Hi
Depending on your carrier, it can be normal for the activation of iMessage and FaceTime to involve incurring a cost for sending an international SMS message.
The message is sent in the background by your iPhone (to Apple's servers in the UK) when setting up these services. Some carriers do not charge for this SMS message, whilst others do.
If you are experiencing issues with activating either or both of the services, then follow the steps here:
If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support
If you are unhappy with being charged for such messages, then you may wish to contact your carrier / cellular service provider and let them know.
Hi
Depending on your carrier, it can be normal for the activation of iMessage and FaceTime to involve incurring a cost for sending an international SMS message.
The message is sent in the background by your iPhone (to Apple's servers in the UK) when setting up these services. Some carriers do not charge for this SMS message, whilst others do.
If you are experiencing issues with activating either or both of the services, then follow the steps here:
If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support
If you are unhappy with being charged for such messages, then you may wish to contact your carrier / cellular service provider and let them know.
It’s not true.
Turning off your phone, or erasing it, resetting it, restarting it, or restoring it does not de-activate your Messages and FaceTime, so not sure what that even means. You don't have to re-activate Messages and FaceTime after turning off and on your device.
Cheers,
GB
Activating Messages or FaceTime involves sending an SMS message silently between your device and Apple. This activation only occurs when activating a phone number or Apple ID for either Messages or FaceTime, not when turning off and on your phone.
If there is a charge for this SMS Message, it is charged by the carrier and for the carrier.
Where are you located? This SMS message its typically sent free of charge in North America, but in Europe, carriers will likely charge for it.
on my carrier and iphone, even though imessage is disabled, reactivation sms is sent periodically and silently to the imessage server in the uk, incurring hefty global sms charge.
reactivation happens when you swap sim card, lose network connectivity or enter flight mode for extended period time and then reconnect.
imho, it is an apple issue, not carrier.
apple wants everyone to use imessage. apple wants carriers to zero-rate such sms, but not many carriers follow through. this problem doesn't happen on my android and nokia phone.
is it true that apple is charging imessage/facetime activation fee whenever we turn off and on our iphone?
