If you’ve ever peered at your iPhone’s Phone app wondering why your Google Fi voicemails stubbornly refused to show up there, relief is finally on the way. Beginning June 24, Google quietly kicked off a rollout that will send every voicemail you receive on Fi straight into the native iOS Phone app—no more hopping into the separate Fi application just to listen to your messages. According to a Google Fi support forum post, this change is already trickling out and should reach every iPhone on Fi by July 2, 2025.
Before today’s update, you might have spotted the occasional Google Fi voicemail pop up in your Phone app—if, and only if, you had iOS’s Live Voicemail switched on, your handset was powered up, and you were within a Google Fi service area when the message was left. In most other scenarios, voicemails were corralled into a “Voicemail” tab buried inside the standalone Google Fi app. That meant juggling two different inboxes and twice the notifications whenever someone rang, then left a message. Now, regardless of whether Live Voicemail is enabled or where you are, every Fi voicemail will land neatly in your iPhone’s built-in Phone app.
With voicemails happily migrating to the Phone app, Google is ready to retire the old system. Sometime in August—exactly after August 13, 2025—the “Voicemail” section will vanish from the iOS Google Fi app, and any messages you haven’t exported will be permanently lost. So if you’ve stashed irreplaceable voicemails in the Fi app, head over to Google Takeout before that deadline rolls around to save them as MP3 files on your computer. After August 13, they’ll disappear for good.
Here’s how to back up your messages:
- Visit Google Takeout on your computer.
- Select “Google Fi” from the list of products.
- Choose MP3 as your file format (and tweak frequency if you like).
- Click “Create export,” then download the ZIP when it’s ready.
This voicemail flip isn’t happening in isolation. Back in April, Google marked Fi’s 10th birthday by teasing a suite of improvements for iOS users, including easier setup and activation on iPhones, international 5G roaming in 92 countries for certain plans, and the launch of data-only eSIMs for tablets and laptops. That same announcement introduced Unlimited Essentials, a trimmed-down Fi plan at $35 per month that pares out extras like hotspot tethering but keeps unlimited talk, text, and data intact.
Between RCS messaging support arriving earlier this year and now seamless voicemail integration, Google is inching closer to feature parity between Android and iOS. It’s also shoring up Fi’s appeal to iPhone devotees who may have grumbled about missing features, making Fi feel less like a spliced-together workaround and more like a first-class citizen on Apple hardware.
For most users, visual voicemail in the iPhone’s Phone app is table stakes—virtually every major carrier has offered it on iOS for years. But Fi’s previous setup forced users into a second, clunky interface just to retrieve basic messages. Now, you’ll get the same swipe-to-play, transcript-on-screen experience that Apple built into iOS 17’s Live Voicemail, without any extra toggles or unusual service-area caveats. If you’re a multitasker or just someone who hates endless app-swapping, this should feel like a breath of fresh air.
What you need to do
- Update your Google Fi app on iOS and restart your iPhone.
- After July 2, tap the Voicemail tab in your Phone app to see all messages.
- Before August 13, export any voicemails you want to keep via Google Takeout.
Whether you’re still undecided about switching to Fi or you’ve been a loyal customer for years, this tweak removes a long-standing annoyance for iPhone users. And as Google keeps ironing out the kinks, Fi feels more and more like a service designed to work seamlessly with whatever phone you choose—Android or Apple. So the next time someone’s voicemail pings on your iPhone, you won’t even realize it’s coming from Fi. That’s progress.
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