topic Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7 in Android

Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

a_wiseman — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 16:59:06 GMT

Apologies if this appears twice - can't find the original, so don't know whether it's posted or not...

So, my Pixel 7 was playing happily with Visual Voicemail, but since Sunday it hasn't... By which I mean the tab has disappeared in the bottom of the Android Phone app. And the option to switch VV on and off has also disappeared from the Phone app Settings.

I have Android 15 Beta 3.1. But as far as I know, no Phone app updates and no OS updates happened on Sunday.

Have tried rebooting the phone and also resetting mobile settings to no avail.

I've been in touch with Google. After been transferred three times on the chat they told me how to switch it on (via the non-existent menu item in settings) and then pointed the finger at O2...

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

MI5 — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 17:14:01 GMT

@a_wiseman

This is a customer to customer community, not O2, so we cannot access your account, sorry.

You need to contact O2.

Message them on Social Media. Facebook (https://o2uk.co/O2CFB) , Twitter (X) (https://o2uk.co/O2CTW) or Instagram (https://o2uk.co/O2CIG) or give them a call on 202 or 0344 809 0202

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

madasaf1sh — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:36:09 GMT

@a_wiseman

I would be asking on the Android Communities and Reddit to see if this is a bug with the 3.1 beta update..

And Google and o2 dont support Beta OS releases, hence going to the above... as with all Beta it is user beware, as they are usually buggy as hell, and some of the Android QP's have been buggy as hell...

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

Catch — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:18:05 GMT

Just wondering if you have found a solution? I've been experiencing the exact same issue with visual voicemail disappearing. I'm on Android 14 Pixel 7 Pro.

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

madasaf1sh — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:49:41 GMT

On the main release of Android then you need to follow the below and its been a bug since 2022 across Android

You need to try clearing the Phone App Cache and Data, and reboot the phone...

Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Phone. Tap Storage & cache, then Clear cache and Clear storage. Restart your phone and try to check your Visual Voicemail

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

Catch — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:03:29 GMT

Thanks for that! Issue solved for me 👌

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

madasaf1sh — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:05:34 GMT

Glad it all worked for you @Catch

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

a_wiseman — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 15:08:32 GMT

I used the trick of clearing the cache and storage followed by a re-start no my Pixel 7. This added the Voicemail tab back in the Phone app and added the visual voicemail options to the settings. Result - or so I thought! A message on the Voicemail tab complained "Can't activate visual voicemail. Trouble reading SIM. Check if visual voicemail is on in Settings and try again." When I went back to the settings, the Visual Voicemail options had gone. So now I'm left with the voicemail tab, but no voicemail.

I then borrowed my wife's Pixel 4a (5G), which, because of its age will forever be Android 14. With the O2 SIM in here, after the same cache and storage clearance trick and a reboot, and some patience, visual voicemail was activated. I got the automated text from O2 and my voicemails eventually showed up in the tab, ready to play.

My Pixel 7 and the borrowed Pixel 4a (5G) are running the same version of the Phone app. So it's looking likely that either it's the Android beta on my Pixel 7 (although the problem didn't start just after a beta update) or something screwy with Pixel 7 and/or O2 settings.

I will take the advice and ask on Reddit to see if anyone else is having a similar problem.

Meanwhile, I now have a new problem. After replacing the original SIM in the 4a (5G), the Phone app still has the Voicemail tab but no settings, so I can't switch it off. (It's behaving just like my Pixel 7, except the SIM on the 4a (5G) is not on O2 and so doesn't support visual voicemail.) I've tried resetting the mobile settings, but short of a factory reset, I'm not sure what I can do apart from apologise to my wife and hope she can live with it..! 😞

(But the clearing cache and storage is a top tip and it looks like it has helped someone else :-))

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

madasaf1sh — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 18:37:14 GMT

@a_wiseman

I would conclude its the beta release as it worked on a non beta handset, so your only option if you want to use visual voicemail is to opt out of the beta and its a factory reset..

I never had a problem with my Pixel 8 Pro with the beta software but looking on reddit a lot of people did such as NFC dying.

