Q: iOS 7 iMessage won't activate

This worked for me.  Thanks, Karli.  Much better than the alternative!  Flollow Karli's link to redsn0w to download without all the spam.  Took two minutes.  Note:  you must have your phone connected to your computer to have the "de-ativate" button show up on the software.

Karli's solution worked for me. Both iMessage and FaceTime are functioning properly.

Her instructions in the video are self explanatory.

Still doesn't make any sense that this issue wasn't addressed between beta 2 and the full release. This fix was too easy.

This is a very simple fix.  Thank You Karli !   Saved me from a serious continued headache.

I can't believe this issue wasn't addressed before release?

Thank you!!!! That fixed my problem!

I refuse to update my iPhone 4S to the new iOS 7 until I get this figured out. I am so frustrated.  Most comments here have been for phones, but mine is my iPad. I can't even get to the messaging app or FaceTime, and I can't find anywhere I can just turn those apps off. Besides the jailbreak and backing up and restoring I have tried everything else in every imaginable order!!!  A sign in screen pops in my way and won't accept my password.  I know it's right...I've signed in here. I don't want to jailbreak my iPad. I think it's stupid that I should have to delete and reset, then reinstall. I was really hoping the update would fix the problem, but it didn't.  Is there really no other way???

Well, it isn't really a jailbreak, you just use the softwares utility that allows you to deactivate so it can re activate.  So you are not jailbreaking the phone, just using the softwares utility tool to deactivate the device. 

I don't know what it does, but I just watched the video and followed her instructions.  I didn't want to backup/reset/restore (although my device does backup automatically to the cloud, so I figured if it failed, that was my last resort anyway)

For me, on my iPhone, it was easy and it fixed my issue of not connecting to imessaging. 

Maybe some here can vouch if this procedure works for the ipad and if it works the same way.

Have to say I ended up contacting Apple to help me restore my IPad as I had gone through everything suggested above. Sorted it in minutes!

ME TO! i dont know what to do! i want to imessage but it says i need to check my network connection! HELP>

can you help me fix mine? what did she say to do.

Step by step:

1. Do a backup ON YOUR COMPUTER... Not to iCloud

2. Go to settings > general > reset > erase all content and settings

3. Then... When the phone does it's thing and comes back up.. Follow instructions

To restore from most recent backup you just did in step 1

Follow the rest of the prompts to add iCloud acct./FaceTime/iMessage etc.

4. This whole process will likely take a FULL 20 minutes from start to finish (not including downloading

Your music content.. That may take longer depending on your connection, the amount of stuff in your

Media library)

5. This should fix the problem... remember, apples servers are flooded with down loaders also. So iMessage and FaceTime (which also depend on apples servers could be spotty for a bit)

6. Nothing is EVER perfect.. But following these steps worked for me...

Wish you the best

Thanks a lot.  I did exactly what you suggested.  Now, I not only am still totally unable to use iMessaging, I am also unable to access my home Wi-Fi.

After a bit of fooling around, I think I have restored my Wi-Fi connection.  Still in all, not happy that I got involved in that little side road . . .

I think I fixed the problem on my iPhone.

Settings/Messages/Send as SMS.  My Send as SMS was turned off.  I turned it on.  Now I can send iMessages.

i did every solution in this forum and all other solutions from erasing and restoring fully but nothing works, imessage and facetime were working on ios 7 but now on ios 7.0.2 its still showing waiting for activaiton

waiting for activaiton more than 48 hours

I don't know how I solved the problem, but I did.  I didn't have to do a jail break.  I think I did do a restore, but I'm not sure I followed all the way through with it - and even after I did what I did, I was still unable to activate iMessaging.  As I mentioned above, things seemed to come around when I turned on the Send as SMS.

I know one thing - and this is a very obvious point at which I'm sure 99% of those reading it will laugh - you have to be connected (either Wi-Fi or 3G, etc.) in order to iMessage.  It sounds silly, but I had forgotten that and was unable to iMessage simply because I wasn't connected.  Once I rememered that and got connected, it worked OK.