The microphone is not picking you up
Test the microphone outside the app first. It takes ten seconds and it decides whether you are fixing a permission, a device, or something else entirely.
- Browser test, no install
- iPhone and Android steps
- Covers Bluetooth headsets
Test first, then fix
Open the microphone test and speak. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is recorded — the meter moves in the page. If the meter moves, the microphone and its hardware are fine, and the problem is the app's own permission or an audio device taking the input. If it does not move, the problem is in front of the app: a browser or system permission, a blocked opening, or a headset.
The commonest single cause on both platforms is a microphone permission that was declined once and remembered. An app that is refused the microphone is not told why it is receiving silence, so it behaves exactly as if you were not speaking.
Fix it in this order
- 1
Grant the microphone permission
On iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, and switch Telvio on. On Android: Settings → Apps → Telvio → Permissions → Microphone, set to Allow only while using the app. Android also has a system-wide microphone toggle in Quick Settings that mutes every app at once — if that is off, no per-app permission will help.
- 2
Close every other app that could be listening
Most phones let only one app capture audio at a time. Voice recorders, video calls left open in a browser, dictation, translation apps and some fitness apps hold the microphone in the background, and the app that asks second gets silence. Close everything else and try again.
- 3
Turn Bluetooth off completely and make one call on the handset
Not just disconnect the headset — turn the radio off. A headset can connect in a media profile that carries no microphone at all, can capture from a boom you are not speaking into, or can still be paired with a device in another room. This single step resolves a large share of microphone reports.
- 4
Take the case off and clear the microphone opening
Phones have two or three microphone openings and the bottom one does most of the work on calls. Thick cases cover it, and compacted lint blocks it. A soft brush and good light are the whole repair. If your voice is quiet rather than absent, this is a likely cause.
- 5
Restart the phone
Genuinely worth doing here rather than as a ritual. The audio subsystem can be left in a bad state by an app that crashed while holding the microphone, and a restart is the only thing that clears it.
- 6
Compare against the built-in dialler
Make an ordinary phone call and ask whether you are audible. If you are inaudible there too, the microphone is faulty and no app can work around it. That is a hardware repair rather than a settings problem, and worth knowing before you spend longer.
What the permission model actually does
Both iOS and Android require an app to ask before it can capture audio, and both remember the answer. Refusing once is permanent until you change it in Settings; the app cannot ask again, and — importantly — it is not told that it was refused. It opens the microphone, receives a stream of silence, and has no way to distinguish that from a quiet room.
Android adds two further layers that catch people out. There is a system-level microphone switch in Quick Settings that mutes capture for everything at once, independently of per-app permissions. And several manufacturers add their own privacy dashboards that can revoke a permission automatically from an app you have not opened for a while, which produces a microphone that worked last month and does not today.
iOS is stricter about the opposite failure. An app in the background cannot take the microphone from an app in the foreground, so a call in progress is protected — but a call placed while another app already holds the microphone can start with no input. Closing the other app and redialling is the fix, and it is quicker than any of the alternatives.
Headsets, and why they cause so much of this
Bluetooth audio has two operating modes and they behave very differently. The high-quality stereo mode carries audio in one direction only, to your ears, and has no microphone channel at all. The two-way mode used for calls carries a microphone but at much lower quality. A headset that connects in the wrong mode leaves the call with no input, and it can happen silently after a firmware update, a low battery, or connecting to something else first.
The other classic case needs no fault at all. A headset paired with a laptop in another room will connect to it when the laptop wakes, and the phone then routes the call to a device you are nowhere near. Nothing is broken and nobody can hear you. Turning Bluetooth off on the phone is the diagnostic and the fix at the same time.
Wired headsets fail more simply. A partly inserted plug lands the connector between contacts, which frequently gives you audio in one ear and no microphone at all. Push it in fully, or take it out and test on the handset.
If the browser test fails as well
The microphone test failing narrows things considerably, because it removes the app from the question entirely.
First rule out the browser's own permission: a site refused the microphone once is remembered per site, and the padlock or the small icon in the address bar is where to reverse it. Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android both require the site's permission and the browser's own system permission, and it is common to have granted one and not the other.
If the permission is granted and the meter still does not move, test the microphone with the phone's own voice recorder. A recorder that captures nothing confirms hardware, which is a repair. A recorder that works while the browser does not is a browser permission that has not actually been applied — restarting the browser after granting it is a real fix, not a superstition.
Bottom line
Test the microphone in the browser before changing anything. The result tells you whether you are fixing a permission and a device, or a fault in front of the app.
The order that resolves most cases: grant the microphone permission, close other apps that may be listening, turn Bluetooth off entirely, clear the microphone opening, restart.
If an ordinary phone call from the built-in dialler is also silent, the microphone is faulty and this is a repair rather than a setting.
Frequently asked questions
Why can nobody hear me in a calling app but the phone call works?
That points at the app's microphone permission rather than the hardware, because the built-in dialler does not need one. Check the microphone permission for the app in Settings, and check whether another app is holding the microphone in the background.
How do I check the microphone permission on iPhone?
Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Microphone, and confirm the app is switched on. A permission declined once is remembered and the app cannot ask again; it simply receives silence with no way to know why.
How do I check the microphone permission on Android?
Settings, then Apps, then the app, then Permissions, then Microphone, set to allow while using the app. Also check the system-wide microphone toggle in Quick Settings, which mutes capture for every app at once regardless of per-app permissions.
Why does my Bluetooth headset have no microphone on calls?
Bluetooth has a high-quality mode that carries audio only to your ears with no microphone channel, and a two-way mode used for calls. A headset connected in the wrong mode leaves the call with no input. Turning Bluetooth off entirely and calling on the handset confirms it.
Can a phone case block the microphone?
Yes. The bottom microphone does most of the work on a call and thick cases cover it, while compacted lint in the opening has the same effect. If your voice is quiet rather than absent, this is a likely cause and takes a minute to rule out.
Does the microphone test upload my voice?
No. The test runs entirely in the browser: the audio never leaves the device, nothing is recorded and nothing is sent to a server. It only draws a level meter from the input so you can see whether the microphone is capturing.
Related answers
- The call connects but nobody can hear anything
- The call sounds robotic, choppy or delayed
- You paid and the credit has not appeared
- Refunds, and charges you did not expect
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