FaceTime Mac issue (Unknown Caller) when FaceTime iPhone shows user names

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FaceTime Mac issue (Unknown Caller) when FaceTime iPhone shows user names

I'm currently running macOS X Catalina 10.15.3 on my 27" 2012 iMac. I also have an iPhone 6s running iOS 13.3.1. I've received a number of FaceTime-supported calls and video chats dating back to January. Normally it would sync the caller ID info. from my iPhone to the Mac and vice-versa when retrieving these calls/chats.

A few weeks back the entire list changed to show nothing but "Unknown" for EVERY caller on my iMac whereas FaceTime on the phone shows that some of the users are people that I do indeed know and that are indeed people on my contacts list (the actual videos or calls coincide with the date/time of each call). There are however a lot of calls from people that aren't showing up on my iPhone that show up on my iMac's list.

I also have noticed that my iMac hasn't been able to retrieve/answer phone calls made to my iPhone like it used to (this has broken off/on in the past based on macOS vs. iOS system updates, i.e. if both machines weren't on the latest version of the OS [which sometimes because of software incompatibility I've lagged behind on updating macOS to the latest version because certain applications aren't Cocoa64 native and probably won't be updated, or like Adobe which had issues for awhile with Creative Cloud and Catalina).

Is this a known bug or is there some suggested fix?

Examples:

macOS FaceTime:

iOS FaceTime:

Any help would be appreciated!

-- Marcus Mackey

iMac 27", macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 16, 2020 12:44 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Mar 17, 2020 8:18 AM in response to IVIIVI4ck3y27

Hi there, Marcus.

I see that the call history in FaceTime is no longer showing the contact name. It displays each one as "Unknown", even though they appear in the Contacts app. You also mention that phone calls aren't being received on your iMac any longer as well, and I'm glad to help with this.

Make and receive calls on your Mac, iPad, or iPod touch -- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices, and make sure your iMac is listed. If not, turn it on and test both issues.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac -- If either issue remains, restart your Mac in safe mode and test both issues. If it works while in safe mode, reboot normally and test again in your own user account. If not, continue to "How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac" below.

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac -- If the issue is also happening in safe mode, use this article to create and test a new administrative user account. This will demonstrate if the issue is isolated to your account, or if it's system wide.

You'll need to import Contacts from your user profile and log into FaceTime to test one issue. Also, activate FaceTime on this new admin user account and see if your contacts are still showing as "Unknown" to test the other.

Let me know how that goes, and take care!

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FaceTime Mac issue (Unknown Caller) when FaceTime iPhone shows user names

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