audio messages no longer play after ios 18 update

After updating to ios 18, i can no longer play audio file messages from other iphone users. the message shows up as .caf and doesn't do anything when i select it. I tried the "pasting and sending it back to the sender" trick i saw, but that didn't work. I've tried turning phone on and off, toggling imessage off and on, and then rebooting again. I've tried turning wifi on and off after these steps as well and no luck.

this is happening in a group chat mixed with iphone and android users. the android user was able to listen to the audio message. Also, i can hear audio messages from android users. I haven't yet received a direct 1:1 audio message from another iphone user, so I'm not sure about that.

Any help is appreciated. thanks