iOS 27: How to hide or replace the audio button in iMessages

Did you accidentally press the audio button in iMessage’s text input bar while sending a message? Justin Bieber went viral with an Insta post complaining about how often this happened to him.

The catch is that pressing the button initiates a voice recording session, during which your iPhone will stop playing music so it can record the message it thinks you want to send.

Bieber became quite frustrated with how often this accidentally happened to him while texting to write, “The send button shouldn’t have multiple functions in one place,” and joked that he would put everyone at Apple on a “hold” until the problem was fixed.

His post generated thousands of likes, reposts and reactions. We don’t know if Apple responded to Bieber or not, but the company made a change to alleviate the issue. iOS 27 now gives you a choice, letting you choose between continuing to show the default waveform recording icon, a microphone icon for quick access to dictation, or even nothing at all.

Starting with iOS 27, new choices are available in Settings > Apps > Messages > Show in text field. You can select one of the following three options:

• Record audio: You may want to keep this if you regularly send voice messages.
• Start dictation: Useful if you dictate texts rather than typing them.
• None: The “Bieber” option for those who don’t dictate or record audio frequently enough to need these commands.

When you return to iMessages, you should see your choice appear in the text entry field. If not, force close the app, reopen it and the change should appear.

Now even Bieber shouldn’t have this problem.

You don’t lose any functionality when you remove these buttons from iMessage; all options remain

You just need to know where to look:

• To save voice messages, simply press the + (plus) to the left of the text entry box and tap Audio in the list that appears.
• Dictate a message, tap the microphone icon that you see just below the keyboard at the bottom right. (This should be enabled by default, but if you don’t see it, you can enable it again in Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable dictation.)

Apple made several improvements to iMessage with iOS 27. One interesting improvement (possibly introduced in anticipation of the larger display available on the iPhone Duo) is a new drawing app that lets you send sketches and handwritten notes, and provides markup tools within iMessage.

Apple also introduced a new AI tool that suggests useful words and phrases and can automate tasks within a conversation, such as adding items to reminders or notes. It is also now possible to use one number on two separate iPhones. Finally, Apple’s Mail app now offers improved support for RCS, including the ability to edit and unsend messages.