Fix an AI assistant that cannot hear your iPhone microphone
When an AI assistant cannot hear you, changing the prompt will not repair a missing audio input. First determine whether the phone can record your voice, whether this app has access and whether the session receives usable speech. Use a harmless test phrase and change one condition at a time.
Describe the exact failure before changing settings
There are several different symptoms: no input activity, activity but no transcript, an incorrect transcript, or a correct transcript without an answer. Record which one occurs. Input activity is evidence that some sound reached a detector; it is not proof that recognition or the network completed successfully.
The public iPhone and iPad release of GPT Realtime Assistant requires internet for sessions. Do not diagnose a disconnected mobile session as a local-model problem, or assume that features shown in another version are present in the installed store version. Note your version before comparing instructions with a newer test build.
Verify recording outside the assistant
End the AI session and use Apple’s microphone checks: make a short Voice Memos recording, then listen to it. If necessary, test the Camera app too. If recordings are unclear in other apps, inspect physical obstruction and follow Apple’s support guidance before concentrating on the assistant.
Keep the test simple: “Microphone check. The blue notebook is beside the window.” Avoid names, passwords or confidential conversation. If the recording is clear, the phone has a working capture path under those conditions. That narrows the issue, although an app may still select a different input route.
Check permission and remove route uncertainty
Review Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and confirm access for the assistant. If it is missing from the list, open the app and initiate the feature that asks for microphone access. A developer can help if the request never appears; repeatedly reinstalling is not the first step.
For a baseline test, disconnect Bluetooth audio accessories and end calls or other recording sessions. Return to the assistant, start a fresh session and wait until it is ready before speaking. Then repeat the same phrase. Reconnect the accessory only after you know the built-in route works.
Branch on the result you observe
No activity after permission and a successful Voice Memos test suggests an app-session or route problem. Activity with no transcript suggests recognition, language configuration or connection processing. A correct transcript with no response points further downstream than the microphone. These branches call for different fixes.
Try a short text prompt in the same app. If text also fails, investigate connectivity or service access rather than replacing the microphone. If text succeeds while audio consistently fails, preserve that finding. It gives support a much more useful report than “nothing works.”
Recover without destroying useful evidence
End and reopen the session, then restart the app or device if needed. Keep the same phrase, route and network for the next attempt. Once a test succeeds, change only one factor, such as reconnecting headphones, so you can identify what brings the failure back.
Send support the device model, OS and app version, route, approximate time, symptom branch and exact non-sensitive test result. Do not include secret account details. If voice remains unavailable, use text temporarily; that preserves your work while the capture problem is investigated.
FAQ
Does an orange microphone indicator prove the AI heard my words?
It indicates microphone use, not successful transcription or a completed server response. Check the transcript separately.
Should I delete and reinstall the app?
Not as the first diagnostic step. Preserve sessions and establish permission, device recording and route behavior first.
