Everyone started using audio messages recently and this trend is not going to fade anytime soon. But did you ever wonder where do saved audio messages are on your device? What if you want to locate an old message and play it again?
This article will explain everything you need to know about audio messages and how to reach them once they are saved.
Audio messages are saves in the iMessage app on your iPhone. But as a default, an audio message will be removed from the app ( deleted ) after 2 minutes from the time it has been listening too. Here’s what to do to save it and listen to it in a later date.
Where do saved audio messages go on iPhone?
Apple has introduced the iMessage back in 2011. For those of you who don’t know, iMessage is a messaging app from apple that sends and receives text messages, audio messages and media files over the internet instead of your mobile carrier cellular data.
As this is a feature developed by apple, it will ONLY work for apple devices such as:
- iPhone
- iPad
- Mac
- Apple Watch etc
You will know you are using iMessage because the color of the message bubbles is blue instead of the familiar green in the regular message app and as well in the popular app Whatsapp.
Another important thing to know is that all audio messages sent via iMessage are encrypted so that you can be sure no one will intercept your messages and listen to them.
How do I save audio messages on iPhone – 3 Methods
Right, so this is the reason you clicked on the article really, so let’s see how you can save the audio message so that you can access it later to listen to it again in 3 different ways.
IMPORTANT NOTE
For some reason, audio messages sent with iMessage will be deleted two minutes after you listened to them. So if you want to save them long term, act quickly.
Method #1 to saving an Audio message on iPhone
- Open the iMessage app on your phone
- Locate the thread that has the audio message you want to save and tap it
- Play the audio message to listen to it
- Now quickly press the Keep button below the message clip.
Once that button is pressed, the audio message will remain on the message thread so that you can listen to it whenever you want later.
Method #2 Change iMessage settings
Another way to save your audio messages is to simply change the iMessage settings to NOT delete the audio message after 2 minutes. Gees, if you can do that, why isn’t this the first option?? Because we want to keep this interesting. Here’s how:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone
- Tap Messages
- Scroll down the locate Audio Messages
- Tap the Expire option
- Change expiration period to Never
Now your audio messages received via the iMessage app will never be expired or deleted.
Method #3 Save audio messages to your Mac
The third solution to saving audio messages is to use your Mac and your iCloud account. Here’s how:
- First, you need to change in the settings of your iPhone that iMessages will be displayed BOTH on your iPhone and on your Mac. Here’s how:
a. Open the Settings app on your iPhone
b. Tap Messages
c. Tap Text Messages Forwarding and Enable to forward messages to your Mac
- Open your Mac and lunch the Messages app
- Locate the thread that has the audio message in it, and open it.
- Right click the audio message you want to save, and click Services in the drop down menu
- In the second drop down menu that will open, click Show in Finder
- The new window that will show up is your Transfers Folder within your Mac
- Now simply drag the audio message file in that folder to any other folder on your Mac
Now that audio message is inside your folder on your Mac so you can access it whenever you want and will be not be deleted.
Now that we got where do audio messages go on iPhone and how to save them, you might be asking yourself ” wait a minute, what about the messages I sent, how do I save these audio messages?
How to save audio messages you sent
Saving audio messages you just sent is also possible, here’s how to do it:
- Open the Messages app on your iPhone and locate the conversation with the audio message you sent.
- Tap and hold the message and tap More
- On the bottom right corner tap the little arrow icon
- A new window will open up and now you can email that message to yourself
- From here, you can access the audio file from any device on your email and save it
Now for the final part, you might be asking yourself, that’s all great, but if I need to access an audio message that was already deleted, is that possible? YES! It is. Here’s how.
Why audio messages do NOT save in the Voice Memo app anymore
For some seasoned apple users in the crowd, you probably remember up until a few years ago the audio messages you received or sent were saved in the Voice Memo app. Apple put an end to that a few years ago with their regular iOS updates.
The most probable reason was that people saved every single audio message inside the Voice Memo app and it created a lot of clutter, which defuse the purpose of the Voice Memo app, it makes sense that the audio messages will be saved in the iMessage app and not in the Voice Memo app
How to access lost or deleted audio messages
In order to retrieve old audio messages or messages that have been deleted, you need to use third party tools such as Fonedog iOS Data Recovery. These tools help you to restore deleted messages and also lost photos.
You can also use a tool called Appgeeker which is another data recovery tool.
We didn’t use any of these tools personally and can’t speak on behalf of any of these, but they do say they will recover lost or deleted audio messages so it’s worth a shot if you need to recover a lost message.
Frequently Asked Questions about Saved Audio Messages
Here are some of the most common questions about audio messages
Why do audio messages are deleted after 2 minutes
The reason is to save storage on your device and also keep your privacy. While still a message, apple thinks of voice messages as highly private and therefor deleting them after 2 minutes from time of listening protects you.
How do I know the person who got my audio message listened to it
Once a person you sent and audio message too listened to it, you will see a small ” Played ” word below your audio message.
Can I un-send a voice message
NO. Once you sent an audio message, it is sent and even if you delete it on your device, it will still be available to the other party. If you wish to delete an audio message it’s best to delete it before you tap send.
Conclusion
Saving audio messages is pretty easy once you know all the methods to do it. We hope this article helped you better understand your iPhone features and specifically the features related to iMessage and audio messages.
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