iMessage "Waiting for activation..." for three weeks!

What version of 12 are you on, if you haven’t already try updating to latest 12.3.1 and see what happens then.

You could also try connecting to a different WiFi, see if a friend will let you use their setup and see if iMessage Activation is any better that way.

If you can’t get through to Apple do you have an Apple Store local, if so it may be quicker to book a Genius appointment and take the device in to them to try and resolve.

It’s hard to know what to try next, especially if it’s uncertain whether the issue is at Apple’s end or on the device!

You could as a last ditch try signing out of Messages, FaceTime and iCloud (tap your ID at top of Settings), then go to Settings>General>Reset and select “Reset All Settings”.

It supposedly doesn’t remove content or data but should put the settings side of things back to default, once the device reboots log back in to iCloud and turn on Messages and FaceTime (if not on already), and hope that your phone number is now the default.

If that fails it’s as previously suggested by Demo, a trip to the Apple Store because I can’t think of anything else, sorry.

Have a read through this Apple help article, but be aware when trying to resolve issues with iMessages it’s often necessary to include FaceTime in the solution, so for example don’t just sign out/turn off one, but sign out/turn off both!

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

Failing that, these articles may be useful.

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/09/19/how-to-fix-waiting-for-activation-issue-in-imessage-and-facetime/

https://www.igeeksblog.com/fix-imessage-waiting-for-activation/

Hope some of the above helps.

I didn’t drill that far down into the support site to test, but if you can’t get any satisfaction on the website, you should try taking the phone to an Apple Store or an authorized service center for help.

I’ve noticed that all the advice talks about “turning off” Messages and FaceTime, I wonder what would happen if instead you tried signing out of each.

So for example go to Settings>Messages and under “Send & Receive” Sign Out completely, do same for Settings>FaceTime.

Reboot the device and then try signing in/turning on Messages and FaceTime, see what happens.

At the end of this support article it does say that if you still can’t activate either service, (iMessage or FaceTime) after 24 hours, you should contact App,e Support.

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

Still not activated after a day? 



It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If the issue continues after 24 hours, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS.
2. If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can receive SMS messages.
3. Contact Apple Support.

Did you use this link to contact Apple Support?

same with me too..

already try to take out sim card but still doesnt work.

i've been contact to provider and they say to contact Apple centre..

so desparete...

Pls help ...

iphone7+