Taking a phone call in a busy area can be a pain for the person on the other end of your call. They can have a hard time hearing what you’re saying if you’re in a busy cafe or on a packed bus. But there’s a hidden iPhone feature that can make your calls clearer for the person on the other end, and it’s called Voice Isolation.
Apple introduced Voice Isolation in 2023 with iOS 16.4. The tech company added the feature, alongside Wide Spectrum, to FaceTime calls with iOS 15 in 2021, but only Voice Isolation is available for regular phone calls at this time.
Read more: An Expert’s Guide to All Features in iOS 18
When Voice Isolation is enabled, it muffles distracting background noises that interrupt your calls. That way, if you’re on a business call or catching up with friends, you won’t be interrupted by your dog’s barking or construction outside your home.
To enable Voice Isolation, you have to be on an active phone call, as the feature isn’t located in Settings. Once activated, Voice Isolation will remain on for all future calls unless you manually turn it off.
Here’s how to activate and disable Voice Isolation for phone calls. You can also see what iOS 18.5 brings to your iPhone.
How to enable Voice Isolation
1. Tap your Phone app.
2. While in a phone call, swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to access your Control Center.
3. Tap Phone Controls near the top of your screen.
4. Tap Voice Isolation.
To disable Voice Isolation, follow the same steps above and tap Standard in Phone Controls. This will return your microphone back to its default setting.
What is Wide Spectrum?
Next to Voice Isolation in Phone Controls, you’ll also find Wide Spectrum. Unlike Voice Isolation — which muffles background sounds — Wide Spectrum amplifies background sounds without affecting your voice.
Wide Spectrum is useful for calls with multiple people on one phone line. That way, everyone can be heard, not just the person holding the phone.
Currently, Wide Spectrum is only available for FaceTime calls. Since the feature is still present in Phone Controls, it could become available for phone calls in the future.
For more on iOS 18, here’s all the features included in iOS 18.5 and iOS 18.4. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet and what we hope to see in iOS 19.
Watch this: iOS 19 Changes Apple Needs to Make
