Even if you’re not a fan of your smartphone, you probably use its most basic function of texting for communication. It can be frustrating when your text messages suddenly stop sending. This could be due to various reasons, like the wrong number or a poor network signal, to name a few.

Regardless, it’s usually a quick fix to get your iPhone 18 Pro Max sending SMS or MMS messages again, so don’t start panicking just yet. Have a look at these potential fixes.

1. Check Your Network Signal

SMS and MMS messages send in green iPhone text bubbles, while iMessages send in blue iPhone text bubbles. To send a message as iMessage, RCS, or MMS, you need a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection. To send an SMS message, you need cellular network connection. Be sure you are sending the right type of message.

Sometimes bad weather, internet hackers, or a rural location can affect your service connection. One simple way to check if your cell signal is bad is by looking at the number of network bars in the top-right of your iPhone’s status bar, next to the battery icon. Less filled bars mean poor connection. If you see “No Service,” that means you don’t have a signal.

Try moving to an area with better reception if it’s weak or nonexistent. If you’re in an area that usually has a good signal, contact your mobile network operator.

2. Make Sure SMS and MMS Are On

When you message another contact with an Apple device, your iPhone sends it via iMessage by default.

Because iMessage texts sometimes fail to send, your iPhone might instead try sending SMS (Short Message Service) messages, even to other iPhone users. However, you need to switch this feature on in Settings for it to work.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Messages.
3. Toggle on the Retry as Text Message slider.

Your iPhone can also send MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages. These are text messages that include some kind of media, such as images or video clips. You may need to enable these messages in Settings before you’re able to send them.

Here’s how you can activate MMS messages:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Messages.
3. Hit the MMS Messaging toggle to set it to the green “on” position.

Do note that your personal cell plan may not cover MMS messaging. In this case, any text message sent with multimedia will fail to send. MMS is limited, too. We recommend using one of the best instant messaging apps if you’d like to share media files without a fuss when iMessage fails.

3. Are You in Airplane Mode?

Airplane Mode prevents your iPhone from sending and receiving cellular signals. Unless you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network, you won’t be able to send or receive text messages via iMessage when you enable Airplane mode.

And even then, you can’t send or receive SMS messages since they rely on cellular signals. Because of this, you should make sure that you’ve turned off Airplane Mode before trying to send text messages.

You can do this by opening your iPhone’s Control Center and tapping the Airplane toggle in the top left. This symbol is grayed out whenever Airplane Mode is off. As a bonus, sometimes toggling Airplane Mode on and off can clear up temporary signal hiccups, too.

4. Did You Text the Right Number?

Sending text messages to inactive or unused numbers is a recipe for failure and frustration. When sending an SMS message, make sure you enter the correct number.

This should be no problem when you message a contact stored on your iPhone, but it can require care when entering a new number. So take your time when entering numbers.

If you continue to have trouble, contact your intended recipient by other means to confirm the number.

This last point is important. Sometimes, your contacts may change their numbers, or their mobile operator may disconnect them. The issue may be with someone else’s phone and not yours.

5. Refresh and Delete Your Messages

If your iPhone 18 Pro Max can’t send text messages, try closing the Messages app and opening it again. This isn’t the most scientific method, but some users report that it’s effective.

You can also try deleting any Message conversations that contain failed texts.

Once again, it’s not obvious why this can be effective. Sometimes applications get lost or stuck trying to perform a certain action—like sending a text. Often, refreshing the app can clear out the action, allowing the app to once again function properly.

You can also delete conversations in Messages by doing the following:

1. Launch Messages.

   

2. Swipe left on the conversation you’d like to delete.
3. Tap the Delete icon, and tap Delete from the pop-up to confirm.
4. Finally, press the Compose icon in the bottom-right corner of the Messages screen to give it another try.

This method is extremely useful if a message continually tries to send but is unable to do so.

6. Is Your Mobile Plan Active?

You should next check whether you currently have an active mobile service plan. If you don’t have one, you won’t be able to send texts.

While the vast majority of phone plans offer standard unlimited texting, you might have exceeded your monthly limit of text messages if you have a limited plan.

In either case, you should contact your network provider to ensure there are no issues with your account services.

7. Restart Your iPhone 18 Pro Max

If you’ve tried all of the above, you can restart your iPhone next. Restarts clear temporary memory, so they can be a good way of removing any issues affecting how your iPhone works.

You can restart by holding the Side button and one of the Volume buttons. You then swipe the Power Off slider to the right.

Alternatively, you can fully shut down your phone and manually restart it using the following instructions:

1. Launch Settings > General > Shut Down.
2. Swipe the slider to the right.
3. Wait one minute to allow a full shutdown of the phone.
4. Hold Side button to turn on your iPhone.

When the phone turns back on, you should be able to enter Messages and easily resend the problematic text.

8. Update iOS

You should always keep your iPhone updated with the latest version of iOS. New updates for iOS can iron out software issues and bugs. So if your iPhone 18 Pro Max still can’t send text messages, it’s a good idea to update.

You need an internet connection to update your device. It also helps to keep your device connected to a power source. You should then do the following:

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to General.
3. Tap Software Update.
4. You’ll see an Update Now button if a pending update is available. Select it to download the latest version and install it on your iPhone.

