iMessage probs IOS 9.3.1

At the bottom of > https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/ <

...

If you are experiencing an issue not listed here, contact support.

I had this same exact issue. I upgraded to iOS 9.3.1, and not a half hour later, my iMessage and FaceTime were both stuck on "waiting activation." I even rolled back to iOS 9.3 to see if that would fix the issue, but it didn't. I wasn't able to send/receive texts or phone calls. Once I rolled back to iOS 9.3, I upgraded again to 9.3.1, but it still wouldn't activate. Eventually after about 6 hours, the activation failed. So I turned iMessage and FaceTime off, rebooted my phone, turned them both back on, and then they both finally activated. Give it a shot. I haven't seen any other threads with this issue, so maybe that will help you, but you may have to wait a while before you get it to activate, if it hasn't already.

Let me know if I can offer anymore insight.

Very good troubleshooting! [ next time, when you find a solution, try not to "bury" in the middle of the paragraph so it "jumps" off the page ] 😉

Like this:

catied21 wrote:

I had this same exact issue. I upgraded to iOS 9.3.1, and not a half hour later, my iMessage and FaceTime were both stuck on "waiting activation." I even rolled back to iOS 9.3 to see if that would fix the issue, but it didn't. I wasn't able to send/receive texts or phone calls. Once I rolled back to iOS 9.3, I upgraded again to 9.3.1, but it still wouldn't activate. Eventually after about 6 hours, the activation failed.

• So I turned iMessage and FaceTime off,
• rebooted my phone,
• turned them both back on, and
• then they both finally activated.

Give it a shot. I haven't seen any other threads with this issue, so maybe that will help you, but you may have to wait a while before you get it to activate, if it hasn't already.

Let me know if I can offer anymore insight.

In all honesty, I doubt anything prior to the bullet list had anything to do with your success

Yeah, thanks.

Contacting support wasn't really helpful in this case. It was 11PM EST, and I would have had to schedule a call back for THIS morning at 8:30AM. Not helpful.

I only posted my troubleshooting options to explain what I did, and to help. So not sure why all the sarcasm on your part, but OK. Noted for next time not to "blab" too much, and get right to the solution.

I didn't say that downgrading to iOS 9.3 helped me, I just explained that it was a troubleshooting step that didn't work, so they wouldn't try and go through the same issue.

Thanks.

Sarcasm? Not at all !!

Just a little friendly coaching on how to get your point across, and my comment regarding the downgrading was merely an observation based on long experience in all kinds of troubleshooting

If you felt that your efforts were unsuccessful, why even mention them? Folks have a tendency to NOT read anything in its entirety first - and just start DOING stuff!

At any rate, I encourage you to continue helping, we need all the help we can get!

I posted on another thread:

Since I updated to ios 9.3.1 on my 6S+ I also cannot activate iMessage and Facetime. I spoke with support last night. We tried "reset network settings" to no avail. They suggested backing up the phone and reinstalling. I haven't been able to try that yet. Let me know if you get any solution to this. thx

Also I have tried rebooting my phone to no avail..

What else have you tried?

Try this...

• Turn iMessage and FaceTime off,
• rebooted your phone,
• turn them both back on

If that doesn't do it, you may have to reinstall the OS. That's a PITA, and even when I did that, it still didn't work.

Let me know if I can help in anyway.

from > http://www.gottabemobile.com/2016/01/19/ios-9-problems-fixes/

How to Fix iOS 9 iMessage Problems

We’re also seeing problems with iMessage after the iOS 9.3.1 update. These are extremely common and we will almost certainly see iMessage problems continue well into iOS 9’s lifespan.

If you’re seeing problems with Messages, the first thing you’ll want to do is toggle the feature off and on again.

Go into your Settings > Messages > Toggle iMessage off then back on. This fix has worked for us in the past and it’s the first thing you’ll want to try out.

If that quick fix doesn’t work, reboot your device.

And if a reboot doesn’t work, head into your settings and reset Network Settings. Head into Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This will cause your device to forget your connections so make sure you have your Wi-Fi passwords handy.

I read in another article that iMessage and Facetime CAN take up to 24 hours to "activate"

Adjust your time to automatic, this happens to everyone who plays candy crush and fixing their time. Problem solved