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

a_wiseman — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 22:49:55 GMT

Google released beta 4 of Android 15 this week with an update to the Phone app arriving on the same day. I installed both and then cleared the cache and storage of the Phone app and re-started. Sadly, this made no difference 😞

HOWEVER, someone on Reddit replied to me with a workaround...

I 'uninstalled' the Phone app. (This doesn't delete the app, but removes all the updates to it, leaving me on version 127.0.620688474.)

Immediately I did this, I received an SMS from O2 thanking me for activating Visual Voicemail. And when I checked the Voicemail tab, my messages were waiting!

Interestingly a Pixel 6 user is having the same issue and is running a stable version of Android. (And curiously an EE user has noticed the Voicemail tab has appeared in the Phone app with the same error message I was seeing.)

So probably not a buggy beta, but a buggy Phone app in this case...

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

DamienKelly — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 18:29:25 GMT

My issue has been with O2 for a month. I tried your solution and it worked. Thanks so much.

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

madasaf1sh — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 18:37:06 GMT

@DamienKelly

Glad it helped

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

FlyStarJay — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 08:26:36 GMT

Thank you as well. I had this issue this weekend and tried it today. It worked. Thank you for taking your time to answer.

And to those saying speak with O2, I doubt O2 would have had this idea. This is a forum where people come to get help, so please let's help.

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

ChrisJS — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 07:45:07 GMT

Thanks to madasaf1sh and all for this thread, it let me get my Pixel 6a (Android 14) fixed. Same symptoms with disappearing VVM tab and settings. Clearing cache and storage brought back the tab but not settings and a message that the SIM was not accessible. Deleting the phone app (i.e. revert to original ROM version) did it - within seconds I got the O2 "Thanks for activating VVM" message. There have been quite a few updates to the phone app so I might try to find one a bit more recent and see if I can sideload that.

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

ChrisJS — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 11:22:30 GMT

I found and tried this version of the apk from May 24 (APK mirror has many) - 129.0.628891516-16242748_minAPI29(arm64-v8a)(nodpi) - and had success with the app still working, even after a restart.

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

Yorkshire4ever — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 19:47:18 GMT

Big THANK YOU for the above instructions about uninstalling the phone app in order to get visual voicemail back again. It's the only thing that worked for me , I had spoke to O2 4 times over the last two days and was getting really frustrated. If anyone else is having this issue follow the above advice and it works instantly once you have uninstalled the phone app . Thanks again 😊

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

lolerz346 — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 18:17:21 GMT

Uninstalling worked for me also.

Google Pixel 8 Pro, Android 14 (5th July build)

For what it's worth, I don't think what version of android you're running matters, I think Google has broken something in the latest phone app update.

Many thanks for the tip

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

a_wiseman — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:52:18 GMT

If anyone else fancies trying their luck with a sideloaded APK, I have found 135.0.645900888 (arm64-v8a)(nodpi) from apkmirror.com also works on my Pixel 7...

(I installed twice for testing... installed 135, everything looked OK, then updated to the latest Phone dialler from the Play store, 137.0.653273043 22/07/2024, which is still broken. Then had to uninstall this - because you can't install an older version on top of a newer one - and then re-installed 135 again, which is still working and shows new voicemails plus the Settings.)

v135 also has 'Hold for Me' and 'Direct My Call' available.

Obviously, only do this if you're comfortable with the risks of using downloaded APKs!

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

a_wiseman — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 12:00:30 GMT

OK, SCRATCH THAT! 😮

A few hours after thinking version 135 was working, I got notified of a voicemail by my phone, even though no new voicemails had arrived. The existing voicemails were listed and playable, but when I went to check the settings, the visual voicemail options had gone. Back in the app, the Voicemail tab was then gone too. Deleting the cache and storage and rebooting brought back the tab, but with the error message. It was exactly what happened when Visual Voicemail first went wrong and I started this thread.

I tried to install version 129, but it wouldn't let me. (I think you can't install an older version in place of a newer version.) So I 'uninstalled' 135 and then installed 129 and hey presto - got the automated text from O2 and it was back working again.

Apologies for claiming version 135 was OK - it isn't 😞

Re: Visual Voicemail tab has disappeared on my Pixel 7

Tazuk — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 13:59:27 GMT

For anyone with this issue, please submit feedback to Google via the app and through play store reviews to raise its visibility.