iMessage Error While Activating With Phone Number

Hi,


In this previous week I had a problem with activating my iMessage using my phone number.

I thought this may be some minor issue and hoped that a simple turning the iMessage toggle OFF and ON will fix the problem but the issue still persist.


I tried multiple possible solutions that were provided on the internet such as:

  1. Setting the date of the phone to be automatically determined
  2. Reseting network settings
  3. Restarting my iPhone
  4. Turning iMessage OFF and On

and others.


None of the points above work. The same goes for my friend which is on the same carrier as me (A1 MK - Macedonia).

When I'm turning the iMessage OFF and after the On, the alert saying:

Your carrier may charge for SMS messages used to activate iMessage.

is presented and obviously i click "Ok" but after that there is another alert with message:

An error occurred during activation. Try again.

And sometimes it gets in a loop between these two alerts.


I've talked with my carrier and they said that multiple cases like mine are already reported and that "they are working on it".

2 weeks are already gone and there isn't a solution for this problem.


I've read somewhere that maybe there is a problem on Apple's side and the SMS activation code doesn't go through to my carrier.

This was for the same carrier A1 but not for Macedonia, it was A1 HR (Croatia). In the last comment of that post the guy is explaining how Apple was contacted and the issue was resolved.

Here is the link to that thread but i don't know if you understand Croatian


Can you please point me out what should I do? I really miss using iMessage and I want to use it with my personal phone number not my mail.


Thank you in advance.

Posted on Apr 16, 2023 4:00 PM

Reply
2 replies

Apr 17, 2023 1:41 AM in response to nenadljubik

To activate iMessage and FaceTime using your Phone number


First, check to know whether you have an SMS plan enabled at least for One SMS*** with your carrier. Contact your Carrier (Cellular Service Provider) the agency that issued the SIM to you


If your iPhone is used with a carrier not found in the wireless carrier articles, make sure you can send and receive international SMS. (One SMS*** Only)


If you can't turn on or sign in to iMessage or FaceTime - Apple ...



*** You may not have an SMS plan enabled by your carrier for the SIM/eSIM that you use on your device. Apple Inc does not provide SMS services.



Apr 17, 2023 2:01 AM in response to SravanKrA


SravanKrA wrote:

To activate iMessage and FaceTime using your Phone number

First, check to know whether you have an SMS plan enabled at least for One SMS*** with your carrier. Contact your Carrier (Cellular Service Provider) the agency that issued the SIM to you

If your iPhone is used with a carrier not found in the wireless carrier articles, make sure you can send and receive international SMS. (One SMS*** Only)

If you can't turn on or sign in to iMessage or FaceTime - Apple ...


*** You may not have an SMS plan enabled by your carrier for the SIM/eSIM that you use on your device. Apple Inc does not provide SMS services.



Hey, thank you for providing me these steps.


Regarding if I have an SMS plan enabled, I have that. I can send & receive SMS on my device with the current SIM that is issued to me.


And also my iPhone is used with a carrier that is found in the wireless carrier articles as you can see on the image bellow.


And for this part:

If you can't turn on or sign in to iMessage or FaceTime - Apple ...



I already tried those possible solutions and none of them work.

  • I have the latest iOS software
  • I can send/receive SMS through my carrier
  • The prompt with the message "Your carrier may charge for SMS messages used to activate FaceTime and iMessage" appears but nothing works after clicking OK


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iMessage Error While Activating With Phone Number

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