Telstra has switched on Wi-Fi calling for iPhone users

Thanks to apps like Skype and WhatsApp, smartphone owners have long been able to make voice-calls via a Wi-Fi data connection, which can be a real boon for anyone who lives in an area with sketchy mobile reception.

In many parts of the world, telcos have even embraced this technology and enabled smartphone users to switch between Wi-Fi and mobile network calling seamlessly.

Australian telcos, however, have been pretty slow to adapt the Wi-Fi calling technology, as it potentially takes away from their revenue stream.

But Telstra took a leap of faith last year and enabled VoWiFi – aka ‘voice over Wi-Fi’ – for the Samsung Galaxy S6, which allowed users to switch from mobile reception to Wi-Fi without letting calls drop. That was then extended to the newer Galaxy S7/S7 Edge and S8/S8 Plus handsets this year.

The telco has announced today that this facility will now be available to Apple users who have either an iPhone SE or an iPhone 6 or newer handset, though they will need to be running the latest version of iOS.

If you’re a Telstra customer and want to take advantage of using VoWiFi, simply update your iPhone’s OS, then accept a carrier update from Telstra. After that, if you happen to be in a mobile blackspot or have lousy reception, you should be able to seamlessly switch from one network to the other without any hiccups, as long as there’s an accessible Wi-Fi connection.

The Telstra handsets currently with VoWiFi capabilities are: