iMessage waiting for activation

Hi there,

Please follow these steps to see if you can fix this issue

Check your device settings

1. Make sure that you’re connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network. 
2. If you're using an iPhone, you need SMS messaging to activate your phone number with iMessage and FaceTime. Depending on your carrier, you might be charged for this SMS.
3. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that your time zone is set correctly.

Turn off and restart iMessage and FaceTime

1. Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.
2. Go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.
3. Restart your device:

• • iPhone
  • iPad
  • iPod touch

1. Turn iMessage and FaceTime back on.

Still not activated after a day? 

It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If the issue continues after 24 hours, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.
2. If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can send and receive SMS messages.
3. Make sure you can send and receive SMS. If a prompt appears stating "Your carrier may charge for SMS messages used to activate FaceTime and iMessage", tap "OK" to allow possible SMS charges.
4. Contact Apple Support.

iMessage and FaceTime are encrypted so they (‘Apple’) need to - at least - know your location. If you turn off the location services and remove the sim card and place it back in, you might get these errors, waiting for activation’, etc. My advice is to try to activate iMessage and FaceTime while being outdoors - in order to connect to a different cell tower - and then turn on location services, open apple maps and check your location is actually shown on the map! If it keeps spinning, just leave it running in the background and wait. Chris