Apple released the fourh public beta of iOS 26 on Aug. 18, and it brought call screening and more to the iPhone’s of developers and beta testers. But you don’t need to be a developer or beta tester to use Voice Isolation, a hidden iPhone feature that can make your calls clearer for the person on the other end of your call.
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.
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 check out everything to know about iOS 18 before the release of iOS 26.
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 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 that mode is best 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 are my first impressions of the beta version of iOS 26, how to enable call screening in the beta and all the new features Apple said it will bring to your device later this year. You can get an early view of the upcoming iPhone features with our iOS 26 cheat sheet.
