With visual voicemail, you can have direct access to voicemail using a visual interface that shows a list of messages for playback. Using this feature, you can easily scan through all messages you received on your phone, view a visual summary of who called and when the call was made. From that list, you can choose which message to listen to right on your iPhone display. Voicemail features and voice message services may vary depending on your voicemail subscription or plan. Visual voicemail is usually included in your postpaid plan. If your carrier supports this feature, then you can get started in using visual voicemail by setting it up on your device. Apple devices that support visual voicemail include iPhones running on iOS 10 or later platform. If ever you will find trouble using visual voicemail on your new iPhone XR but can’t because it doesn’t work, then this post may help you. Read on to learn what to do if visual voicemail is not working on your iPhone XR.
Before troubleshooting, verify and ensure that visual voicemail is supported by your carrier. If you are not certain, contact your carrier first for more information. Also make sure that your iPhone is running on the latest iOS version. If not, then try updating your iPhone software first. You can check for new iOS update by heading to your iPhone Settings-> General-> Software Update menu. You should see a notification prompt if a new iOS version is available. Then follow the onscreen prompts to download and install the new update on your phone. If your iPhone software is up-to-date and your Internet connection is working just fine but you still couldn’t get visual voicemail to function, then try these subsequent solutions to eliminate software-related attributes that might have caused problems to your iPhone XR’s visual voicemail system.
First solution: Turn Cellular services off and then back on.
A strong cellular connection is necessary for visual voicemail to work. Your phone may be experiencing some random errors affecting cellular services thus visual voicemail is temporarily unavailable. To rule this out, try to turn cellular service off for a few seconds and then turn back on. Doing so will refresh the phone’s cellular network system and likewise eliminates minor glitches that could be affecting cellular services particularly visual voicemail at the moment. So here’s what you can try doing as first workaround:
- Tap to open Settings from your Home screen.
- Tap on Cellular then navigate to Cellular Data.
- Toggle the switch next to Cellular Data to turn the feature ON.
- Scroll down through the menu options to enable cellular data for your apps.
If cellular data is already turned on, toggle the switch to turn it OFF shortly and then turn back ON. That should refresh your phone’s cellular services including visual voicemail.
Second solution: Enable/disable Airplane mode.
The Airplane mode tweak has been used by many when dealing with various types of network problems including those affecting Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular functions. It works by giving an instant refresh on the phone’s network functions and thereby eliminates random errors and relevant problems. If you’d like to give it a shot, then here’s how it works:
- Navigate to your iPhone XR Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
- Toggle the Airplane Mode switch to turn ON.
- Restart/soft reset your iPhone XR.
- Head back to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
- Then toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode OFF again.
Turning Airplane mode on automatically disables wireless radios and turning it off re-enables wireless functions.
Third solution: Update carrier settings on your iPhone XR.
Carrier updates may contain the required fix patch if the problem is attributed to some bugs that caused errors to the network system and relevant services including visual voicemail. You can manually check for new carrier updates through your iPhone settings. Here’s how:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen.
- Select General.
- Tap About.
If a new carrier update is available, you will see an update prompt after a few seconds. Simply follow the given instructions to install the new update.
Fourth solution: Reset network settings on your iPhone XR.
Network-related errors causing problems to visual voicemail and other cellular services can also be cleared out instantly by performing a network settings reset on your iPhone XR. Doing so will erase all your current wireless networks and Bluetooth connections along with server information. Thus everything will be reset to the default network configurations. Any errors inflicted by incorrect network settings will also be cleared out in the process. Here’s how it works:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Then tap on General.
- Scroll down to and then tap on Reset.
- Select the option to Reset network settings.
- Enter your passcode when asked to proceed.
- Finally, tap the option to confirm network settings reset.
After the reset, your phone should reboot automatically. As soon as it boots up, restore your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular connections then start using each feature on your phone again.
Fifth solution: Reset visual voicemail password and set language to English (United States).
Some people who experienced the same problem with visual voicemail were able to find remedies by resetting their visual voicemail password and setting the voicemail language to English (US) version. Should you wish to resort to this tweak, then simply refer to these steps:
- Navigate to Settings-> Phone menu.
- Tap the option to Change Voicemail Password.
- Enter your current voicemail password.
- Then tap Done on the top-right corner.
- Enter the new voicemail password you want to use and then tap Done.
- If prompted, enter your new voicemail password again to confirm.
- Then tap Done to save the changes.
Your voicemail password is now changes, so you should enter this new password the next time you’re asked when trying to check your voicemail on your iPhone XS.
- To change the language, dial the voicemail system then enter your passcode when the system answers. From the Main Menu, access Personal Options then go to Personal Profile. Select the option to Change Language and then choose English.
Please note though that the number codes to access these menu options vary from carrier to carrier. To ensure that you’re using the right number code, contact your service provider.
Other options
Erase your iPhone XR and set up visual voicemail again from scratch. To make sure you’ve done everything properly, you may consider resetting your iPhone XR to its default settings or perform a factory reset. But before you do so, back up all your important contents to iCloud or to a computer drive through iTunes.
Once you’re backup is secured, proceed with the factory reset by navigating to your iPhone Settings-> General-> Reset menu, then choose the option to Erase all content and settings. Enter your device passcode when asked to continue and then select the option to confirm factory reset.
After the reset, everything should be restored to its factory defaults including Visual Voicemail settings. This means you will need to set up your voicemail from scratch. Here’s how it’s done:
- Open the Phone app.
- Scroll down to the bottom and then tap the Voicemail ta/icon.
- Select the option to Set Up Now.
- Create a voicemail password then tap Done to continue.
- If asked to confirm, enter your password then tap Done.
- Choose Custom or Default greeting. If you select Custom, then you will need to record a new greeting.
- When you’re done recording, tap Done again to save it.
Reboot your iPhone once you’re done setting up your voicemail greetings. After it reboots, place a call to your iPhone using another device then see if visual voicemail works as intended. If it still doesn’t work, then you’re likely dealing with a more complex system error, which usually require more advanced solutions including system restore.
For further assistance and other recommendations, contact Apple Support of your iPhone carrier then let them know about how you ended up unable to use visual voicemail on your iPhone XR.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!
