iPhone 4 facetime not working

So here is my iPhone 4 update and iOS7.

First, I initiated a restore at around 3 this afternoon on my old OS 6. whatever the last one was so that I could create a current back up of my iPhone. Following the restore, I started it as a new iPhone. CAUTION. Apple servers were slow and the fact is that if the phone can't connect to Apple after a restore, it is a brick. I was finally (after 2 hours) able to initiate the phone.....phew.

Tried FT and yes it worked (very choppy though). Naturally, all notes, SMS, and the like were gone. I then did a Restore of my last save and while I lost FT again, at least I had my missing data back. The restore took over an hour and I held off on syncing Apps.

When I got home, I did a non-tethered install (phone on wifi with power connected and over 4G free space on the phone. iOS7 loaded like a champ and frankly, I like the new look. For someone who no longer can read without glasses, this is working for me. Good job Apple.

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS. FACETIME DOES NOT WORK. Again, I do not have most of my Apps installed yet so from my perspective, this isn't App related. Frankly, this ***** and the fact that Apple can't come clean here is not encouraging. The iPhone 5S was on a wish list. I have used Apple since 1988. But the way in which this issue is being addressed really is making me reconsider Apple as a whole.

In a word ... dissapointed.

I totally agree with you Richard! I too was prepared to pull the trigger on a new 5s but until Apple comes clean on this issue don't count me in.

I have done the upgrade to ios7 and my FT is still not working -- in my case the call does not drop right away as it used to but rather stays on connecting status for over 2 minutes and then changes to FaceTime Failed.

I had this issue and fixed it, it just takes a little troubleshooting but instead of using any intellectual prowess you just ***** and complain like a loser

You had this issue, you got it fixed, and yet you are still around here mumbling trash. That's being a loser in my book.

Hey Mogul2, I don't suppose you could be so kind to share your intellectual prowess with us and inform us lesser mortals how you fixed it?

facetime/imessages = apple servers

guess what the apple servers r busy doing...

I've been having the same issue for over a month or two on the iPhone 4. Troubleshooting with a 4s and an iPad on the same wifi network show the iPhone 4 is the only device having the issue.

Reset didn't resolve. Connection failed every time. It definitely shows there is a bigger issue on the iPhone 4 that Apple doesn't acknowledge or care about.

For anyone who is interested: Page 9 of this discussion thread gives a step-by-step workaround process that, at the time, resulted in FaceTime working again for folks who were willing to try it. I have not tried the workaround and still don't have FT on my launch day iPhone4. I am wondering - for those folks who tried the workaround listed on Page 9, have you updated to OS7 and is Face Time still working?

I have read all the posts about the legal issues, the hearing, and Apple the infringement on patents, but I am still wondering why the workaround developed on this forum would restore FaceTime if the FT routing/relay was the cause of the "Connecting...Connection Lost" issue? It also seems like if this particular issue ("Connecting... Connection Lost") was a routing/relay issue that this would be a problem on all Apple devices that use FaceTime, and that is not the case as FT still works on my MacBook and my iPad. One last note - my MacBook is the oldest of all my devices, so I am not sure this issue is directly related to use of "older" Apple devices. A mystery, for sure. Only Apple knows (and yes, I believe they do, but there is obviously a larger problem for them than this affecting customers worldwide - so whatever the greater issue is, it must be a pretty big problem for Apple, just sayin')

Hi

I'm French on IOS7 Iphone 4.

I updated to IOS7 as a new iphone and it did not solve the FT problem. I think my FT stops to work when I switch from 5.01 to 6.1.3.

All tips given on page 9 did nothing for me ...

I have the exact same issue as do many thousands of others!

It is obviously a result the issues surrounding Apples altering of the backend due to the law suit.

Surely instead of asking how we as individuals can sort out the issue we would be asking when is Apple going to rectify the problem or at the very least acknowledge the issue!

As I have written previously, I contacted Apple Customer Support and had my complaint elevated to a "higher level". While that higher level representative seemed sincere in her assistance, all of Apple's representatives are most probably under very strict guidance to not acknowledge that Apple is aware of a" potential problem" that has developed due to Apple's reconfiguring whatever that has to do with FaceTime. BTW, the final result of my contact with Apple support was that if I wasn't willing to upgrade the OS to their current version, they could not help me. Of course, it appears that many have upgraded their iPhone4 OS and that the problem continues to exist.

