My iMessage still says "Waiting for activation..."

I have tried the steps you have provided, but still not luck 😟

It still shows waiting for activation.

Also since my apple ID is the only ID in the "recieve at " field, I am not able to disable that as well.

I tried "sign out" from the apple ID. Still when I try enabling iMessage, it is stuck at "waiting for activation".

Any other passible cause for this?

Hi All,

I have found some info regarding this issue in the following link:

http://leimobile.com/tag/waiting-for-activation/

It says:

"

As long as you have a valid email address you will be able to send and receive iMessages but you may have an error receiving them from a phone number if you are on a non approved carrier like T-Mobile. Currently I am on an officially unlocked iPhone 4 running iOS 5 beta 1 on the Tmobile network. I can send and receive iMessages but only with an email address. It shows that there is an error activating with my phone number."

This was for a beta version of iOS5. Can anyone confirm if this is sorted out in the official release?

I am having a factory unlocked phone, with connection from an 'unofficial' carrier.

I have experienced the same problem when I first got my iPhone 4s. It might say awaiting activation or activation unsuccessful when in fact it is already working. The solution is to initially set your phone on airplane mode on switch and remove it after 10 seconds. Then try to press and hold the power key and home button for 15 seconds until the apple logo appears, It will definitely work after that. This is a known bug that must be raise on the next iOS 5 version.😉 Mine worked after the rebooting process but it still appears awating for both iMessage and FaceTime.

same problem with me.. waiting for activation thing.. any solution?

i had the same problem u all had for maybe 4 days....

but now . the restriction way worked for me,

i ENABLED restriction but kept them all ON...

then went and disabled facetime + imessage.... waited till the unsuccesfull message appeared.... went back to restrictions and DISABLED them and repeated the same thing again ... went and switched off facetime and imessage and back on ..... they worked in around 2 min !!!

Hi All,

I think I found the issue.

I tried an Airtel SIM (which is an official carrier for iPhone in India), and it worked instantly.

I also noticed that the charge to send the registration SMS was 0 Rs for Airtel, whereas it is 5Rs per SMS for Reliance GSM (just like any other international SMS).

So I think Apple servers will only accept registration requests from official carriers, even if you have a factory unlocked phone.

😟

I am also using an official carrier sim but my Facetime/iMessage is still stuck in waiting for activation. On my new iphone 4s, it does not even show my number. I already tried all of the suggestions here and none seemed to work for me as well as with my wife's iphone 4 which also has an official carrier sim as well as the phone came from the official carrier.

i got a solve, when you turn on imessage then there text will appere "your career may charge for send text massage" or some thing else, there i have selected "cancel" not selected "ok" , that time i found imessage activated...

@Riajul: Thank you so very much, it worked also for me!

hey guys my facetime works now.. i just restore my phone in i tunes. but you have to back up all your files to itunes before you restore it. after you restore it you sign in again to your facetime it works for me and i hope it also works for you... cheers!

I have been having this problem ever since i buy new iPhone 4S in Australia Melbourne since first came out and fixed today.

Basically my problem was i can send iMessage but no SMS to standard phones. And my iMessage and facetime wouldn't activate at all even though i have the right plan with lots of credit.

After extensive hours of backups and restores i have fixed and is only small issue.

Happy to help you all.

Here is the problem.

1) First check you have enough credit or BALANCE in your phones bill account. If you do and have valid SMS function enabled from your carrier then proceed to next step, Please call your phone carrier make sure you have credit and sms is enabled.

2) Ensure you are still logged in to your apple id in message and facetime however Turn off iMessage and Facetime (settings-> imessage & settings -> facetime)

3) Please type in phone -> keypad *#5005*7672# and then press CALL

This will show you your SMS service center number.

Now please note if it does provide you with a number write it down, now Phone you phone carrier and ask them if this is the correct SMS service center number for your Contract/Prepaid/Postpaid plan. verify with them. If it isn't get the new number. You can also look on GOOGLE for the right service number just search it.

If there is no number/address showing then this is also the problem which was my same problem

So i found my SMS service center number which is for Virgin in Australia number was +61411990010

Now when you get correct the service center number you type it together in keypad and press call:

So What i typed is

*5005*7672*+61411990010#

You just must replaced the +61411990010 with your carriers service center number and your done.

Once the number is set you now goto settings iMessage and Facetime (settings-> imessage & settings -> facetime) turn them on as you desire! All works. Provided that your service center number was set correctly.

I have been on the phone to APPLE customer support they could not even figure this out i figured it out after so long.

Good luck i hope this works for you all!

This one works for me. Thanks a lot soulfan! :)

Yes! Finally something that worked! I tried everything but the Erase all Content and Settings worked! Thank you.

Thanks a lot jazenjames and now it works... Awesome...

hello all. sorry to say, but all the solutions mentioend above are just mere luck(i would say). it works for someone, not for all. i tried evething, every combination mentioned. restore(f*cking i needed to install all apps after that), hard reset, on/off settings(every bit of combination... no luck... frustating...i dont want to use iMessage, neither vedio chat.. either Apple shoudl do something or my carrier Tre(3) .. i will register a complin in my carrier today... that is i have left with....

Ok guys... for those who have problem on iMessage with their "phone number".. like I did...

The only thing i had was

"receive at: mail account"

What I did and worked like a charm was..

iMessage : OFF

Facetime : OFF

Create a contact with name "test" and i didn't put any phone number or e-mail address..

just an empty contact with the name test

then i went to my info and gave this contact as it was mine..

Then first Facetime: ON and last one iMessage: ON

and yes.. there was my phone number FINALLY

its a bug of OS for sure this thing.