Wi-Fi calling is disabled in iPhone 16 Pro after iOS 18.1 update

I upgraded my Verizon iPhone 16 Pro to iOS 18.1 on November 5th. Phone worked fine for an hour or so but then WiFi calling was disabled and repeated tries to re-enable it including repeated phone re boots failed. I kept receiving the message to contact Verizon to enable WiFi calling on the device. Since I have no cell service at my home, and my iPhone is my primary phone, WiFi calling is a must.

After about 3 hours on the phone with both Verizon and Apple support, my issue was resolved. I called Verizon first and the off shore support person that I talked with was only reading a script, would not listen to the fact that everything worked fine a couple of hours before, stopped working with the upgrade to iOS 18.1, and wanted to point the finger at Apple.

I finally relented and let the Verizon support person contact Apple support for me. Once I was on the line with Apple support, Verizon support dropped off the call. Apple's support sounded like it was also off shore and that person didn't want to listen either and wanted to send me back to Verizon.

After getting really upset and insisting, I was transferred to a supervisor who spoke clear English and listened to my issue and asked some questions. That person then transferred me to Apple's second level support. Second level support did some research and said they were getting many calls on the issue and Apple had traced it back to Verizon not correctly provisioning the eSim in my iPhone 16 for the upgrade to iOS 18.1.

Apple second level support then called their Verizon second level support number directly and we were on hold for a very long time. During that hold time, I received a text from Verizon the the new sim card had been requested for device was being activated for my phone number, and I had to click on a link to validate the request. After making many attempts to validate the request - the Verizon interface to do this is terrible - I was successful. I then received a notification that the sim was installed. On my own initiative I decided to reboot my phone and was then able to re-enable WiFi calling.

Verizon second level support never picked up the call, so Apple second level support sent an email with a case number and a link back where I could get an almost immediate callback from Apple second level support if needed.

A big thumbs up to Apple for helping get the issue resolved - once I was able to get to second level support.

Many BIG thumbs down to Verizon for not properly handling an upgrade to iOS 18.1

As part of the process to get the new sim installed, I had to do a Reset Network Settings which unfortunately erases all your saved network passwords. So I spent a lot of time today reentering passwords as I logged onto networks that I use during the course of the day.

The Problem yesterday was my call was routed to off shore tech support who only know how to deal with simple cookie cutter issues. I demanded a supervisor and kept being told none readily available but I pushed until I got one. He finally looked to see how it was fixed last month and did a hard network reset from their side and I had to do the same. So finally after over hour and half got it back on. I filed a complaint by emailing CEO/President office. Someone from executive escalations called me this morning. It is a result of iOS update but the issue is an incompatibility with VZW system. I explained I can understand last month. But Verizon is too big of a company for their tech department to not have figured it out before the update this week. And in the interim, they should have trained all tech support how to fix it. I understand why companies outsource jobs, but if companies do t train properly, still end up high cost because of the time to resolve issues, not to mention higher customer dissatisfaction. If this happens a third time, I will go straight to executive escalations and they will just eat my international roaming fees until they fix it correctly.

LuscombeFlyer wrote:

I live in a remote area with cell service, and I use WiFi calling exclusively all day working from home. If WiFi calling stopped working, I'd know about it within minutes. The WiFi calling feature worked fine literally right up until the moment of the 18.1 upgrade.

After wasting my time with Apple support, I spent an hour on the phone with Verizon (from my wife's Android phone - on the same account) and got up to their tier-2 level support. We tried a number of things to no effect.

Is it possible that Verizon made some change to my account settings that disabled WiFi calling at precisely the same time I applied the 18.1 upgrade? Yes, that's possible. But it's pretty darned unlikely.

This is 99.9995% likely an Apple snafu and they need to fix it, and fast.

What Verizon didn't do is provision your phone correctly for iOS 18. Sure, it coincided with the iOS 18 update, but Apple shared the API for iOS 18 with Verizon and ALL app developers in advance of the release of iOS 18. Apple has NO control over what carriers do on their end.

Your supposition this is 99.9995% an Apple Snafu is simply wrong. If it was an Apple Snafu, why does Wifi calling work just fine on my iPhone on iOS 18 with AT&T? Verizon needs to fix this for you. Apple has ZERO control over Wifi calling.