If your iPhone says, “iOS is up to date,” you have the latest version installed and don’t need to do anything else.

9. Reset Your Network Settings

You shouldn’t take resetting your iPhone’s network settings too lightly. Network settings save data such as Wi-Fi networks and passwords, so it isn’t ideal to erase them.

That said, it’s worth doing if you’ve tried everything above and your iPhone still won’t send text messages.

Here’s how to clear your iPhone’s network settings:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Open General.
3. Scroll down and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset.
4. Press Reset Network Settings.
5. Enter your passcode.
6. Tap Reset Network Settings to confirm.

10. Still Not Working? Get Professional Help

If your iPhone 18 Pro Max still won’t send SMS messages after all this, your last option is to contact your mobile operator. Try calling the customer service line. If they can’t help you, it’s likely a hardware issue, and you should contact Apple or an authorized service provider for expert assistance.

Depending on your location, you can book an Apple Store appointment at a Genius Bar. You may have to eventually replace the iPhone, but that should be the last case scenario.

Fix Your iPhone Messaging Issues

Unfortunately, it can take a little bit of time to figure out exactly what the source of your texting issues may be. However, if you’re patient and willing to try a couple of different techniques, you should have no problem getting your iPhone working again.

If you’ve tried everything we listed above but still can’t send text messages on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max, it might be time to get another device.

Despite them being more reliable than SMS, iMessages sometimes won’t deliver. It’s an annoying problem, but one which does have some solutions.

So why is an iMessage not being delivered? Your blue messages, i.e. the ones sent from one iPhone to another, should say Delivered when they arrive on a recipient’s device, but that’s not always the case. This can affect multiple contacts or one person specifically. It’s more infuriating when the message says Delivered, but the recipient didn’t actually receive it.

So why are your messages not being delivered to one person? Or to numerous people? Here are a few tricks to try when your iMessage is not being delivered properly on your iPhone 18 Pro Max.

What Does “Delivered” Mean on iMessage?

We need to first differentiate between Delivered and Read. Delivered means the other person received the message on their device. Read means the recipient has tapped on it. Of course, this doesn’t mean they’ve actually read it—it only means the message has been opened. Don’t panic if you don’t hear back immediately; they might have selected it but subsequently got distracted.

Not everyone has this feature activated either. You can toggle read receipts for yourself by going to Settings > Apps > Messages > Send Read Receipts, where you can turn this function on or off. In fact, this subsection of Settings is essential if you have issues with iMessage.

Why Does iMessage Say “Delivered” When It’s Not?

Sometimes, a message will say it’s Delivered, but the recipient will insist they never got it. Don’t automatically think they’re lying: there are many reasons this might happen. It could be a quirk of iMessage, but it could also be that the message was delivered to another device.

If your contact has an iPhone and Mac signed in with the same Apple Account, your message could’ve appeared on one of these other devices, not their smartphone. In theory, this shouldn’t cause a problem—your message should show across all devices. However, iMessage is far from perfect.

Common Reasons iMessage Won’t Deliver

So, what does it mean when an iMessage doesn’t say Delivered?

The recipient might have simply turned their phone off. Your message will arrive when they turn on their device again. Be patient. Not everyone keeps their phone turned on all the time, especially during the nighttime.

Even if you think the person is unlikely to turn off their phone, they might have activated Airplane Mode. This cuts off all connections, so they won’t receive iMessages, SMS, or calls.

If you normally receive read receipts from your contact, or it shows Delivered, but you don’t have a reply, there’s another possibility. Their device might be set to Do Not Disturb, which silences alerts. If it’s an emergency, call them instead. At first, you won’t get a response. But call again within three minutes and, if your contact hasn’t changed the default settings, your repeated call will bypass Do Not Disturb mode.

iMessages Won’t Deliver: Troubleshooting

It’s tough to narrow down why iMessages won’t deliver without some trial and error. One of the following solutions should work. You may have to try them all to get to the bottom of the problem.

Do You Both Have Internet Access?

The obvious reason your message won’t deliver is because the recipient has no service. iMessage relies on an internet connection, so if no Wi-Fi or cellular data is available, it won’t appear until their phone is connected. This is a particular concern in rural or underground areas without free online access, or if the recipient is on vacation.

If your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max says Not Delivered, you’re probably the one without an internet connection. Check this by going to Settings > Wi-Fi, where you can see any networks you’ve joined. You can turn Wi-Fi off and on again (then rejoin networks) to clear potential issues.

Review the options at Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Data) if you’re relying on roaming. If you do have service, you’ll simply have to wait until the recipient connects too.

Do You Have iMessage Turned On?

This could be a quick fix to your problem that’s easy to overlook. Navigate to Settings > Apps > Messages. iMessage should already be turned on; if not, alter this now. Even if iMessage is already on, it’s worth toggling off then back on again. Wait a few moments while it reactivates.

Send as SMS Instead of iMessage

If the person you’re contacting doesn’t have an Apple product, iMessage won’t work. You need to rely on SMS to send to Android devices, for example. In these instances, your messages will say Sent as Text Message, not Delivered, and appear in green bubbles.

