What is TTY on iPhone

Aleksandra Mednikova August 4, 2013 in iPhone - 2 Minutes

What is TTY on iPhone?

Out of users who are new to their iPhone have begun to see a TTY simple pop-up in the status bar in specific areas, and aren’t quite sure of what exactly is going on with their new phone. Don’t worry, there is nothing strange or negative going on inside your phone – it simply a system designed specifically to help people who are hearing impaired or legally deaf to more easily use their cell phone.

Enabling the use of hearing impaired people to communicate through the telephone (allowing them to text voice messages to users who have TTY enabled on their device and allowing others to speak and have that communication transcribed on the fly so that they can read it on their own devices), TTY is a relatively new invention that has changed the way that people use their smart phones.
Giving everyone and anyone the same ability to use the latest and greatest technologies out there on the market today and making sure that even those who are hearing impaired can still use a telephone just as the rest of us do, TTY (or teletype) popping up on your phone simply means that you are in a data network that allows for a this transmission to take place.

Do I have to pay any extra for TTY?

Absolutely not. Because of the strict federal laws that require many of the major wireless networks to push TTY service on as many of their towers as humanly possible, this is a mandated service that you don’t have to pay any extra money for whatsoever. While not rolled out all across the nation as of yet – TTY is still a relatively new system and technology – the fact of the matter is that it has been gaining steam in the past few years as new innovative hardware solutions have been produced.

Of course, and this means that TTY service and TDD service (telecommunication device for the deaf) is still a bit spotty – and will only be able to be used when you are inside of a data range where the TTY symbol is present in your status bar. Outside of those data ranges you’ll have to use standard text messaging or another platform to communicate with anyone who is hearing impaired, an issue that is still being navigated right now .