iPhone owners unlock free upgrade today to let you send ‘video voicemails’ – but there’s an even better new perk
APPLE has issued a major update to millions of iPhones with two very clever voicemail tricks.
They solve some of the biggest problems with voicemail, and they’re totally free.
The new features are available from today as part of the new iOS 17 update for your iPhone.
Video Voicemails
Normally when you FaceTime someone and they don’t answer, you’re stuck.
Whatever important moment you wanted to share is lost – and that’s a real shame.
That’s why Apple has created Video Messages for FaceTime.
So if you call someone who doesn’t pick up on FaceTime, you can then leave them a video message to view later.
It’s a lot like voicemail, except you’re leaving a video clip instead of an audio recording.
Live Voicemail
Perhaps an even more exciting feature is Live Voicemail.
This lets you see a real-time transcription of a voicemail that someone is leaving.
It’s a great trick, as it means you can get a gauge on what a caller wants before picking up.
This is especially useful if someone is calling from an unknown number.
Better still, you can pick up while the caller is leaving their message.
What’s also useful is that if a caller is identified as spam by your carrier, it won’t appear as a Live Voicemail.
Instead, the call will be instantly declined.
The whole process is managed on your device rather than in the cloud, so it should be safe and secure.
It means you don’t have to feel pressured to immediately pick up a call.
And it saves you having to listen to endless voicemails because you can just read their contents instead.
iOS 17
Both of these new features require iOS 17 to work.
The software update went live on Monday, September 18.
You’ll need to install it by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Sadly not all iPhone models can install iOS 17.
Here is the full list of iOS 17 supported devices:
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)
If you don’t have one of these iPhone models, you’ll need to upgrade to a newer device to get iOS 17 – and the two voicemail tricks by extension.