But texts aren’t just useful when sending between different operating systems. You can revert iMessages to SMS if your internet connection is weak. Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Retry as Text Message to enable this.

iPhones default to iMessage when chatting between Apple devices. Messages will only send as traditional texts if there’s no internet. When cellular data is off for an app, iPhone uses only Wi-Fi for that service. However, iMessage may fail to send if you’ve exceeded your cellular data limit.

You can resend a message via SMS if it reads Not Delivered by tapping on the exclamation point next to the message. Alternatively, switch to another popular messaging app. Major options like WhatsApp and Telegram work on all platforms and offer secure (and sometimes encrypted) messaging. Of course, the recipient has to have the same app installed…

Try a Force Restart

A forced restart reboots your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max, stopping any problematic processes running in the background. Crucially, it doesn’t delete any data. Press and quickly release the volume up button. Press and quickly release the volume down button. Press and hold the side button. When the Apple logo appears, release the side button.

The screen will turn black until the Apple logo appears. You can let go of the buttons at this point and your iPhone will power on as usual.

Is iOS Up to Date?

Apple regularly releases patches to minor issues through iOS updates. This could include problems with iMessage. Check whether you’re running the latest version of iOS by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

This will automatically check if your software is updated and, if not, suggest an installation. You won’t lose any photos or messages, although some apps may ask you to log in again after updating.

Apple Account: Sign Out and Back In

This is one of the most common fixes for iMessage troubles: you just need to sign out of your Apple Account and back in again. Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive and tap your ID. You should then Sign Out, after which all your details, except the phone number, will disappear. Select Use your Apple Account for iMessage and sign back in. This may take a few moments.

You can send an iMessage via both phone numbers and email addresses. If there’s only one person you’re having trouble sending to, check which email address you have listed for them. Do you have any details listed for their contact? Perhaps their Apple Account uses a different address? Ask them in person or via another messaging service if possible.

To add an email address, go to Contacts, select a name, and choose Edit.

Should You Delete Previous Messages?

Have you ever tried sending an email that was too large? It stays in your outbox, attempting to send again and again. Eventually, you have to give up and delete it. That’s what you should try here too. This primarily applies when iMessages won’t deliver to only one or two contacts.

You can delete a whole conversation and start again by swiping left on it and choosing Delete. That’s the nuclear option, and one you likely won’t want to take. But you shouldn’t need to. Be careful because this will make you lose your whole chat history with that person. It’s a last resort only.

Go to the conversation with the person you’re struggling to keep in touch with. Hold your most recent message (Copy it into Notes or Pages if you don’t want to completely lose your text, or screenshot if you want to remember dates, etc.). Go on More and select all the messages you’ve sent since the problem occurred—anything since they stopped responding—then hit the Delete button at the bottom.

There could be just one message causing the issue, so this clears the backlog and lets you try again.

Swap Your SIM Card

SIM cards are fickle; it’s possible yours has decided it doesn’t like a particular number. Head to the store of your service provider if you’ve exhausted everything else.

You’ll likely have to assure the staff that you’ve performed the above troubleshooting steps. Talk to them about swapping to a new SIM card. If you’re on a contract, they should do this for free. You’ll still use the same device, and shouldn’t lose any data.

They’ll activate a new SIM and you’ll have to wait until your old one has no service before swapping to the new card. Transferring between SIMs can take up to 24 hours. From personal experience, it rarely takes longer than an hour before carrier settings are restored.

Note: iPhone 18 Pro Max models purchased in the United States can only be activated with an eSIM.

Reset All Settings

This should really be your last resort because you’ll need to sign into accounts and set up network settings like Wi-Fi and VPNs again. Most importantly, this does not delete your data.

Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings—careful you don’t select anything else, as there’s also the option to erase everything. You may need to sign back into your Apple Account afterwards. This should patch any Settings-related glitches, so it’s worth remembering in case you have further issues with your iPhone 18 Pro Max.

iMessage Won’t Deliver: Is My Phone Number Blocked?

Don’t immediately think that someone’s blocked you. In most situations, your number won’t be blocked. However, it’s a possibility. If you have been blocked, iMessage could still say Delivered. Nonetheless, it won’t actually appear on the recipient’s device.

This thought will trouble you, but if you can contact that person elsewhere (on Facebook, X, or Snapchat, for example), then they’re unlikely to have blocked your phone number.

Why Is My iMessage Still Not Delivering?

If you’ve tried everything above and iMessage still won’t deliver, there are further possibilities to entertain. The first is that there’s nothing wrong with your iPhone 18 Pro Max; the problem is with the recipient’s device. This is likely if messages to your other contacts are delivered correctly, although that’s not always the case.

You should advise your contacts to take the same steps you already have by sending them this guide. Another possibility is that they’ve switched numbers and haven’t alerted you yet.

What happens if you have an important appointment saved in your iPhone’s Calendar app, but when you search the calendar for the exact date and time, you can’t find the appointment anymore?

You might not be able to find any dates, whether past or present, even after using the search feature. Below, we look at some troubleshooting tips you can try when events are not showing up in the Calendar app.

1. Ensure Your Calendar Is Syncing All Events

If you’re using a non-iCloud account on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max, your Calendar may have trouble finding your past events. You might also face this problem if you created the event on a different device.

