iPhone Still Doesn't Play G.711 WAV Files
Thu Sep 27th 2007, 7:03pm
Update July 10th, 2008: G.711 files are now playing for me on
my early test of the
iPhone 2.0 software. The original article remains below.
Even with today's 1.1.1 iPhone firmware update, it still can't play the .wav files I get
via email from my company's voicemail system. I now see a nice new Quicktime logo next to
the attachment, I can click on it, and Quicktime launches... but it then immediately
errors out with "This movie could not be played".
After digging a bit deeper, I discovered the problem is the iPhone can't play .wav files
that use the particular codec our voicemail system is using: G.711 (which apparently is a
very common codec to use for telecommunications). "WAV" is just a packaging format (like
AVI), it can have uncompressed or compressed (even mp3!) audio inside of it.
You can hit
Wave File Compression Codecs
Compared to see a variety of common .wav file types, and try each to see which will
play in your iPhone. Here's what I found:
| Codec |
Works on iPhone |
| 11,025Hz 16bit PCM | yes |
| 8000Hz 16bit PCM | yes |
| 11,025Hz 8bit PCM | yes |
| 11,025Hz u-Law | no |
| 8,000Hz 8bit PCM | yes |
| 8,000Hz u-Law (aka G.711) | no |
| 11,025Hz 4bit ADPCM | no |
| 8000Hz 4bit ADPCM | no |
| 11,025Hz GSM6.10 | no |
| 8000Hz Mp3 16k | no |
| 8,000Hz GSM6.10 | no |
| 8000Hz Lernout & Hauspie SBC 12k | no |
| 8,000Hz DSP Group TrueSpeech | no |
| 8000Hz Mp3 8k | no |
| 8,000Hz Lernout & Hauspie CELP | no |
So it appears that the iPhone can only play PCM .wav files, which are probably the most
common you'll find on the web. However Vonage customers are still out of luck,
David confirms Vonage voicemails also use G.711.
Oh well... it's a step up from not being able to play
any .wav files, maybe next
update will support a broader range of codecs.
Additional Resources:
Update January 16th, 2008: still not working as of the 1.1.3 update.
On Thu Nov 15th 2007, 6:15pm, Visitor posted:
I finally setup a script using procmail, munpack and sox to convert
incoming voicemail notifications to a format the iphone could play then
forward them out using mutt. (all linux)
- James
On Wed Dec 5th 2007, 6:45am, Visitor posted:
James, can you share the script?
On Wed Dec 19th 2007, 8:27pm, Visitor posted:
You can try iPhoneConvert.com
Just create a rule (or forward) to messages@iphoneconvert.com a link is
then returned (listen in Safari)
Additionally, if you create an account (FREE), you can have the messages
attached as an attachment.
On Mon Feb 4th 2008, 10:04pm, Mario posted:
While it only works for vonage - Take a look at http://www.vonagent.com
(it's free :). It will let you d/l your vonage voicemails and play them
on the iphone. If you have another voicemail system that you need help
with - let me know
On Tue Feb 5th 2008, 10:54am, Steve Kehlet posted:
Hi Mario, thanks for the post! Vonagent looks great. We use Cisco's Unity
voicemail system where I work, got any tips for it?
On Sun Mar 16th 2008, 12:06am, Michael posted:
I like what James did. Does anyone have any details on how to do that?
On Thu Jul 10th 2008, 7:06pm, Visitor posted:
any status update with iphone os 2.0?
On Thu Jul 10th 2008, 7:30pm, Steve Kehlet posted:
I just tried it, and it works! Horray! At least for me. I followed the
instructions earlier today at
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/07/how-to-get-the.html, got the 2.0
software installed, sent myself a voicemail, and it plays just fine.
Here's what file has to say about the file:
RIFF (little-endian) data, WAVE audio, ITU G.711 mu-law, mono 8000 Hz
On Sat Apr 28th 2012, 1:27am, luckybabyboy posted:
This article just aims to solve "iTunes won't import WAV" issue
and helps to successfully import all kinds of WAV to iTunes so as to play
WAV on iPhone, iPod, iPad, and iTunes with ease at
http://www.bigasoft.com/articles/how-to-import-wav-to-play-in-itunes-iphone-ipod-ipad.html
