Apple blocked Face Time in Middle East

Question

abdullah1988 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apple blocked Face Time in Middle East

Hello there iPhoners

i heard that the face time will not work in some countries such as saudi arabia and united arab emirates

i want to know if my iphone which i bought from the UK will be blocked from using face time or not because i have bought it for using this feature

HP pavilion dv6, Windows 7

Posted on Sep 22, 2010 2:51 AM

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Answer 1

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Feb 25, 2017 9:30 AM in response to Jinq8

Jinq8 wrote:

IT's not the device. These governments censor it because they are paranoid.

except it IS the device and it is because of the government.

Devices sold elsewhere will work with FaceTime in these countries.

Devices sold in these countries will not work with FaceTime elsewhere.

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Answer 2

ALAASA

Level 1

12 points

Jul 3, 2017 3:37 PM in response to paulcb

I bought iphone 6 from UAE and there is no facetime but if I remove the SIM Card and put the Lebanese SIM Card I can see the facetime and use it, but now I’m in Greece and in my SIM Card here the facetime will disappear from home page, now how we can solve this issue and tell me Technical Solution, by the way I tried to restore witn SIM card inside same issue persists, also SSE they don’t have Solution for this issue. Now give the Solution.

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Answer 3

DaVBMan

Level 6

9,280 points

Sep 22, 2010 5:29 AM in response to abdullah1988

Facetime works in the UK. Some Middle Eastern countries do not want it due to the countries cultural views and/or laws. You can also read how Blackberry (RIM) may be getting banned from some of those countries as well due to their Messenger program and how it and emails get routed through RIM servers and they don't like that (which is the way RIM always has been).

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Answer 4

abdullah1988 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 23, 2010 2:46 PM in response to DaVBMan

thinks for reply

another question ..

will it be blocked for all iPhones 4 inside saudi arabia or only the iPhones which are sold through distributor in it such as mobily

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Answer 5

Sep 24, 2010 6:15 PM in response to abdullah1988

I Don`t Know,But Correct Me If I`m Wrong,But Download An IP Changer On Your PC/MAC,After That,Put Your Phone In Airplane Mode,Call Someone On FaceTime And See If That Works.

-Michael Phillips

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Answer 6

Sep 24, 2010 8:32 PM in response to abdullah1988

The phone does not block FaceTime. It should not matter where you purchased your iPhone. Internet providers and carriers block the common ports that VoIP uses. In reality Apple isn't blocking FaceTime some countries don't allow or regulate VoIP. It is unfair to only bring attention to the countries of the Middle East. There are other countries that also block VoIP.

I am not sure if Saudi Arabia blocks VoIP. I have read conflicting articles on the subject.

http://www.brighthub.com/office/collaboration/articles/61546.aspx

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Answer 7

Sep 25, 2010 9:57 AM in response to abdullah1988

Is it blocked or there is no facetime app?? because I asked my friend to buy me one from Saudi Arabia but then he told me it's not supporting facetime. If the app not on the phone. can I download it?? " I will receive it after few days and I'm in California"

Message was edited by: saudaleisa

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Answer 8

Sep 25, 2010 10:42 AM in response to saudaleisa

FaceTime is not a separate app on the iPhone. It is integrated with the iPhone's firmware/OS. There is no separate download for FaceTime since FaceTime isn't a separate app on the iPhone but even if it were a separate app, there is no separate download for any of the apps included with the iPhone's firmware/OS.

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Answer 9

Sep 25, 2010 10:48 AM in response to abdullah1988

Ok understood, but is it possible that the iphone does not carry the facetime at all?? in this case what should I do?

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Answer 10

Sep 25, 2010 10:55 AM in response to saudaleisa

Doubtful FaceTime has been excluded from the firmware/OS for an iPhone sold in a country where the country's government is overly restrictive and prevents access to FaceTime in that country.

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Answer 11

Sep 25, 2010 11:14 AM in response to abdullah1988

Thank you. So I don't need to worry..

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Answer 12

Sep 25, 2010 12:09 PM in response to Allan Sampson

Something Shocking That I Found Was That When I Was In iFile,I Found Several iPhone 4 Stuff Including FaceTime And Some Files To Show Where Your Country Is Located,Try iFile And Im Sure You Can Change The FaceTime Value To And That Should Enable FaceTime.

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Answer 13

Sep 26, 2010 12:00 AM in response to abdullah1988

du, a carrier (one of two government-owned/regulated carriers in the UAE), sells the 32GB iPhone 4 for $762.00 US ... which is steep. I can confirm that FaceTime is not on the phones. It is a bit frustrating that consumers here were not told this prior to purchasing. That said, when one leaves this region, as most sane people do after a while, how does one's phone become FaceTime-enabled again?

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Answer 14

Sep 26, 2010 1:44 AM in response to abdullah1988

What if I put a SIM card from, say, the US in the iPhone 4, then restore the software? How is Apple separating the non-FaceTime version of OS4.1 from the rest of the versions?

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Answer 15

abdullah1988 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 26, 2010 11:57 AM in response to abdullah1988

Update

Some of my colleagues in work bought the device from mobily but they could not activate the service

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