Consistent inability to add recovery contact on latest MacOS, iPadOS & iOS

On the Mac, download and run (free) EtreCheck and share the result to the clipboard. Then open a new reply here, and press the Additional Text button that looks like a printed page to get a text input box big enough to paste the hardware and software configuration report here, and paste and post that here.

On the iPad, remove (delete) the add-on security apps, force restart, and try again.

Also restart your local network router / gateway /network firewall, as sometimes those can get tangled. Check for firmware updates for that box, too.

Unfortunately, too often add-on security apps can tend to be closer to malware in this current era. Some of the better known add-on anti-malware for macOS was caught selling personally-identified web browsing and web purchasing data, for instance. And too much of the add-in security is just badly written and insecure. Yes, adding anti-malware and other security apps means adding potential vulnerabilities, as vulnerabilities in the security apps themselves can be targeted for exploitation. First-few-hops VPNs badly solve a problem that hasn’t existed for a decade or so, but are perfectly positioned to collect (and re-sell?) personally-identified metadata, too.

The ID number shown is a process ID. Those change as processes are created. Which happens lots.

Any add-on anti-malware or anti-virus or security or firewall apps, or any add-on first-few-hops VPN apps, or add-on cleaner apps, or similar add-ons, installed here? If so, remove all that per the vendors’ instructions, restart, and test again.

EtreCheck is free for this purpose. Not paid.

I’d prefer Apple offer a similar tool of course, but they don’t.

The tool is not getting spammed around here, and I receive no considerations for suggesting it.

It is useful for avoiding a few thousand questions about the current macOS configuration.

An add-on VPN is often accompanied by other app add-on issues, hence the inventory suggestion.