To send a voice (audio) message on an iPhone, follow these steps:
- Open the Messages app and select the conversation or start a new one with the contact you want to send the voice message to. The recipient must also have an iOS device to receive audio messages via iMessage
- Tap the plus (+) button next to the text input field. This opens a menu with options including "Audio"
- Tap "Audio." The recording will start immediately. Speak your message
- When finished, tap "Stop" to end the recording. You can then play it back to review or cancel if you want to re-record
- Tap "Send" to share the audio message in the conversation
Alternatively, you can press and hold the microphone icon in the message field to record and send a voice message quickly
. Note: By default, audio messages sent through Messages expire two minutes after being listened to, but the recipient can choose to keep them or disable expiration in settings
. If you want to send a longer or permanent voice recording, you can use the Voice Memos app to record and then share the audio file via Messages or other apps
. This method works on iPhones running iOS 16 and later, including iOS 17
