English (Canada). If you use a localized English setting, such as the UK English, this will not work. Check your settings by going to Settings > Siri > Language.
If you are still having issues, you may want to contact Apple or your carrier. Issues with your carrier or account might cause this problem. Apple offers different support options:
