Tessie201

Level 1 (4 points)

Apple Music

Q: iPhone 4 Activation? Old iPhone?

Ok so I got this iPhone from a friend in February. It is an iPhone 4s and she has had it for about a year. I got the activation done and I have been happily using it ever since.....until today. I went on to send my friend a message, and it didn't send. I usually know what I'm doing with devices like these so I went to the Settings and went to iMessage. It shows that it's still waiting for activation. What the heck?! I tried restarting my phone and turning off iMessage. I turned iMessage back on and a choice came up saying 'Use Apple ID for iMessage' and I chose it(since I only use wifi for text messaging). It came up and I typed in my Apple ID Username and PW. And it told me that my username or pw was incorrect. I tried again. Still the same answer. By this time I was very frustrated. I went to the website. Googled it. I even checked my inbox on my email to see if any emails came in telling me that my PW was changed. It wasn't. I even logged into Apple.com with my Apple ID and PW I typed into the iMessage thing. What the heck is going on?! I am not very happy right now and I hope this isn't something that can't be fixed.

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Aug 10, 2016 10:17 AM

I have this question too

Q: iPhone 4 Activation? Old iPhone?

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by kbclend9,

kbclend9 Aug 10, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Tessie201
Level 1 (35 points)

iCloud

Aug 10, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Tessie201

Check this out:

If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support

For now you can ignore the "Use Apple ID for iMessage" until it's activated. That should fix it up for you.
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by Tessie201,

Tessie201 Aug 10, 2016 10:27 AM in response to kbclend9
Level 1 (4 points)

Apple Music

Aug 10, 2016 10:27 AM in response to kbclend9

Yeah....But how do I get it REactivated?? It was already activated in the first place until today!
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by kbclend9,

kbclend9 Aug 10, 2016 10:39 AM in response to Tessie201
Level 1 (35 points)

iCloud

Aug 10, 2016 10:39 AM in response to Tessie201
It should re-activate within 24-48 hours based on my personal experience.

Try the steps in the article above including:

Check your device settings
Make sure that you’re connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network. If you're using an iPhone, you'll need SMS messaging to activate your phone number with iMessage and FaceTime. Depending on your carrier, you might be charged for this SMS.
Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that you've set up your time zone correctly.
Turn off and restart iMessage and FaceTime
Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.
Go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.
Restart your device.
Turn iMessage and FaceTime back on.
Still not activated after a day?
It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If you've waited more than 24 hours, follow these steps:
Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS.
If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can receive SMS messages.
Contact Apple Support.
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by Tessie201,

Tessie201 Aug 10, 2016 10:41 AM in response to kbclend9
Level 1 (4 points)

Apple Music

Aug 10, 2016 10:41 AM in response to kbclend9

Well, no. I don't even USE my phone number! Just my Apple ID! And now when I try to type in my Apple ID on iMessage, it tells me my network connection isn't working! But I have 3 bars of wifi! I am so discouraged
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by kbclend9,

kbclend9 Aug 10, 2016 12:29 PM in response to Tessie201
Level 1 (35 points)

iCloud

Aug 10, 2016 12:29 PM in response to Tessie201

Got it. Have you made sure the iPhone is up-to-date under Settings > General > software update?

Also, if it still says "Waiting for activation," it should activate in a day or two. Just keep iMessage on.
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