rnandanrao

Q: facetime "waiting for activation"

facetime doesn't work although I have tried hard reboot, reset all settings , network settings etc.,

 

It gets stuck with "waiting for activation" the moment I switch the facetime to ON.

 

After waiting for hours it says "Activation unsuccessfull; try again"

 

Mine is a GSM iphone4 with AT&T bought from Apple store.

iPhone 4, iOS 4.3.2

Posted on May 19, 2011 12:55 PM

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Q: facetime "waiting for activation"

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  • by marcd0301,

    marcd0301 marcd0301 Oct 31, 2011 11:51 PM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2011 11:51 PM in response to rnandanrao

    did u figure it out?

  • by rnandanrao,

    rnandanrao rnandanrao May 4, 2012 3:06 AM in response to marcd0301
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2012 3:06 AM in response to marcd0301


    With iOS 5.1, faceTime and iMessage worked partially; ie., it worked only using my apple ID as the caller ID and I was still not able to see my phone number as the caller ID in iMessage and FaceTime settings.

     

    After doing weeks of research trying to "reset all "settings", restore from backup, restore as new iPhone etc., and trying to contact Apple tech-support and my service provider Airtel etc., nothing worked.

     

    Finally, I figured this out from one of my friends who also has an iPhone 4.

    And the solution was simple. I just went to https://appleid.apple.com and logged in there.

    In the Phone numbers, the 10 digit mobile phone number was correct but the country code was wrong (it was 1) and area code was 91.


    I just changed the country code to 91 (for India) and kept the area code blank as there is no area code for India cellphone numbers. then signout from appleid, turn off and turn ON facetime and imessage again.

    And it's working absolutely fine now!! Just make sure you restart the phone once after this.

     

    I can now see my mobile number as the primary caller ID for FaceTime as well as iMessage and one can add as many email addresses as secondary caller IDs if they wish so.

     

    Below are few screen-shots to show how your settings would look like if everything is working fine.

    facetime1.jpg


    facetime2.jpg

     

    iMessage1.jpg

     

    iMessage2.jpg

     

    Finally, to confirm if everything is working fine, enable WiFi and send a message to your own number and it should show "new Imessage" and in blue color.

     

    Let's hope / wish if Apple could improve the user-interface and error/warning messages to mention what's required to be done to fix things properly and also document these steps / check-list somewhere in their User Manual rather than user having to spend days to figure this out!!

     


  • by allanes5,

    allanes5 allanes5 May 13, 2012 1:58 PM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Apple Music
    May 13, 2012 1:58 PM in response to rnandanrao

    Just got a new iPhone 4S from from supported carrier Movistar and using it there.

    Restored with iCloud from my iPhone 4 back up.

     

    Every time I try to activate FaceTime I get an SMS from the following number:

    +44 7860 015000

     

    and the message says:

    REG-RESP?v=3;r=609c3b07;n=+50588830900;s=024FAC2F27FFF

     

    I can add an email to FaceTime and it works through the email but cel number doesn't get verified.

     

    With iMessages it also stays stuck on verifying but I can receive and send iMessages.

     

    I've decided to restore iPhone 4S via iTunes and set up as new but still get the same problems with FaceTime and iMessages.

     

    I've tried the following:

    * Making sure date and time were correct and set to automatic time zone.

    * Made sure Region and Country were correct.

    * Tried signing out of my Apple ID on the FaceTime page and back on.

    * Restored Net Work Settings.

    * Restored phone from iCloud back up of previous iPhone 4 which had FaceTime working.

    * Set the phone up as new.

    * Phone has international calling. It does send the SMS requesting FaceTime activation because it receives an international SMS with the code stated above.

    * I've rebooted the phone after every change made.

     

    Now, I just came back form my carrier, Movistar, and they say it's a software issue on Apple's side.

    That they've had problems with many iPhone 4S's regarding verifying FaceTime number.

     

    After everything I've tried I'm about 50/50 on wether their response convinces me cause I have not seen anything similar on forums.

     

    Any help please??

  • by moosquare,

    moosquare moosquare May 24, 2012 1:54 AM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 24, 2012 1:54 AM in response to rnandanrao

    Did what you suggested, but still no luck here.

