Facetime On iphone from Qatar

FaceTime is banned in Middle Eastern countries including Quatar, so don't trust them and if you want FaceTime on your phone, don't buy it from them.

If they tell you that they are selling phones with FaceTime enableb, this is probably because they are grey market imports from other countries such as the US. If you buy one of these you will not get warranty support for the phone - if it is a grey market import from the US, then the warranty will be for the US and nobody else will touch the phone if you have problems.

Think very carefully before buying this phone and if you have reservations, then don't. You might just end up having to buy another phone anyway from a legitimate source. Quatar is not really a legitimate source for buying an iPhone.

Please see the article below, especially the note at the bottom.

Wireless carrier support and features for iPhone in the Middle East - Apple Support

FaceTime may be unavailable if your device originates from this region and becomes unlocked or is used in another country.

HI,

I bought one from Starlink in Qatar. FaceTime works with a Qatar sim card in the phone in ANY country. BUT Face time currently won't work if I put a different (non Qatari) sim card in the phone - The APP just vanishes. At least with the model I purchased (Which was sold to me as an "unlocked" iPhone 6+).

You could use FaceTime abroad on wifi with the Qatari sim card in it - BUT this is less than ideal and of little use practically.

I spoke to my network in the UK and they said it was a phone software issue NOT a network issue and I can put my UK sim card in a UK purchased iPhone 6 and I can use my FaceTime account. It just won't work in the iPhone 6 I bought in Qatar.

I went into the Apple store in Regents Street yesterday and a VERY knowledgeable technician reluctantly told me (after a bit of persuasion) the iPhones Apple ship to Qatar have been installed with a different software version to those shipped elsewhere at the request of the "Qatari's". The network (Ooredoo or Vodafone) have tools to enable them to provide certain services on their network and they enable use of Face Time with a Qatari Sim card installed in the phone. But it seems that they don't want people to be able to use face time when you put your own sim in YOUR PHONE. I am not sure why they have done this but apparently this is the case !

I would be VERY wary of buying an iPhone 6 in Qatar for this reason. They will tell you any old crap in the shop and they know very little usually.

It may be possible to restore the phone and put a different version of the IOS on it using iTunes which may fix this issue which I am going to try today but I am not hopeful.

I would buy it somewhere else if I were you. It will be much cheaper too. I will never buy another phone in Qatar.

*if* I have any success with re-installing a different version of the IOS I will post back here or on the other thread and post the link here, otherwise assume it can't be done.

Cheers,

ieye.

No, it can't be done because you cannot install a different version of iOS on your phone - this equates to the same as downgrading and cannot be done. If you try, then you will just get error messages and it will not work and also, trying to install a different iOS will not work, if it is something that has been written into the software.

HI,

I read some thread on here and the Apple store technician in Regent Street suggested to try to restore the IOS (Fresh install) or by using recovery mode; to "force" new IOS onto the phone and then to try initialising the phone with my UK sim card to see if that fixes the problem of no FaceTime APP whilst using a different sim card.

I am only trying to fix my phone so that I can use FaceTime in the UK with a UK sim card where it is allowed, as well as with a Qatar sim card (which allows me to use face time in ALL countries!) after all.

Are you saying that this has been tried and doesn't work? Have you tried this yourself?

Thanks for the heads up before I go ahead and try.

- The other solution he mentioned was getting the phone "network unlocked".

If you do a restore, then it will restore the phone as new - it wipes everything from the phone and you start again, but this will NOT fundamentally alter the iOS that is installed on the phone - the version will still remain the same.

Also, if you perform a restore from backup, this just restores previous information that you have backed up from your phone and not the iOS.

Trying to restore different iOS versions cannot be done and you can only update to the latest version of iOS that Apple have released - they stop signing previous versions, so if you try to install these you will get error messages.

The best way to do it if a restore as new does not work is to approach the carrier that the phone is locked to and request that they unlock the phone for you.

Gotcha, thanks very much for that.

So, as long as I

1) backup first, I could try a restore and then if that doesn't work, restore from the backup I made and then I haven't lost any significant amount of Data; maybe just some settings, right? I should set date and time to Automatic and log out of iCloud, iMessage and FaceTime with the Qatari sim in the phone (where FaceTime is working) right? before the backup? Or just before the restore?

Should I put the UK sim card in immediately after the restore whilst initialising the phone? Or after?

2) If that fails, then go speak to "the carrier that my phone is locked to" - BUT I bought it unlocked, so who should I speak to; Ooredoo or Vodafone in Qatar? I have an Ooredoo sim card, so I speak to them I guess?

Appreciate your help.

OK, just for the record, I tried all of the above and it didn't work.

I will try the original vendor and then option 2) next.

Okay, if you purchased the phone unlocked, then you don't need to contact anyone - the phone is already unlocked, so that means that there is nothing else that you can do to get FaceTime to work, except purchase a new phone.

That is it - if you want FaceTime to work, then buy a new phone from a country that allows it, such as the UK or any European country.