How To Receive Voice Messages On Iphone

You can send voice messages from your iPhone, which is a great way to send a long message that you don't have time to type out.
Voice messages will expire two minutes after the recipient plays them, but this time limit can be removed in your iPhone's Settings app.
Your voice messages can be as long as you want — there's no limit.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

While texting is the most popular form of communication these days, sometimes you have so much to say that you can't fit it into a quick text message.

Thankfully, when that's the case, your iPhone offers the ability to send voice messages to your contacts, so that they can actually hear what you have to say rather than just reading the words on the screen.

While the feature only works when the person you're sending the voice message to is using another Apple device like an iPhone, iPad, or even a MacBook with iMessage installed, it's a quick and easy way to chat.

Here's what you need to know about how to send a voice message.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

iPad (From $329.99 at Best Buy)

MacBook Pro (From $1,299.99 at Best Buy)

How to send a voice message on your iPhone

1. On your iPhone's home screen, tap the Messages app icon to open it.

2. Either begin a new iMessage conversation by tapping the pen and paper icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Messages screen or open an existing iMessage conversation.

3. To the right of the iMessage text box, press and hold the small microphone icon (or, if you're using iOS 13, the icon that looks like a series of vertical lines) and begin recording your voice message.

4. When finished, release the recording button. You will then see two icons next to the message; one will be a play button shaped like a right-facing triangle, while the other will be an upward-facing arrow.

Once you've recorded a message, two icons will appear.

5. Press the play button to listen to what you've just recorded, or tap the upward-facing arrow to send your voice message.

It should be noted that, by default, voice messages are deleted two minutes after the recipient listens to them. However, you can choose to keep the message you've sent by tapping the "Keep" option beneath the media file.

You can choose to keep voice messages you send or receive, so they never expire.

You can also change your iPhone's automatic settings to ensure your messages are kept longer on your device.

How to change the expiration length of voice messages on your iPhone

To do this, simply go to the Settings app, tap Messages, scroll down to the "Audio Messages" heading and select "Never" rather than "After 2 Minutes" within the Expire tab.

This makes it so any voice message you send or receive won't expire on your device. Messages you send to others, however, will still expire on their devices, unless they've also changed their settings.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

'Why is my iPhone camera black?': How to fix your iPhone camera if it isn't working properly
How to turn off text message previews on your iPhone, to help keep your private conversations private
'Why won't my iPhone ring?': 7 ways to fix an iPhone when its sound isn't working properly
How to stop iCloud storage alerts on your iPhone in 5 easy ways

Jennifer is a writer and editor from Brooklyn, New York, who spends her time traveling, drinking iced coffee, and watching way too much TV. She has bylines in Vanity Fair, Glamour, Decider, Mic, and many more. You can find her on Twitter at @jenniferlstill.