Apple Gave Your iPhone a Useful New Feature You Probably Didn't Know About (2025)

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It may not have grabbed the headlines, but this is definitely one of the most useful new features I’ve used in years.

Apple Gave Your iPhone a Useful New Feature You Probably Didn't Know About (1)

By Tucker Bowe

Published April 29, 2025

Updated April 29, 2025

Since the fall, Apple has steadily rolled out new features to your iPhone as part of iOS 18 (and its subsequent iterations).

Quickly transcribe a recording

Apple Gave Your iPhone a Useful New Feature You Probably Didn't Know About (3)

The most noteworthy addition to Voice Memos is that, thanks to iOS 18, it can transcribe your audio recordings into text — and it just takes a few seconds.

All you need is an iPhone (12 or later) that runs iOS 18.

Open the Voice Memos app.
Tap the recording you want transcribed.
Tap the three dots (top-right corner).
Select Edit Recording.
Select the Transcribe button (Quotes) in the bottom-left corner.

Once selected, you’ll see a “Transcription in progress” message and, after a few seconds, you’ll be able to view your transcribed recording.

If you don’t want to view the transcription right away, you can quickly access it in Voice Memos by going to that specific audio recording, selecting the three dots and tapping “View Transcript.”

In my experience, it’s pretty accurate — like 85 percent or so — but you’ll still want to go back over it and edit certain details that your iPhone didn’t get exactly right.

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Add a second layer to a recording

Apple Gave Your iPhone a Useful New Feature You Probably Didn't Know About (4)

When Apple rolled out iOS 18.2, it added a key feature to the Voice Memos app that’s particularly useful for musicians. Specifically, it allows you to add a second recording — or layer — to an existing recording and then listen to them together as one.

This allows you to add things like vocals, a second instrument or just commentary over an existing recording — no headphones required. You can even mix the two layers as you see fit.

Open the Voice Memos app.
Tap the recording you want to add a layer to.
Select the waveform icon (bottom-left corner).
Select the “+” icon (might say “Add a Vocal Layer”).
Tap the red record button.

Once done, you can select the layer recording and adjust the prominence of the two recordings. You can even separate the two and listen to each individually.

There’s a catch, however. The feature is powered by Apple’s A18 Pro chip, which is only found in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. If you have any other iPhone, you’re unfortunately out of luck with this one.

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About the Author:

Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.

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