If the current failure of FaceTime worldwide on iPhone4's is a direct result of Apple desperately trying to work around the infringement issues in the lawsuit, we will never get aresolution to the problem, period. Apple would never admit to having made changes which prevent FaceTime from working on the iPhone 4. Doing so would directly counter the arguments that Apple presented in court, namely that they do not have to use the patents owned by the plaintiff company in order to have FaceTime work on the iPhone.

What will be interesting is whether there are lawsuits that involve the iPhone 4s and 5 models, which may not have yet had their day in court. And if there are, what action Apple will then take which may also negatively effect the functionality of FaceTime on those phones.

At this point, I am a very disappointed once-loyal Apple customer. I suffered thru the reception problems of the iPhone 4 but stayed the course. I am not happy with the loss of FaceTime, and have purposefully postponed getting another iPhone. Apple is spending untold millions on advertising FaceTime as evidenced by anyone watching TV lately. One would think that a flagship benefit of their product line would not be brushed aside.

I did the steps on page 9 on my launch day iPhone 4 and FaceTime works fine now. I did the restore and setup as new. I'm using the phone as an iPod now for my kids so losing messages didn't matter to me. I just installed ios7 on it and FaceTime still works. My advice would to people would be to just restore your phone as new and move on. It just doesn't take that long to sign back into the various apps and re-establish cookies, etc. I'm surprised people want to save years worth of text messages, but to each his own.

I've had windows 7 crash hard (black screen of death) and that took ten times longer to deal with than this did. The sooner you get this issue in your rear view mirror, the better it will be. I did this about 6 weeks ago and I'm glad I did.

What will be interesting is whether there are lawsuits that involve the iPhone 4s and 5 models, which may not have yet had their day in court. And if there are, what action Apple will then take which may also negatively effect the functionality of FaceTime on those phones.

Those lawsuits have already been filed. The company has caught Apple dead to rights stealing the technology that they developed and patented. There are motions in place asking the judge to find that FaceTime in iPhones 4S, 5, and the newer iPads all working in a "not colorably different" way than the products found infringing. Since Apple has done nothing to change the functionality, the judge very well could make that finding without a trial and order Apple to pay royalties on those products or add them to the list of products using a "work around".

However, sooner or later the whole issue hits the fan as an increased amount of traffic passes through Akami servers the costs and the problems increase and quite possibly increase dramatically. Apple is already paying over $2MM a month for Akami to provide these relay servers and that number could increase to as high as $10-$12 MM by next year. The volume of calls and complaints on this volume of service should expand accordingly and to their newer products as well. I don't know who in Apple is making these decisions but I feel pretty confident that they will wish they hadn't in the long run.

I'm on a 4S and have had nightmares with FaceTime for months and have not updated my software

I know a few people seem to have solved this (pg 9 of this thread), but I wanted to add my two cents. I first want to say that apple was useless as everyone else noticed and I am positive it has nothing to do with an app or software that I downloaded. I'm in another country and wasn't even able to download anything until post Facetime shutdown. (that was a whole other issue I had to solve)

After several hours of troubleshooting and relearning how useless Apple support is, I believe the only way to get Facetime working again is to restore your phone to factory settings. There is software out there like Wondershare that will allow to decode the backup file and pick and choose what you put back on your phone without having to apply the restoration, but obviously those cost money.

Some items I accomplished beforehand:

-Download the app "My Contacts Backup" and email yourself your contacts because you will lose those. You can then email yourself a .vcf file that you can then use to restore your contacts (If you have it synced to outlook, you can use that file too)

-Save you photos to another source: You will lose these too

-Email yourself any notes you might need

-Sync your phone

-Back up your phone to both the cloud and your computer (just to be safe)

To restore: Settings>General>Reset>Erase All Content and Settings

Restore it as a new iPhone

Once reformatted, you can open the setup your email, open the .vcf file, transfer your photos and sync your music/apps/movies etc

I did this on both mine and my wife's phone. One thing I did not try because I really didn't need to, was restoring the backup you previously made after restoring as a new phone. My guess is it won't work, but feel free to try it.

Our Facetime now works. (We have not downloaded iOS7 yet.)