New audio button not working in iOS 16.4.1

Hello Sarah2126,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We're happy to look into this with you.

Looking over Send recorded audio messages on iPhone - Apple Support, it does appear you're following the correct action to send an audio message. Please make sure that both you and your contact are signed into iMessage as that is a requirement for this feature.

Note: Audio recording is available only when you and your recipients are signed in to iMessage.

If everything looks good with your iMessage being signed in, you can try the actions below to see if they help.

1. Quit the Messages app - Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support
2. Restart your iPhone - Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

Please let us know how it goes. If you continue to have issues, test using the microphone icon in the text box in Messages to see if you can record a message that way. It may help with our research regarding the issue you're facing.

Best regards.

From the attachment that you included, I see microphone to right where you would type a text, that’s what I use. Just tap on it and you should hear an alert sound telling you it’s ready to record. That’s how I’ve done when using dictation.

I tried pressing the button you circled in red, and it brought up the touch and hold to record audio.

Try it with a press of the microphone button on right

I’m running the latest 16.5