Apple released iOS 26 on Sept. 15, bringing a new Liquid Glass redesign, call screening and more to your iPhone.
But an older feature called Voice Isolation, included in iOS 16.4, can make iPhone calls clearer for the person you’re talking with. 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.
Apple first added the feature alongside Wide Spectrum to FaceTime calls with iOS 15 in 2021, but at this time, only Voice Isolation is available for regular phone calls.
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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 check out everything to know about iOS 26.
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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 to its default setting.
What are Wide Spectrum and Automatic?
Near Voice Isolation in Phone Controls, you’ll also find Wide Spectrum and Automatic. These are different mic modes you can enable.
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.
Automatic will choose the best mode for your call. “For example, Automatic uses Voice Isolation to block ambient noises during calls using the receiver, and it uses the Standard mic mode for calls using the speakerphone,” Apple writes online.
For more iOS news, here’s my review of the iOS 26, how to reduce the Liquid Glass effects in the update and how text screening works in the update. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet.
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