iPod touch generation 4 iMessage won't activate.

Question

iPod touch generation 4 iMessage won't activate.

A day or so ago I tried to go into my iMessage and was greeted by a screen with a "Get Started" button on it as if I hadn't set up iMessage already. I promptly tapped the button and it asked me to enter my apple ID. (it already had my email address entered for some reason) After signing in another screen asking me which email I wanted to use popped up and I selected the only email I had associated with the apple ID account. After hitting 'next' it said 'Verifying' with a loading prompt next to it, after it says this for 5-10 seconds it confusingly goes back to the sign in menu I saw before. Nothing has changed and when I try to log in again it does the same thing.I can't get into iMessage which is exceedingly frustrating. I am on the latest version of iOS that is available for the 4th Generation iPod touch (iOS 6.1.6) and this happened totally out of the blue, I did nothing to the device except regularly using it prior to the problem. I have turned the device on and off with iMessage and Facetime off (it is doing the same with facetime although I rarely use it) and I have even reset the device out of desperation. I have called apple support, searched on the internet for many fixes which I have tried (obviously none of them working) and now I am here. Any comments or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

iPod touch (4th generation), iOS 6.1.6

Posted on Mar 23, 2015 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 20, 2017 2:42 PM in response to Beeseli

How do you turn off the two stage verification? I hate it. What a mess. I cant' sign in to Imessages or facetime. I keep getting the message that I have the wrong password which I know is not true. I saw your post and wanted to try turning off the two stage verification but don't know where it is.

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Answer 2

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Mar 23, 2015 3:49 PM in response to stuckenthemud

If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime

FaceTime, Game Center, Messages: Troubleshooting sign in issues

Go to Settings > General > Reset and tap Reset All Settings.

All your preferences and settings are reset. Information (such as contacts and calendars) and media (such as songs and videos) aren’t affected.

- Restore from backup. See:

iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes

- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.

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Answer 3

Mar 23, 2015 8:10 PM in response to lllaass

I just reset all settings the same problems occur as I mentioned before in the description of the post. I have restored my iPod from a back up and that did nothing either. It seems like my last resort is to restore to factory settings which i'd rather not.

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Answer 4

magooken

Level 1

16 points

Mar 24, 2015 12:46 PM in response to stuckenthemud

I just reset to factory last night and tried to log in to iMessage with no luck. I'm not sure what's going on.

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Answer 5

Mar 24, 2015 12:52 PM in response to magooken

Something on Apples part probably. I'll wait it out, after hearing you say that resetting it to factory settings hasn't worked I've decided to throw that idea away.

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Answer 6

Mar 24, 2015 6:02 PM in response to stuckenthemud

I feel your pain, I have been trying to fix my daughters iPod to 4th generation for three days now, she is having the exact same issue. I've tried all the things you have with no luck, (very frustrating!)

I Sure hope they come up with a fix soon. My daughter is 11 and this is her main texting device so having it down for any length of time is of course a nightmare and makes her desire for a iPhone even bigger.

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Answer 7

Apr 1, 2015 9:18 AM in response to stuckenthemud

I reset my daughters and no luck. I found yesterday on the internet somewhere that said basically, imessage, facetime, and instagram have advanced beyond iOS 6.1.6 and therefore the 4th gen can no longer run these apps.

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Answer 8

Apr 1, 2015 1:00 PM in response to SunnyeB23

Actually two days ago I to go into iMessage and it finally worked! I'm assuming these problems were worked out by apple some how.

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Answer 9

magooken

Level 1

16 points

Apr 3, 2015 7:41 AM in response to stuckenthemud

I tried again last night with no luck. I rebooted, reset settings and rebooted, checked the time zone and I still have the same problem. Has anyone else been able to get it to work? This has been a problem for two months now. It's very frustrating!

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Answer 10

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Apr 3, 2015 7:55 AM in response to magooken

Yesterday someone posted that Messagesjust started working/being able to sign in one their 4G iPod. The did not do anything special

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Answer 11

Apr 15, 2015 8:07 PM in response to lllaass

any luck yet? my sons is doing the same thing?

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Answer 12

Beeseli

Level 1

0 points

May 9, 2015 12:01 AM in response to stuckenthemud

Hi don’t know if u have sorted this out, but I had the same problem and finally after much frustration of resetting deleting accounts etc i turned off the two stage verification and voila all worked again Complete waste of time the two step verification.

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Answer 13

russds

Level 1

0 points

May 22, 2015 9:55 AM in response to stuckenthemud

Exact same issue here, iPod 4G, Settings -> Messages -> Enter Email -> Verifying... Then back to enter Email with no error message or anything. Oddly I can enter another apple ID, and that works. So it appears to be something with the apple id i'm using. I've also tried both accounts on an iPhone and they both validate fine.

AppleID1 AppleID2

iPod 4G Works Doesn't Validate

iPhone 6 Works Works

I feel like I've tried everyhing. Date/Time settings, DNS (8.8.8.8) settings, two step verification off on both accounts. Don't know what to do. it's my son's iPod and he complains to me all the time. 🙂

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Answer 14

May 26, 2015 7:31 PM in response to russds

My son's iPod is now having the same problem, did anyone get a resolution?

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Answer 15

Jun 20, 2015 4:58 PM in response to stuckenthemud

I have two 4G iPod Touch, one for my son & one for my daughter. I have set them up identically one logs into iMessage the other doesn't. have soft reset, reset all and reloaded, changed DNS . literally spent hours trying to get it to work.

problem happens when after successful login to iMessage where the verification process constantly takes us back to login.

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