Just upgraded to 18.2 and it seems to have fixed the issue (fingers crossed)

Verizon has to be the laziest of the carriers out there. There are several other people with Verizon who were told the same thing you've been told. They had to escalate the issue higher and low and behold, it WAS a Verizon issue. Apple didn't turn off this feature for you. Verizon did something, which makes it not work on your iPhone. Elevate this higher up in the Verizon Tech Support chain. Until you do that, it's not going to work for you. You pay Verizon for service. Make them work for the money you pay them.

A full reboot of the phone seems to have fixed it

I have Verizon and had this same issue with the update in September, as well as today. Although very much an inconvenience, I called Verizon and got good tech support to fix it last month. That rep had to do something on their side, as well as I had to do a Network Settings Reset which is inconvenience as you lose all network passwords. This time, I have been dealing with tech support almost hour and still not fixed. I have now asked the rep to see who helped before from the comments and i want both them and a supervisor. And what makes this even worse, i live partially out of the country and need this feature to avoid roaming on another network. I will give a major company once but this should not be still happening. Verizon know its an issue and should have worked with Apple to fix it, or ensure their system can handle such IOS updates.

Apple iOS 18.2 public release is rolling out around the world in many (all?) countries today. I watched a video from someone in Australia an hour ago and he’d installed the update and reported that it resolved many of his issues. The article below explains how to update. The release time in your area may not have occurred yet. You will just need to check the update option in your iPhone.

Update iOS on iPhone

williamfromwaupun wrote:

I have US CELLULAR and mine doesn’t work and tier 2 tech cant get it to work, it looks like the change in the way the phone turns it on is different Apple needs to work with the carriers to resolve

You have that backwards. The Carriers need to work with either their own internal programers or maybe Apple. In my case using AT&T, there are no issues with Wifi calling. None. Apple didn't break it. But if the carrier you use doesn't provision something on their end to make Wifi calling work, they can break Wifi calling.

Dr. West wrote:

Apple iPhone 16 Pro.

Confirmed with carrier (Verizon) that Wifi calling is enabled on my account.

18.1 Deactivated it and cannot be turned back on.

Cop out from Verizon, which is very common. I'm on 18.1 and have AT&T and Wifi calling is just fine and works.

When you updated to iOS 18.1, did you do a Forced Restart at least (something I do after every iOS update)? Do this --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

If this doesn't help, push Verizon harder.

I live in a remote area with no cell service available, and I use WiFi calling exclusively all day working from home. If WiFi calling stopped working, I'd know about it within minutes. The WiFi calling feature worked fine literally right up until the moment of the 18.1 upgrade.

After wasting my time with Apple support, I spent an hour on the phone with Verizon (from my wife's Android phone - on the same account) and got up to their tier-2 level support. We tried a number of things to no effect.

Is it possible that Verizon made some change to my account settings that disabled WiFi calling at precisely the same time I applied the 18.1 upgrade? Yes, that's possible. But it's pretty darned unlikely.

This is 99.9995% likely an Apple snafu and they need to fix it, and fast.

If it was Apple's update, then we'd be seeing a flood of gruntled users claiming it turned off their Wifi calling. Now the day is young and the update just released today, but so far, you're the first person to have an issue. And as I mentioned, with AT&T, I have no issue with Wifi calling. Wifi calling is a carrier provided feature, so my money's on Verizon as the issue.

You make a good point.

If Apple made API changes that required corresponding action on behalf of the carriers, it is incumbent on all parties to ensure their respective changes are in place before the go-live trigger is pulled. Verizon, Apple, or both dropped the ball.

LuscombeFlyer wrote:

You make a good point.

If Apple made API changes that required corresponding action on behalf of the carriers, it is incumbent on all parties to ensure their respective changes are in place before the go-live trigger is pulled. Verizon, Apple, or both dropped the ball.

No. Apple is NOT responsible for asking Verizon if they made the right changes for their customers. Apple doesn't own or have ANY control over Verizon. As a customer of Verizon, you have every right to believe they did what they should have done. And if they didn't, which seems clear if Wiif calling is not working, you need to hold them accountable. Or move your cell service to another carrier who does better for their customers.

Alc80 wrote:

Having the same issue and I’m in Canada. Got the I phone 15 two weeks ago, it made me get iOS 18 and now I can’t use wifi calling. I’m in a remote area and with no cell service at all!! I never had an issue till I went from a iPhone 11 to the 15 with the iOS 18.

so frustrating! Hope Apple fixes this cause it clearly can’t be the provider.

Apple can't fix what they don't provide. Wifi calling is not an Apple Service. Wifi calling is a carrier provided feature. Your assertion it can't be the provider, is unfortunately not correct. It is the provider who delivers Wifi calling. Apple has nothing to do with that.