Facetime without a phone contract

What 'settings pane' are you referring to? How do I get to the settings pane you are referring to? Within my iPhone 5s (iOS 10.3.3) Settings app, and also within the Facetime app, there is no option to associate an email address...all I get is a message that says 'waiting for activation...'. That message shows when I start the Facetime app and it shows when I try to adjust the Facetime settings in the iPhone SETTINGS app. If you are basing your reply on your Facetime settings which already are working for you, then you obviously don't know what your talking about when it comes to a Facetime that is not working due to having no iPhone cell service, such as Sprint.

I have no intention of using my iPhone 5s to make calls...I prefer to use my Android phone. I use my iPhone for playing content like music and video and for iOS app development. I certainly don't want to pay $30+ per month for cell phone service that I would not use. I just want to do Facetime over wi-fi at home, with my kids who are located remotely. If Facetime cannot be used without a cell phone service contact then I'll use Skype or some other service.

"It seems a bit of a waste to use an iPhone 4 without phone service." Not so. I have half a dozen other cell phones. Why should I pay for cell service for my iPhone 5s that I would never use? If you're going to wonder why would I buy a iPhone 5s with no intention of using it for making phone calls....well, it was given to me, not purchased. I use it occasionally use it to play music and video, and for iOS app development. I'd like to use it occasionally to do Facetime but I cannot get Facetime to work because it says "waiting for activaiton..." continuously and no one I've seen on this forum can tell me how to solve that problem with buying cell phone service for $30 or whatever per month.

You are replying to a 6+ year old post.

no one I've seen on this forum can tell me how to solve that problem with buying cell phone service for $30 or whatever per month.

There isn't one.

To activate Facetime/Messages, your device must send, and receive a reply to, a background/invisible SMS Message, thus the non-negotiable requirement for cellular service.

You don't need to buy it, if you can borrow a SIM for the same carrier for the activation process.

Matthew Smith wrote:

To activate FaceTime you need an active SIM. FaceTime will use the phone number associated to the SIM as the FaceTime address. Once activated you only need WiFi.

It seems a bit of a waste to use an iPhone 4 without phone service.

Only on the iPhone. FaceTime on iPad, iPod Touch and MacOS have no such requirement. I hate it when Apple imposes arbitrary inconsistencies in how apps behave across different platforms.

There are scenarios other than using the iPhone without phone service ... like, say, using the iPhone on a pre-paid plan.

I'd like to use my old iPhone 4 for FaceTime now that I have a 4s, how can I do so?

update: the iPhone 4 is running iOS 4.5.3, don't want to update it to iOS 5.

Look under the new facetime settings pane.

You can now associate an email address for Facetime.