Siri FaceTime audio calls fail for specific contact

Spiritbenz wrote:

I have the exact same problem, seems to align with the latest update.

facetiming through contact app works fine.

facetiming using siri for a specific contact that is on a ipad doesnt seem to go through.

A bug has been introduced within iOS/iPadOS 26.4.x that affects the Contacts / FaceTime Apps.

In brief, the issue is characterised by the Contacts App contact-cards, for Users known to use FaceTime, now being shown with the corresponding FaceTime video icon/button ghosted (i.e. unavailable).

At this time there appears to be a limited workaround. A FaceTime video call can be successfully made from within the FaceTime App - by tapping the green "New" button; this will open the New FaceTime dialogue. Here you can enter the target recipient's name within the "To" field - and then selecting the corresponding recipient from the candidate list. The FaceTime video call can then be initiated - demonstrating that the target recipient is (a) signed-in to the FaceTime service, and (b) can receive FaceTime calls.

Interestingly, the problem does not appear to be universally experienced by all users that have updated their devices. By example, my wife (having also updated her iPhone and iPad to the latest version) has not yet encountered the problem. Having checked, our individual device and App settings appear consistent between our devices. We obviously have different Apple Accounts and are signed-in to Apple services using our individual account credentials; of itself, this might suggest that the problem is in some way associated with the impacted User's Apple Account.

You, I, and others that encounter this issue need to submit a Bug Report to Apple via its Product Feedback portal:

Feedback - Apple

You might be wise to submit multiple Bug Reports to Apple - one report each for the Contacts and FaceTime App - in addition to individual bug reports for each specific affected device (such as iPhone, iPad). In submitting multiple reports to Apple, you will hopefully reach the appropriate team. Drafting the body-text your Bug Report offline - and then using cut and paste - can usefully facilitate effective and quick submission of your bug reports without the hassle of trying to type the entire report multiple times. You might also include a link to this ASC discussion thread; here is its unique URL:

FaceTime icons grayed out for some contac… - Apple Community

Every report counts - as until Apple receive a sufficient number or reports, it is perhaps unlikely that resources will be assigned to investigate and resolve the issue.

When submitting your Bug Report(s), please ensure that you include as much detail as possible within the body of the report - including your iPad model and installed version of the OS and the impacted Apps and Apple services; don’t rely upon the pick-list alone, as this rarely includes the full range of device models or most recent versions of iOS/iPadOS.

Derbrucke wrote:

Thank you for the answer. I've reported the issue in multiple section of Apple Feedback website.

The problem still exists with FaceTime.

Devices that don't call using their own Calling App.

Plus thousands of other bugs in every Apple device.

[Edited by Moderator]

This and other significant issues have been fixed within the recent release of OS 26.5. Others that have updated to this most recent version report that the issue has been fully resolved.

This is a guess, but it might be related to the bug I and a few others are reporting where random contacts do not show FaceTime as available for a video or FaceTime Audio call even though they definitely are. It was introduced in, I think, 26.4 (maybe 26.3?) on all platforms.

With that bug, contacts show unavailable in the Contacts app (or if you look at their card via FaceTime), but you can use the recent call button in the FaceTime app to call them successfully. That sounds suspiciously similar.

I can think of two things that might be happening in your case:

One, it's just a variant of the bug, and when Siri gets the "not available" message it says it's calling but actually isn't, while the recents bypasses this bug.

The other relates to an issue I had recently where a contact had two phone numbers, one of which had previously been enabled for FaceTime but now was not; trying to use the recents to FaceTime that person, when the bad number was last used, resulted in it looking like it was ringing but on the receiving end it was in fact not.

Does this person have more than one number (or FaceTime-enabled email address) in their contact card? If so, perhaps Siri is getting a buggy response as described above and falling over to the "bad" contact method, which doesn't actually go through. I'd think in this case the recents also wouldn't work, though.

I have the exact same problem, seems to align with the latest update.

facetiming through contact app works fine.

facetiming using siri for a specific contact that is on a ipad doesnt seem to go through.

Are you experiencing difficulties with just FaceTime audio calls - or are you also unable to make video calls from the Contacts App?