iPhone users experiencing WhatsApp audio problems: what you need to know

iPhone owners using WhatsApp are reporting issues with voice messages, so here's what to do if you're affected

WhatsApp iOS
(Image credit: Getty)
Shabana Arif
By
published
in News

WhatsApp users with an iPhone who have jumped into the iOS 14.5 beta 2 may find that voice messages have stopped working, as compatibility issues between Apple's software and WhatsApp rear their head again. 

Despite the poorly managed rollout of its new privacy policy, more than two billion users are still using the messenger service daily; the new terms are affecting users outside of the EU and UK, and WhatsApp is keen to highlight that your personal data is staying very much private, but has made no effort to walk back the move – choosing to extend the deadline to accept until May instead. 

A lot of those users are on iOS, and if you're toting the new iPhone 12 around and are enough of a tech fiend to have downloaded the iOS 14.5 beta 2 ahead of its full release, you could be bumping up against issues with playing voice messages, which WABetaInfo discovered after asking iOS users on Twitter.  

The bug appears to have been around for weeks, and is reportedly causing audio issues in WhatsApp. WABetaInfo has concluded that the problem is that WhatsApp "doesn't normally support iOS beta builds" and so anyone using an iPhone operating on the iOS 14.5 beta is setting themselves up for trouble.

The Twitter account advises users to report the issue in WhatsApp, but another user chimed in to say the bug is on the iOS side of things, with WhatsApp reportedly responding to complaints about incompatibility by clarifying that the messenger service simply doesn't support iOS betas.    

If you're an active voice note user, then we'd advise not to risk it; some people have even uninstalled the iOS 14.5 beta in an attempt to get rid of the problem, but say it's persisted. They can only listen to voice notes on WhatsApp web. 

If you're getting a bit sick of WhatsApp, whether because of issues like this, or its impending privacy policy update, you can check out alternative messaging apps that are heavy on user privacy in T3's roundup of 8 best WhatsApp alternatives.

Shabana Arif
Shabana Arif

Shabana worked at T3.com as News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). She's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down here at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies. If you have any tech or gaming tips, shoot over an email or DM her on social media.

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