     

    I'm in Indonesia and I lost my 4S (which worked fine) a few months ago, so I bought a new one. And since the begining, iMessage isn't verifying my number. I synced the old back up into the new phone, but iMessage will verify the OLD phone number which isn't in service anymore. It takes so long to "verify" and eventually showed an "error" message.

     

    If I restore it to factory setting and set it up as a new phone, then iMessage isn't even detecting my number. Under receive at, I can only see my email address (apple ID). No phone number at all.

     

    My number is listed correctly, under setting > phone > my number.

     

    Any other ideas?

  • by rnandanrao,

    rnandanrao rnandanrao May 24, 2012 5:57 PM in response to moosquare
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 24, 2012 5:57 PM in response to moosquare

    Did you try logging on to your appleid webpage and check if your mobile number and the international code is correct?

     

    Did you login to https://appleid.apple.com and check the "Phone numbers" section? if not, check out the below steps.

    1. Login and update your current / new mobile phone number.

    2. Update the country code (with international format ie., with +XXX prefix format)

         (In some cases where area code is not required for cellphone numbers, leave it blan)

    3. Save and signout from the appleid website

    4. Disable iMessage (and/or faceTime) and enable it again.

    5. Restart the iPhone and it should work.

     

    And I assume other phone setttings like "Settings -> General -> Date and TIme" is set to "Set automatically" is all done.

  • by moosquare,

    moosquare moosquare May 24, 2012 7:53 PM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 24, 2012 7:53 PM in response to rnandanrao

    Yes, I did.

    Settings for date and time is also set to automatic.

    I don't think it matters much what's the phone number listed on the apple account. My first iPhone 4S, had a US phone number listed on the account and when I changed to Indonesia SIM card, it worked instantly.

     

    Perhaps this is a faulty software?

  • by Amiee666,

    Amiee666 Amiee666 Jul 29, 2012 12:59 PM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 29, 2012 12:59 PM in response to rnandanrao

    I have been having the same issues since last Saturday in the UK!! It will let me sign in using my email and apple id but not my phone number.

     

    After reading some posts on here I decided to try and log out of my apple id, and turn imessage off and on and its finally worked!!!

  • by nightlook,

    nightlook nightlook Aug 31, 2012 5:12 AM in response to Amiee666
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 31, 2012 5:12 AM in response to Amiee666

    I tried EVERYTHING apart from this.

    Using iPhone 4 in Norway, Telenor.

    I restored the phone from backup, deactivated/reactivated iMessage with and without wifi, I made sure my phone number was correct in my Apple ID, and I reset network settings. Nothing worked, until I tried this.

    Thank you!

  • by sayadil,

    sayadil sayadil Jan 15, 2013 1:28 PM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 15, 2013 1:28 PM in response to rnandanrao

    Hey i have the same issue. when i log into appleid website it doesn't let me type + before 91 in country code box so do u suggest i only put 91 area code blank and then my 10 digit number.

     

    also on my phone under my info... my number shows as +91 XXXXXXX so thats fine or i shall remove + sign so it looks like 91 XXXXXXXX

     

    Please reply soon as i want my imessage to work with my number and not email but its stuck at waiting for activation.

  • by vedat007,

    vedat007 vedat007 Sep 24, 2013 8:48 AM in response to allanes5
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2013 8:48 AM in response to allanes5

    I have exactly the same problem.

    iMessage and FaceTime works perfectly fine via email bot won't verify my phone number.

    I've done almost everything and still no activation with my phone number.

    I get that sms too and it just keeps sendind me sms-s like that once in 10 minutes until it drains all my money in tr sim card.

    I hope apple gives us a solution but I'm running on iOS7 and the problem just keeps repeating it self.

  • by brankitt,

    brankitt brankitt Sep 24, 2013 11:10 PM in response to rnandanrao
    Level 2 (240 points)
    Sep 24, 2013 11:10 PM in response to rnandanrao

    backup the device with itunes.

    Restore the device with itunes and set up as new.

    Sign into the facetime and imessage to activate it.

    After that is done and activation is good.

    Restore from the backup.

    Then make sure to sign into facetime and imessage again and you should be good to go