Years ago my brother started texting me with voice messages. It drove me crazy. I couldn’t process the audio as quickly, had to pause and listen to it, and it in general disrupted the flow of communication. It started up around the time he got into the Apple Watch. It was easier for him to fire off a voice message to me than to type anything, and at the time Siri was far from reliable (an argument could be made for that still, of course, but iOS 17 speech to text is actually good!). 

I complained to him, but it didn’t stop the incoming barage of voice from him. I finally accepted and adopted the practice myself. I LOVE it. I can’t imagine ever going back. There’s something about sharing the inflection of my voice, my emotions and thoughts, and just sharing without editing, that is extremely compelling as a communication form. As a millenial who avoids phone calls when possible, I find voice messages the perfect middle ground. We can asyncronousy share the rich detail of voice without having to plan a call. 

Because of all that I’m extremely excited that my friends are starting to adopt iOS 17, that means that the voice messages are starting to appear transcribed on my phone! So, I can listen if I have time, but I can also scan the text that appears alongside the audio. It’s perfect, and it’s my favorite form of communication now.

Update: My brother seems to remember it differently, that I sent him voice messages first and he finally adopted it. Let the record show that I think I was right.