The trick is to make sure you sync and show more than just the events that happened in the last few weeks or months. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings, tap Apps, and tap on Calendar.
2. Select Sync and choose All Events from the list of available options.
3. Now, wait for a minute and launch the Calendar app. Then, tap Calendars at the bottom and swipe down from the top to refresh all your calendars.

If the All Events option is already selected, you can choose any of the other timeframes, restart the Calendar app, then select All Events again.

2. Ensure Your Calendar Is Syncing With iCloud

If the Calendar app isn’t showing your events, there’s a decent chance the problem lies in your iCloud settings. You can solve general iCloud sync issues in other ways, but this is how to manually allow the Calendar app to sync your data:

1. Launch Settings on your iPhone 18 Pro Max and tap your name at the top.

   

2. Next, tap on iCloud to view your iCloud settings.

   

3. Tap See All next to Saved to iCloud, tap iCloud Calendar, and turn on Use on this iPhone.
4. If you have multiple devices connected to the same iCloud account, you should turn on iCloud Calendar on each of them.

3. Ensure All Your Calendars Are Enabled

One of the nifty features of the Calendar app in iOS is the ability to set up several calendars for different purposes. You can set up a shared calendar that lets you and your partner schedule date nights, for example, while also making a work calendar that helps you organize your meetings.

So, there’s a chance your events are missing because they belong to a different group. You have to make sure all your calendars are enabled to prevent that. Here’s how:

1. Launch the Calendar app and tap Calendars at the bottom of your screen.

   

2. Ensure you select the calendar groups that are important and are associated with the missing event.
3. Also, ensure you select Show Declined Events so any past events you didn’t accept will appear in your search for the missing event.

4. Try Some General Troubleshooting Tips

Unless your missing event belonged to a shared calendar you’re no longer a part of, the specific tips we’ve highlighted should help you find the event. But if the Calendar app has problems that run deeper, you can try some key iPhone troubleshooting tips for all iPhones.

Never Miss an Appointment Again

It’s easy to lose track of your events even after you use the Calendar app for scheduling. That’s because Apple’s Calendar app may have trouble finding your events due to incorrect settings or syncing issues.

Fortunately, you can use the tips we discussed here to fix any problem you encounter in the app while finding your past or future events.

Spam calls have gotten way out of hand. It used to be that you could simply ignore anything with a caller ID of “unknown caller” or a distant or toll-free area code. Today, thanks to automated systems that spoof phone numbers, scammers and spammers can call you from numbers that look like they’re from right in your neighborhood. Many people now get several spam calls every day, half of them about their car’s extended warranty.

Fortunately, your iPhone 18 Pro Max has a couple features that can help combat this nuisance, and they’re really easy to use.

Screen Unknown Callers

First, open Settings. Then tap Apps, then Phone.

Scroll down to the Screen Unknown Callers section and choose Silence.

With this feature enabled, your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max will use “Siri intelligence” to determine whether a call is from a known number or not. If a phone number is found in your Contacts, Messages, Mail, or recent outgoing calls, it comes through as usual.

If it’s not found there, whether it’s a real phone number or an unlisted number, it will go straight to voice mail without ever even ringing (even silently). In that sense, the setting is not quite properly named…calls are more than merely “silenced.”

You may find that, while this cuts way down on unwanted calls, you miss some calls you were expecting. You may get in touch with a repair person on the web, only to find later that they tried to call you and your phone didn’t ring, for example. If you don’t want to send these sorts of calls straight to voicemail, disabling the feature is as easy as choosing Never.

Spam-filtering apps

You can do more than just silently send a call to voicemail. With a phone spam filtering app, you can effectively eliminate most of the spam calls you receive, even if they’re from unique spoofed numbers. You’ll have to download an app from the App Store: popular options include Robo Shield, Truecaller, and Robokiller. These apps tend to have subscription fees, but it might be worth a few bucks a month to save your sanity.

After installing such an app, open Settings and tap on Apps, then Phone. You’ll see a new option: Call Blocking & Identification. Tap that, and then enable your call filtering application. Note that the app itself may have several setup steps as well, but it will walk you through them when you install it.

Block a number

Sometimes you just want to completely stop a number from coming in altogether, and there’s a way to do that too. From the Phone app, tap Recents, then tap the phone number or contact that you want to block or the Info button in Classic view. Scroll down, then tap Block Caller. If you decide you want to unblock any numbers you’ve blocked, head over to Settings, then Apps, then Phone, and Blocked Contacts. Inside you’ll see all of the numbers you’ve blocked. Tap Edit in the top right corner and you’ll be able to remove any number by pressing the red (-) minus button and then Unblock.

Consult your carrier

No matter which phone service you have, your carrier will offer tools that can be easily implemented on your iPhone 18 Pro Max to shut down spams and robocalls at the source. They’re all free—with some paid options as well—and essentially do the same thing: filter out unwanted calls and silence unknown numbers.

Smartphones are convenient all-in-one devices that help people do pretty much everything. However, not all are designed to suit the needs of blind people and people with visual impairments.

While the iPhone’s user interface is designed to be comfortable and easy to use for most people, it may still be challenging for people with visual impairments.

