Live Voicemail on iPhone: How to Turn On/Turn On and Use

iPhone Live Voicemail is a new feature arriving with iOS 17 that will help solve the growing problem of random calls as well as identify when you want/need to answer from callers you know. Follow along with us to learn how to use and turn off/on live voicemail on iPhone.

Here’s how Apple describes the new iOS 17 feature:

Direct Voicemail gives users the ability to see a real-time transcription of when someone leaves a voicemail, and the opportunity to respond while the caller leaves their message. Calls flagged as spam by carriers will not appear as live voicemail, and will instead be declined immediately. Instantly. With the power of the Neural Engine, live voicemail transcription is handled on device and remains completely private.”

Since 100% of the calls are spam iPhone Not being blocked by carriers, it is likely that some will be able to access live voicemail on iPhone. Fortunately, there is a block button built into the feature so you can take care of it quickly.

How to turn off/on live voicemail on iPhone and how it works

iOS 17 is currently in beta. Read about how to install the software if you want to test out features like these and more.

Live Voicemail is turned on on iPhone by default with iOS 17
head to settings > phone > Direct voicemail to turn it off

When you get a call and you let it go or send it to voicemail, you’ll see a phone and record icon on Dynamic Island or at the top of your iPhone
Click the phone icon to go to the live voicemail transcription
You can now block the caller, answer the call, or let them finish leaving voicemail – and you can swipe from the bottom to leave live voicemail at any time

Here’s what live voicemail looks like on the iPhone in action: