Facetime Calls Fail between 12.4.8 and 14.1

Question

Facetime Calls Fail between 12.4.8 and 14.1

I have two IPADs on IOS 12.4.8 (cannot upgrade further) and an Iphone and IPAD on IOS 14.1. When I Facetime from any 14.1 IOS device to the 12.4.8 IPADs on WIFI from different locations the Facetime call says poor connection and terminates after 7mins ? When I connect to the 12.4.8 IPADs on Cellular it works ok, also from MAC and a 12.4.8 IPAD to a 12.4.8 IPAD.

So the problem seems to be between 14.1 and 12.4.8. I have eliminated my wifi by trying it on iphones and IPADs with a higher IOS than 12.4.8 as they all work fine. I have reset the network, toggled facetime and reset the whole 12.4.8 IPADs but to no avail.

Is there a known problem with facetime between these releases ?

Posted on Nov 4, 2020 4:09 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 14, 2021 9:31 AM in response to shui47

The target is the iPad on 12.5.1 and the source is an iPad on 14.4. It was the upgrade to 14.4 on the source that corrected my problem. Now when I FaceTime from 14.4 to 12.5.1 I no longer get a timeout after 7 minutes.

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Answer 2

Dec 11, 2020 8:07 AM in response to jonathandurrant

I have just had a follow-up call with Apple. They have recognised this as a bug (that's a good first step). It has been escalated to the States and they are hopeful that a resolution will be available in IOS 14.3 when it becomes available. This is therefore confirmation it is a bug introduced with IOS 14.1 and above and not with IOS 12.4.8/9. Let's all hope that IOS 14.3 solves the problem. If I hear anything else from Apple I will post it here.

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Answer 3

Nov 6, 2020 10:25 PM in response to yogidhada

Yes I have IPad Air Wi-fi also . I can get this to work if I switch Wi-Fi off on the 14.1 device and use cellular and also from a Mac running Catalina. I would be interested if you get the same. I have also opened a ticket with Apple support who have taken diagnostics. Don’t upgrade to 12.4.9 or 14.2 as this doesn’t seem to work either, well not for me. You could try it, but take a backup first using iTunes so you can always back it out.

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Answer 4

Dec 29, 2020 9:46 AM in response to shui47

Yes use Duo to replace FaceTime - works perfectly

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Answer 5

Nov 23, 2020 7:15 AM in response to jonathandurrant

Same issue here with 2018 iPad 6th gen since I updated from 13.7 to 14.2. We use facetime with family and calls fail to a 1st gen iPad Air running 12.4.9, and another 2018 iPad 6th gen that's still on 12.4.8. Interestingly, my 2020 iPad Air (wifi only) on iOS 14.2 does not suffer this issue and neither does my iPhone 11. I have done a factory reset on the 2018 iPad and transferred it to my wife's Apple ID but the problem persists. Appears to be a bug affecting iOS 14 on slightly older devices?

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Answer 6

KBM_01

Level 1

4 points

Dec 1, 2020 7:28 PM in response to jonathandurrant

Hopped on here to report the same issue. iPhone 6 running iOS 12.4.9. Similar story to those above, I can FaceTime with video and audio for a few minutes (5-7) and then I am kicked to the home screen with the green bar at the top of the screen showing call duration which I am unable to tap to return to the call; audio continues for a minute or so and then the call ends and I receive the notification 'FaceTime Failure'. Started happening on November 4, 2020 and now FaceTime is virtually useless for long duration calls. I believe based on the numerous accounts above and elsewhere on the internet that this is a software issue and not a hardware one. Although I have an iPhone 6, the phone itself is only about 2.5 years old. Extremely frustrating.

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Answer 7

Nov 23, 2020 9:00 AM in response to b3hindblueeyes

I am still awaiting a response to my open support call with Apple - they have taken diagnostics and say they are currently analysing them. Definitely an interoperability software bug between iOS 14 and older releases.

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Answer 8

ertriad

Level 1

42 points

Dec 11, 2020 9:11 AM in response to jonathandurrant

Suggest in discussions with Apple you mention "this appears to be a growing, widespread problem" and refer them to an identical case

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 9

Feb 14, 2021 7:34 AM in response to shui47

The 12.5.1 system is the target. It is the source system that needs to be upgraded to 14.4

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Answer 10

shui47

Level 1

18 points

Feb 14, 2021 10:33 AM in response to jonathandurrant

I will have to facetime later on tonight to see if it works. So, the other ipad has to be 14.4, therefore it would work, is that my understanding.

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Answer 11

Feb 14, 2021 12:52 PM in response to shui47

Yes that’s correct

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Answer 12

Nov 7, 2020 9:09 PM in response to jonathandurrant

Thanks, I already updated to 12.4.9 with hope that latest iOS have addressed the issues. However, the problem still existed in latest iOS 12.4.9. Before upgrading iOS version, I visited their website page to see the information about software bugs. iOS's developers addresses the kernel and facetime bugs which may different bugs.

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Answer 13

shui47

Level 1

18 points

Dec 8, 2020 6:06 PM in response to dracupg

I have the same problem with FaceTime. It's very annoying. My sister has IOS 14.2 and I have IOS 12.4.9 and never have we had an issue as we have chatted many times before. I noticed about a month ago, when we chat, the video stays on for about 5 mins and then it disappears but the sound stays on briefly but the screen goes blank with a green bar at the top of screen saying return to FaceTime call, which you cannot do. I logged a call yesterday with Apple and they set me up with an appt to the Apple Store. I attended today and they did a diagnostic test again and they said it was the battery. I spent a replacement battery for 129.00 which basically I got a new IPAD of the same generation only to discovered now that I am still having the same issue. I only discovered this blog on FaceTime. Now what? Why did I spend 129.00 plus tax.

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Answer 14

Nov 6, 2020 8:50 PM in response to jonathandurrant

Yes, I have very similar problems in iPad Air with ios 12.4.8. However, I have iPad with only wifi options. So, calls get disconnected after 7mins.

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Answer 15

Nov 8, 2020 1:58 AM in response to jonathandurrant

Same issue here.

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Facetime Calls Fail between 12.4.8 and 14.1

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