To bridge the gap between great display and accessibility, below are some of the iPhone’s accessibility features that can help people with visual impairments to use their iPhones with greater ease.

1. Enable VoiceOver

With built-in voices that speak over 30 languages, Apple’s VoiceOver feature makes using an iPhone 18 Pro Max accessible to people with visual disabilities across the globe.

It’s an advanced screen-reading technology that gives you descriptions of everything that’s happening on your iPhone’s screen.

When turned on, your iPhone helps you better navigate it by giving you auditory descriptions of onscreen elements.

VoiceOver also features unique rotor gestures that act like a dial to make browsing content on your screen easier.

To input text, you can either connect a refreshable braille keyboard on your iPhone via Bluetooth or directly key texts on your iPhone’s touchscreen with the Braille Screen Input feature.

2. Watch Movies With Audio Descriptions

People who are blind and have visual impairments may have some challenges enjoying watching television, plays, theater performances, and movies.

But they can use audio-described media along with a headset where they receive verbal descriptions of what’s happening to get the most out of the experience if they want.

Movies and series on Apple TV come with detailed audio descriptions to ensure that they get full details about the scene. You can check this by looking at the audio description (AD) icon with the list of other icons like closed captioning (CC) and subtitles for the deaf or hard-of-hearing (SDH) under the description.

To automatically play audio descriptions when available, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions, and toggle it on.

3. Use Your iPhone as a Magnifier

The iPhone’s Magnifier tool helps you see better by turning your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max into a digital magnifying glass.

If you find a menu or a street sign and you can’t see it clearly even after squinting for a while, simply take your phone, open the Magnifier, and freeze the frame.

The app comes with several image adjustment features that allow you to use various color filters, adjust brightness levels, change the image contrast, to aid you in making sense of the image.

You can also make use of your device’s flash to illuminate objects with a quick tap on the app. Don’t worry about zooming a lot and making the image blurry and pixelated; it’s usually still crisp enough to read.

4. Zoom Your Screen

Whereas Magnifier enlarges the world around you, Zoom magnifies the contents on your device.

You can choose between Full Screen Zoom, which enlarges the entire screen, or Window Zoom, which looks like a hovering rectangular magnifying glass that you can move around to magnify contents on your screen.

Enable Zoom by going to Settings > Accessibility > Zoom.

5. Modify Your Display

Zooming your screen may require you to inconveniently move and scroll through your screen more than you would like. Alternatively, you can adjust your iPhone’s display and text size. This is especially helpful for people who are colorblind or have other vision impairments.

Your iPhone 18 Pro Max has various display accommodations to suit your needs:

• Bold Text: Displays texts in boldface.
• Larger Text: Allows you to change the text size with the Font Size slider.
• Button Shapes: Underlines texts that you can tap.
• On/Off Labels: Puts labels I and O on toggles, for on and off, respectively.
• Reduce Transparency: Increases legibility and improves contrast by lessening the blur and transparency on certain backgrounds.
• Increase Contrast: Heightens the color contrast to make the foreground pop from the background.
• Differentiate Without Color: Replaces buttons and other user interface items that rely solely on color so that people who are colorblind can better discern them. For example, game avatars that look the same but vary in color can be shown with symbols so a colorblind person can quickly locate their players.
• Smart Invert or Classic Invert: Reverses your iPhone’s display colors, excluding images and other media that utilize a dark color display.
• Color Filters: Applies color filters to adjust the display for various colorblindness.
• Reduce White Point: Reduces the display’s brightness intensity.
• Auto-Brightness: Uses your iPhone’s ambient light sensor to adjust the display screen brightness to match your current light condition.

6. Turn On Dark Mode

When you need to work in low-light environments, you can change your iPhone’s display to Dark Mode to make reading easier. The dark color scheme transforms your entire screen and puts light texts against darker backgrounds.

Don’t worry about manually changing this feature every day. You can schedule your iPhone 18 Pro Max to change its appearance from light to dark by going to Settings > Display & Brightness, then toggle Automatic on.

7. Use Dictation to Enter Text

Typing on your iPhone’s keyboard can still be a hassle despite enlarging the fonts.

Conveniently, this feature is available in many features and apps that utilize the keyboard on your iPhone, including Messages, Notes, and Mail. Simply tap on any text field, look for the microphone button, and start dictating.

You can use this feature even without an internet connection. Also, this feature supports over 30 languages.

8. Make Accessibility More Accessible

It’s understandable if you don’t want these accessibility features turned on all the time but want them to be accessible and ready to use when you need them.

To keep them handy, add and organize the shortcuts and accessibility features you commonly use on your iPhone’s Control Center. To start customizing, open Control Center, tap the Add button to begin editing the controls, then tap Add a Control at the bottom of the screen to open the controls gallery and tap the controls you want.

Make sure to turn on Access Within Apps so you can quickly access them by swiping a finger down from the top-right edge of your screen even without leaving the app you’re currently using.

Use Your iPhone With Ease

Accessibility features remove these barriers so that everyone—including people with visual impairments—can make the most of their iPhones, and more importantly, engage with the people and the world around them.

There are many occasions when you’re not holding your iPhone 18 Pro Max but want some assistance from Siri. This is usually fine if you have the Hey Siri command enabled, but due to iOS also having a feature where you can place the handset face-down to turn the display off, this also has the effect of disabling Siri as well.

