Can I turn off my iPhone's voicemail transcriptions in iOS 17?

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Currently, the transcriptions of audio messages in iOS 17 Messages currently cannot be disabled. If that is a setting you would like to see in future releases, we invite you to provide your feedback to the appropriate Apple teams here: Feedback - Messages for iOS and iPadOS - Apple

Have a wonderful day!

Dralend wrote:

We should be able to disable this feature. Transcripts are not fully accurate, e.g. I say 'It's Dan' to my friend who's recently lost her father. The transcript says 'Hello, it's dad'. This is so stupid Apple, and causes hurt. It needs to be fixed urgently.

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Yes you can disable Voicemail Dictation (live voicemail) and you do NOT need to call your service provider. I have USAA auto insurance. I installed their SafePilot app for discounts on my insurance premium based on my safe driving habits. I got penalized for phone handling while driving and I didn’t even touch my phone. What happened was, while I was driving, an incoming call came in , so I allowed the call to go to voicemail. Then I noticed automatic transcription typing away on the screen while the party left a voicemail message. The SafePilot app program thought I was typing on the phone, thus penalizing me for phone handling. Not! Here is how one disables voicemail dictation or transcription. Very simple!!

How do I turn off Live Voicemail? 

You can turn off the feature from the Phone settings. Go to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail > and toggle the switch off.

VIOLA!! No more live voicemail……

grpnrp wrote:

I need your help! I am looking for others who will join me in demanding that we have the option to turn this feature off!

You can let Apple know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

The translation function is highly inaccurate to the point of being useless. Further, the translation function delays the sending of messages (sometimes by minutes, not seconds) and I have lost several messages because of this already. It is an absolute pain in the backside and I’m very disgruntled to learn that there is no ability to turn it off. Do better, Apple.

cgrimes87 wrote:

This feature needs a disable option. If I send a voice memo it HANGS FOREVER trying to transcribe before the message is sent. I do not need my received voice memos in text and vice versa. If I did, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN TEXTS ALREADY

Tell Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple

The idea was that maybe you are in a situation where it isn’t convenient to listen to a voice message say like in a movie theater or in bed or something but you’d still be able to know what is in the message. In theory I think it’s a handy function and I was waiting for something like this as some other apps have similar functions. However having it always on by default and not being able to turn off, while also being pretty messy at the moment (The messages are frequently full of mistakes) makes it feel a bit half-baked. Another chat app that I use has this function, but it is optional and transcribes the message only if you long-press on the audio message and then the option to transcribe comes up. That way it doesn’t have to be always on or always off. I hope they’ll change it to something like this while also improving the voice recognition in the future.

kurt from VA wrote:

I agree. This feature needs to have an OFF option. If I wanted to send a text, I'd send a text!

You can send whatever you want. And the recipient can still listen to it as an audio message if they chose to do so. But Apple is offering them an opportunity to use their phones the way they want, not the way you think they should.

You can let Apple know what you think here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Star888 wrote:

The translation function is highly inaccurate to the point of being useless. Further, the translation function delays the sending of messages (sometimes by minutes, not seconds) and I have lost several messages because of this already. It is an absolute pain in the backside and I’m very disgruntled to learn that there is no ability to turn it off. Do better, Apple.

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Personally, I think it's great. I've trained most people not to waste my time by sending me voice messages but, occasionlly, some still do. I used to just delete them without listening.

TeeCeeMeeNow wrote:

VIOLA!! No more live voicemail……

Owing to some confusion with the original post (and the fact that the Hosts retitled it incorrectly), it's not clear without a careful reading that this thread has nothing to do with Voicemail. The transcriptions that people want to turn off are the ones for voice messages sent through the Messages app.

So, while your instructions for turning off Live Voicemail are correct, they are not the answer to the question asked in this thread.

It is interesting to hear that the insurance app read Live Voicemail as you using the phone. Good to know.

BB91Austin wrote:

Not having the option to disable the transcript for audio messages in text is a nuisance. There should definitely be an option.

Tell Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple

That is so much complete nonsense! Why do you force things and not even give an option to turn it off???? Like seriously. Sometimes you want the person to hear the audio and they’re just going to be tempted to read the text.

What’s the point of making an audio if you’re going to send a freaking text anyways????

The whole point of audio is to hear my voice. I can voice dictate text if I want to do text messages with my voice. You guys better at this feature to disable ASAP because this is ridiculous!

KR989 wrote:

That is so much complete nonsense! Why do you force things and not even give an option to turn it off???? Like seriously. Sometimes you want the person to hear the audio and they’re just going to be tempted to read the text.

So you want to take away the option from the person you're sending to and force them to listen to the audio?

What’s the point of making an audio if you’re going to send a freaking text anyways????

That's a great question. I've never understood why people send an audio message when they could just text me.

This is the feedback I submitted today, as I am in agreement that we need to be able to disable this feature:

I would like the option to disable the transcription of my voice notes to the people receiving them. First because it slows down my phone. I have to wait for it to transcribe before I can click on any other message. That’s a pain. Second, it is inaccurate at best. Really bad. Third, if I wanted to utilize voice to text, I have that option, but I want my clients to hear the emotion, excitement & inflection in my voice, vs reading it in whatever THEIR current emotional state is. We need to be able to utilize it or disable if we desire. Thank you!

It’s even worse if the voice mail you’re sending is in a different language than english; the transcript makes NO sense at all. It texts crazy stuff and not accurate at all. There should be a way to disable that, it’s inconvenient.