Iphone 5s from UAE enable FaceTime outside UAE

Sorry you can't get facetime, because you bought the phone in a country where facetime is restricted.

Sell the phone and buy one from your country.

The store worker was mistaken or was lying.

You we're mislead. He/she was probably trying to make a sell, which they did.

iPhones purchased in middle eastern countries that prohibit FaceTime by law are blocked at a hardware level from having FaceTime.

You can not install it ever.

hi

i have same... bought a 5s in Abu Dhabi..

since nobody told me, that its restricted, i think its the liability of Apple. it will never be possible??? i mean thats a bad joke... common we are living in 2014 and not in the 70s!

if this is the apple statement, then its really time to leave apple behind and move on with samsung or whatever... fed up with this ****

cheers

frank

This has nothing to do with Apple. The Facetime restriction in Middle Eastern countries such as Abu Dhabi, UAE and Saudi etc., is not to do with Apple but is the Middle Eastern Governments that ban its use, so FaceTime is not on the phones available at their request, so this really is nothing to do with Apple - take it up with the Governments of these countries and not Apple, or sell your phone to fund the purchase of a new phone in your own country that does have FaceTime on it.

i do understand that regulation, but its mentioned, that its from the hardware side... hahahaha, sorry, in 2014 it is possible for sure... anyway, think about that:i can install skype and other apps somehow like facetime means same functionalities... and thats the point.

there is no chance to install it at all - sorry, its a bad joke... anyway, going to china soon- for 10 usd they will do it.

Folks,

I bought an iPhone 5S from UAE through a licensed operator (DU) and so did a cowoker of mine.

The model number is ME439AE/A.

My travels took me to Bahrain, so I bought a Bahraini Nano SIM to use my phone and minimize roaming costs.

To my surprise, FaceTime popped up on my screen and I was able to use it. The app vanished when I returned to Dubai. I took a snapshot of the homescreen with the app icon clealy showing up as proof.

My coworker went to visit the UK and did the same but his iPhone didn't show FaceTime.

This all leads me to believe that operators can overcome the restrictions with OTA settings on their networks. It is a choice they make.

Hi Guys,

Just bought an iPhone5C from Lebanon however it was originally manufactured for the UAE as per the Model Number which contained AE; given this FT wasn't there eventhough I was using a Lebanese SIM.

This morning I have update to iOs 7.XX.XX (forgot which one was it) and after I restarted I was prompted that I have a carrier update. Once I allowed this updated FT was automatically there to my surprise.

I believe FT is there in the iphone but it's enabled/disabled by the carrier.

I am a US resident living in Dubai and will be returning to the US in a few months.

I am excited about the iPhone 6 and would like to buy it in UAE, but I understand that iPhones purchased in UAE via an authorized apple reseller does not have the Facetime App or the functionality (via contacts).

My apple id is registered in the US (with my US address and credit card info). I currently have a iPhone 5 purchased in the US which has Facetime. Although the carrier blocks Facetime, I am able to use it, if i turn on my VPN service.

My questions are -

1 - Since my apple id is registered to the US, if i reinstall iOS (US version. Maybe use VPN if that helps), will it have facetime?

2 - If i restore from backup (iPhone 5 backup which has Facetime), will I get Facetime in the iPhone 6 ?

3 - In the event that #1 is not possible, Can i get Facetime when i switch the sim card to AT&T when i return to the US.

Thanks

No, no, and no.

Hi, from my experience i feel that they are carrier settings, coz i bought an iMac from Dubai, and the facetime icon is there, but when i try to contact people abroad i get a dial tone, connecting, then connection failed. They must be blocking the facetime port from the ISP.

Similarly on the iphone, i have experienced from when i bought my 2nd iphone (4) from etisalat ( First time Etisalat sells iPhone in UAE), it had facetime, but then after 2 days, the phone started having some softwares, issues i called, Etisalat, they told me to connect it to iTunes and update, after that the phone worked fine , but facetime disappeared. I am suspecting that each region has a custome tuned ios firmware in the iTunes, this is the only logical way that they can control this restriction.

So now, i am trying to find a US iOS firmware and upload it on my 5s, if this works , ill update you then my theory would be correct.

The other thing is its good that they allowed iMessage, otherwise i would have jailbreak the phone.

My last point is , i think that they do not have the infrastructure to accumulate the bandwidth if they allowed facetime, i am sure they have studied the decline in sms, when bbm,imessage,whatsapp tookover, but still they are gaining from the cellular data services part without upgrading their existing systems.

If they allowed facetime, all the 3G ,4G satellites will be flooded with facetime users, as message bandwidth is quite less, when compared to voice and video.

I am also frustrated that since, viber and skype, work, why dont they allow facetime !

Hi Tumberry,

From my understanding (not from apple), the serial numbers for the phones meant for official sale in UAE (sold officially through Etisalat or Du, do not have the facetime option available. The option is greyed off when you are dialing someone and there is no icon. However i seem to find your reasoning of iOS versions by region theory to be a lot more believable. I do not think Apple is going to go out of the way and put in hardware restrictions to disable facetime just for sale in a few countries.

I can probably get you the US iOS firmware for your 5s. We can talk offline (mukund.manohar@ i c l o u d. c o m)

Also your point about the bandwidth, my understanding is that Etisalat requires Apple to purchase an additional VOIP license in order to sell an iphone with Facetime. Hence apple chose to sell them in UAE with facetime disabled. I am still able to use facetime on my US apple devices with a VPN service and it works perfectly.