So how can you make it so that your voice is still heard, even when the iPhone display is covered? Here’s what to do.

How to enable Hey Siri on iPhone

If you haven’t set up the Hey Siri voice activation on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max yet, here are the simple steps to get it working.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Siri.
3. Tap Requests, then tap “Siri” or “Hey Siri,” then follow the instructions to set it up.

Now, whenever your iPhone screen is unlocked, you should be able to quickly access Siri by using the voice command. By default, Hey Siri is disabled when your iPhone is locked. But if you always want access, go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and turn on Siri below Allow Access When Locked.

This won’t overcome the problem of not being able to use the voice assistant when the screen is covered though, so for that you’ll need to adjust the settings in the next section.

How to enable Hey Siri when iPhone screen is covered

To be able to use the Hey Siri voice command when your iPhone 18 Pro Max is face-down or has the display covered, you’ll need to make use of one of the settings in the Accessibility section. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap on Accessibility.
3. Scroll down and select Siri.
4. Enable the Always Listen for “Siri” setting.

That’s it. You should now be able to wake Siri and make your enquiries, even if the iPhone is face-down on your desk.

If Siri often struggles to recognize your voice or you just can’t get “Hey Siri” to work, you can reset Siri on your iPhone 18 Pro Max. Doing this allows you to retrain Siri to recognize your voice better. We’ll teach you how to do it.

Resetting Siri on Your iPhone

Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t offer a “Reset” button just for Siri. However, you can use a simple toggle in the iOS Settings app to reset Siri when needed. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max.
2. Scroll down and select Siri.
3. Tap Requests and select the Off option.
4. Now, wait for a few seconds and select either the “Hey Siri” or “Siri” or “Hey Siri” option according to your preference.
5. When you do so, you’ll be prompted to set up Siri from scratch. Tap Continue and repeat the phrases that appear on your screen one by one.

You’ll have to repeat five phrases to retrain Siri to recognize your voice. Once you’ve repeated the last phrase, you’ll see a “Siri Is Ready” screen. Tap Done and continue using Siri as you normally would.

This is one of the many troubleshooting steps to follow when Siri isn’t working on your Apple device. You can use this as a last-resort step when tweaking other Siri settings doesn’t fix the issue.

Once you reset and train Siri to recognize your voice again, you should have no trouble invoking Apple’s virtual assistant using the “Siri” or “Hey Siri” trigger phrase.

Having trouble getting Siri to work or activate on your iPhone 18 Pro Max? We’ll cover the most common problems you’re likely to experience with Siri, along with some general troubleshooting advice (like how to reset Siri) for good measure.

1. Siri Doesn’t React When You Try to Activate It

In most cases, you’d think Siri isn’t working when it doesn’t activate after you press the Side button.

This is likely because Siri is disabled in your iPhone’s settings. To set up and use Siri, go to Settings > Siri > Requests and toggle on Press Side Button for Siri.

2. Siri Is Missing From Your iPhone Entirely

Perhaps the suggestions above can’t help you because Siri is missing from the Settings app on your iPhone 18 Pro Max. There are a couple of reasons why this might be the case.

First, visit Apple’s feature availability page to make sure that Siri is available in your country or region. Unfortunately, Apple’s personal assistant isn’t available everywhere.

It isn’t a guarantee, but you may be able to bypass regional restrictions by going to Settings > General > Language & Region and changing the Region setting to a supported country like the United States.

Second, make sure you haven’t disabled Siri using Screen Time on your iPhone by mistake. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions to check. If it’s toggled on, tap Siri and make sure Don’t Allow Siri isn’t selected.

If only Siri suggestions are missing, apply these solutions to make Siri suggestions show up on your iPhone again.

3. Siri Doesn’t React When You Say “Hey Siri”

You should be able to activate Siri without touching your iPhone by simply saying “Hey Siri” when your device is in earshot. If “Hey Siri” isn’t working on your iPhone 18 Pro Max, go to Settings > Siri > Requests on your device and make sure “Siri” or “Hey Siri” (or “Hey Siri”) is selected.

Also, to ensure that “Hey Siri” works even when your device is faced down or enclosed in a case, go to Settings > Accessibility > Siri and toggle on Always Listen for “Siri”.

4. Siri Can’t Hear You or Doesn’t Understand What You Say

If Siri doesn’t always hear you or frequently misunderstands what you say, there might be a problem with your iPhone’s microphones. Sometimes, you can fix that by cleaning the microphones with a dry, soft-bristled brush or by removing your screen protector and case.

There are multiple microphones on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max. You can test each of them by recording a short video or audio snippets in different apps:

• To test the primary microphone at the bottom of your device, open the Voice Memos app and tap the red button to record a short message. Listen to the playback and make sure you can hear it clearly.

  

• To test the front microphone, open the Camera app and film a short video using the front-facing camera. Replay the video to make sure you can hear it clearly.

  

• To test the rear microphone, open the Camera app and film a short video using the rear camera. Replay the video to make sure you can hear it clearly.

If one of them isn’t working properly, you can try a few solutions to fix your iPhone’s microphone or contact Apple Support to arrange a repair. In the meantime, you can connect a wireless headset or AirPods to use the microphone on those instead.

