The Secret iPhone iOS Feature That Made My Calls Clearer

Apple released iOS 18.2 in December, and the tech giant began beta testing iOS 18.3 shortly after. The latest update brings some Apple Intelligence features to select iPhones, like Genmoji And Picture Playgroundbut when Apple released iOS 16.4 in 2023, it introduced a feature that significantly improves the sound quality of your calls: voice isolation.

While Apple had already added voice isolation and broad spectrum to FaceTime calls with iOS15 In 2021, only voice isolation is currently available for regular phone calls.

Learn more: Everything you need to know about iOS 18

When enabled, voice isolation reduces distracting background noises that interrupt your phone call. This way, if you’re on a business call or meeting friends, you won’t be interrupted by your dog’s barking or work outside your home.

To enable voice isolation, you must be on an active phone call, as the feature is not found in the settings. Once enabled, voice isolation will remain enabled for all future calls unless you manually turn it off.

Here’s how to turn voice isolation on and off for phone calls.

How to enable voice isolation

1. Press your Phone application.
2. During a phone call, swipe from the upper right corner of your screen to access your Control center.
3. Faucet Telephone orders near the top of your screen.
4. Faucet Voice isolation.

To turn off voice isolation, follow the same steps above and tap Standard in the phone controls. This will return your microphone to its default setting.

What is broad spectrum?

Next to voice isolation in the phone controls you will also find Wide Spectrum. Unlike voice isolation, which attenuates background sounds, Wide Spectrum amplifies background sounds without affecting your voice.

Wide Spectrum is useful for calls with multiple people on the same phone line. This way everyone can be heard, not just the one holding the phone.

Currently, Wide Spectrum is only available for FaceTime calls. Since the feature is still present in Phone Controls, it may become available for phone calls in the future.

To learn more about iOS 18, here’s what you need to know iOS 18.2 And iOS 18.1 and our iOS 18 Cheat Sheet. You can also check what might happen on your iPhone with iOS 18.3.