5. Siri Doesn’t Say Anything When Asked a Question

We usually expect to hear a spoken response after asking Siri a question or issuing a command. If that doesn’t happen, there might be a problem with the settings on your iPhone. Other times, it’s as simple as turning the volume up.

Make sure Siri is set to reply to you by going to Settings > Siri > Responses > Prefer Spoken Responses. To turn up Siri’s volume, repeatedly press the Volume Up button while using Siri. If you adjust the volume at other times, it might not affect Siri’s volume at all.

If Siri still doesn’t say anything, go to Settings > Siri > Voice. Choose a different option to make your device download new voice files. In case this works, you may need to factory reset your iPhone to fix the original voice.

6. Siri Is Too Slow or Can’t Connect to the Network

Siri needs an active internet connection to complete most commands. If Siri isn’t working on your iPhone 18 Pro Max, network problems might be the culprit. Usually, Siri says, “I’m having trouble connecting” or “Try again in a little while” when this happens.

Make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi and try streaming a YouTube video to test your internet connection. If that doesn’t work, you may need to fix your unstable Wi-Fi connection.

If Siri still isn’t working, temporarily turn off the VPN switch in Settings. Also, toggle Airplane Mode on and off from Settings > Airplane Mode.

Still out of luck? Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset and choose Reset Network Settings. This deletes your saved Wi-Fi passwords and other network-related data, so only use it if nothing else worked.

To use Siri over a cellular network, make sure Cellular Data is toggled on in Settings > Cellular and check that you have enough data left in your mobile plan.

7. Multiple Devices Respond When You Talk to Siri

If you own more than one Apple device, you might find that a few of them respond to “Hey Siri” at once. This isn’t an oversight by Apple; it’s a problem with your device’s settings.

All you need to do is make sure Bluetooth is turned on for each of your devices by going to Settings > Bluetooth. When you say “Hey Siri,” your devices quickly use Bluetooth to communicate with one another and decide which device should reply.

If that doesn’t work, make sure each device is logged into the same Apple Account by looking at the profile name at the top of the Settings app. If one of your devices is not on the same Apple Account, tap the name, scroll down, and tap Sign Out. Then tap Sign in to your iPhone to use another account.

Resetting Siri and Other General Fixes

We’ve shown you how to fix the most common problems with Siri, but those solutions aren’t going to work for everyone. If Siri still isn’t working on your iPhone 18 Pro Max, you can try resetting Siri on your iPhone.

Go to Settings > Siri > Requests and choose Off. Then choose either “Hey Siri” or “Siri” or “Hey Siri” again. Tap Continue, follow the on-screen instructions to retrain Siri to recognize your voice, and tap Done.

Besides resetting Siri, here are some more general troubleshooting tips you can try. First, close all open apps on your iPhone. Then try to see if Siri works when the app is reopened. Another general fix is to restart your iPhone and, if available, update to a newer version of iOS. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to do so.

Finally, you can try resetting all settings on your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset and choosing Reset All Settings. This doesn’t delete any apps or media from your device, but it reverts all settings to their default state. Once the reset is complete, go to Settings > Siri to turn Siri on again.

With these various solutions, we hope you managed to fix all your Siri problems by now. Most of the fixes involve checking that you have the correct iPhone settings in place for Siri to work the way you prefer.

Even with the right settings, it’s not uncommon for software glitches to happen. In such cases, all you need to do is reset Siri, and you should be able to use the virtual assistant on your iPhone 18 Pro Max again.

Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, has become an integral part of iOS over the years (alongside other Apple operating systems – it’s also available on the Mac and Apple Watch) allowing you to launch apps, create reminders and calendar events, ask questions and loads of other things using only your voice, with no need to touch a screen or keyboard.

But can you still use Siri when you haven’t got an internet connection? Spoiler: yes you can, but with limitations. In this article we investigate how clever Siri is when there isn’t a Wi-Fi or cellular network available.

Which iPhones let you use Siri offline?

For most of its existence, Siri has connected to Apple’s servers to convert your speech commands into actions it can understand and complete. So, when you say “Hey, Siri, what’s the weather today?”, the question is quickly piped up to the servers and processed, before the answer is sent back to your iPhone where it’s read out by Siri.

But in iOS 15, which rolled out to iPhones late in 2021, Apple moved the speech recognition capabilities from its servers to your handset, making the service more secure and private, while also allowing certain tasks to be possible when you’re not online.

Due to the demands of speech recognition, Apple has limited the iPhones that can work with Siri offline in iOS 15 to those that have the A12 Bionic processor or above.

What can Siri do offline?

It’s worth bearing in mind that only the speech recognition part of Siri is stored on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max. There are still plenty of command-processing and question-answering functions on the server.

For this reason, if you’re offline, Siri won’t be able to provide the full functionality you’re used to. For example, asking general questions such as “What is the capital of Switzerland?” or “Will it rain later today?” will get the cold shoulder – by which we mean an error message that Siri needs to be online to do that. Indeed, you may be surprised by the number of tasks that are beyond Siri’s scope when offline.

For example, you can launch various apps via Siri, such as Calendar, but creating new entries in that app is not allowed. Much the same is true of Notes: it will happily open a new note, but you’ll have to tap the screen to bring up the keyboard, then tap the Dictate button to start dictation.

So far, we’ve found that you can achieve the following tasks with Siri offline:

• Opening apps
• Creating new alarms
• Creating timers (but, weirdly, not using the stopwatch)
• Controlling some system features (such as turning on/off Low Power Mode, flashlight, adjusting display brightness)
• Playing tracks in the last music/podcast app that was used, and skipping to the previous or next track
• Adjusting volume levels
• Making phone calls
• Creating and sending Messages

What limitations does Siri have when offline?

As you can see from the list above, Siri can do a few things offline, but its capabilities are quite limited. While you can open apps, you can’t really do anything within them purely through voice controls.

Many useful apps, such as Reminders, Calendar, Maps and similar can’t create any new entries. Music and Podcasts can’t be accessed beyond the main screen and downloaded albums/episodes can’t be selected.

Of course, any action that itself requires access to the internet will be off limits, but that’s a given.

The addition of offline voice control is a handy feature, but the best of Siri is still found when you have an active internet connection.

You may have noticed the camera shutter button during FaceTime calls, but have you wondered where these FaceTime photos are stored? Whether you want to take FaceTime photos, find their location, or have trouble getting the feature to work, we’ve got you covered.

Where Do FaceTime Live Photos Go?

It’s all well and good snapping a photo while you’re using FaceTime, but you need to know where those photos go to enjoy them after the call. The answer is pretty simple: FaceTime photos save directly to the Photos app on your iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone. Make sure Library is selected. Scroll to the date and time you took a photo to find it.

You can simplify matters by viewing only your Live Photos. To do this, tap Collections and look for the Live Photos collection. Your iPhone creates this collection automatically as soon as you add a Live Photo to your library.

How to Take Photos During FaceTime Calls

You can take a Live Photo during a FaceTime call using the Take Live Photo button. This appears when you tap the screen on an iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max. It looks like two white circles, one inside the other.

If you’re in a FaceTime group call on your iPhone, select the person’s tile you want to take a photo of, then tap the Take Live Photo button.

A Live Photo is better than taking a screenshot because it doesn’t capture the FaceTime user interface. It also saves a couple of seconds of video and audio from right before and after you take the photo. In the future, you can even turn your Live Photos into videos.

How to Take a FaceTime Photo Without Telling the Other Person

When you take a photo of someone using FaceTime, it sends a notification to their device to let them know that you took a picture. There’s no way to avoid sending this notification when you take a photo, but you can get around it by taking a screenshot instead.

Quickly press and release the side button and the volume up button at the same time.

How to Enable Live Photos in Your FaceTime Settings

Before you can take a Live Photo in FaceTime, both you and the person you’re taking a photo of need to enable Live Photos in your FaceTime Settings. So, if you don’t want other people to take photos of you during FaceTime calls, you should disable this option. Keep in mind that other people will still be able to take a screenshot, though.

Go to Settings > Apps > FaceTime. Scroll down and turn on FaceTime Live Photos.

Troubleshooting FaceTime Photo Problems

There are lots of problems that might stop you from being able to snap a Live Photo during your FaceTime calls. If you can’t find the shutter button, FaceTime isn’t saving your photos, or you have trouble finding FaceTime photos after you take them, try these troubleshooting tips to fix it.

1. Enable FaceTime Live Photos on Both Devices

To take a photo of someone during a FaceTime call, everyone on the call needs to turn on FaceTime Live Photos from their device settings. Go to Settings > Apps > FaceTime to do this. Make sure the person you’re taking a photo of checks their settings as well.

2. Open the Photos App on Your Device

When you take Live Photos in FaceTime, it automatically saves those pictures to the Photos app on your device. If you haven’t used Photos before, open it on your device to initialize the app before FaceTime can save photos.

3. Update to the Latest Operating System

In some older versions of iOS, Apple temporarily removed the ability to take Live Photos on FaceTime. This was presumably due to a FaceTime security bug. FaceTime photos are available now, but you need to update your device to the latest software to use them. The person you’re taking a photo of needs to update their device to the latest software as well.

Go to Settings > General > Software Update.

Install any updates that are available there by tapping Update Now.

4. Restart Your iPhone 18 Pro Max

No matter what FaceTime problem you’re encountering, you should always try to fix it by restarting your device. This is a remarkably effective troubleshooting step that only takes a moment to try out. Power off your iPhone as you usually would, then wait 30 seconds before restarting it again. Simultaneously press and hold the side button and either volume button until the sliders appear, then drag the Power Off slider. Press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.

5. Restart FaceTime on Your Device

Finally, try turning FaceTime off and on in your device settings. You may need to sign in to your Apple Account again when you do this.

Go to Settings > Apps > FaceTime and toggle the FaceTime button at the top of the screen.

Revisit Your FaceTime Photos on iPhone 18 Pro Max

All the FaceTime Live Photos you take during a call are permanently stored on your device. FaceTime Live Photos are automatically saved in the Photos app.

If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you’ll be able to view these photos on all your devices—even your Windows PC. In case you face any problems, for instance, FaceTime photos not saving, make sure you go through the troubleshooting steps above.