iMessage woes and iPhone unlocking
Discussion
I hope someone has some ideas because the Apple 'Genius' reckons I'm doing it wrong somehow and none of the tips and guides online work!
iPhone SE 64GB on 3. iOS 10.3.1.
A few weeks ago, iMessage started to be unreliable. I seemed to miss the odd message and sometimes get them hours later. Other people said it often took hours to get my messages. That's on 3G, 4G and wifi, so I think the connections there are ok.
I've got unlimited texts so decided to turn off iMessage. I understand this can take a few hours for friends with iPhones to be able to contact you. However this was last week and I still can't text most of my friends with iPhones.
I've turned iMessage on and off loads of times this weekend to try to prompt it as well as turning the phone on and off and unregistering on the Apple website by getting them to send me a text with a special code. According to Apple the number is no longer registered but it still doesn't work.
And my second question - next month I'm switching to O2. I bought the phone brand new from Carphone Warehouse and popped my 3 SIM card in. Some people on the internet think that this means it will be locked to 3 - does anyone know if that's the case? The man on the phone at 3 just repeated that 3 only provides unlocked phones.
Thanks!
iPhone SE 64GB on 3. iOS 10.3.1.
A few weeks ago, iMessage started to be unreliable. I seemed to miss the odd message and sometimes get them hours later. Other people said it often took hours to get my messages. That's on 3G, 4G and wifi, so I think the connections there are ok.
I've got unlimited texts so decided to turn off iMessage. I understand this can take a few hours for friends with iPhones to be able to contact you. However this was last week and I still can't text most of my friends with iPhones.
I've turned iMessage on and off loads of times this weekend to try to prompt it as well as turning the phone on and off and unregistering on the Apple website by getting them to send me a text with a special code. According to Apple the number is no longer registered but it still doesn't work.
And my second question - next month I'm switching to O2. I bought the phone brand new from Carphone Warehouse and popped my 3 SIM card in. Some people on the internet think that this means it will be locked to 3 - does anyone know if that's the case? The man on the phone at 3 just repeated that 3 only provides unlocked phones.
Thanks!
Just to add, with imessage off this is what I get when I try to text a friend with an iPhone:
With iMessage on, it says 'waiting for activation' forever in the iMessage settings but seems to work anyway. I don't know if this helps or not
With iMessage on, it says 'waiting for activation' forever in the iMessage settings but seems to work anyway. I don't know if this helps or not
Edited by Jimmy Recard on Sunday 23 April 11:27
Edited by Jimmy Recard on Sunday 23 April 11:29
Thanks, I'll find out how to unlock it then. Presumably Apple can do that?
Right, according to 3 I just need to restore/reset it from iTunes when I want to put the new SIM in. That's not a problem. So just the iMessage issue to go. If I haven't worked it out by this evening, I'll try backing it up to my laptop and doing a factory reset
Right, according to 3 I just need to restore/reset it from iTunes when I want to put the new SIM in. That's not a problem. So just the iMessage issue to go. If I haven't worked it out by this evening, I'll try backing it up to my laptop and doing a factory reset
Edited by Jimmy Recard on Sunday 23 April 11:40
Troubleatmill said:
The phone network provider has to unlock it.
Was the phone on O2, Vodaphone, EE, 3 etc.
They need to unlock it for you.
Once that is done - you can put any SIM in it from any network provider.
The phone is on 3 and I found the instructions after I posted the question, so I'm hoping that'll work Was the phone on O2, Vodaphone, EE, 3 etc.
They need to unlock it for you.
Once that is done - you can put any SIM in it from any network provider.
The imessage issue is more annoying because it's now failing to complete one of the two basic functions that my Ericsson T18 could manage in 1998
techiedave said:
I must also apologise it is never my intention to mislead in this section but I genuinely categorily believed all I phones were locked as per what I was told yet the very links I sent you suggest that 3 don't unless I misread the link
I think I'll just put the O2 SIM card in when I'm ready to use it and see if it works. If not, I'll call 3 A900ss said:
Maybe irrelevant but why move from Three to O2?
Backward step in my opinion regards data and voice.
Good luck with the issues though.
At the moment I've got a company SIM (with O2) and a personal one with 3. Rather than pay for 3 I'm just going to use the company one when the 3 contract (SIM only) runs out. It's not any strong feeling about either network, just I'd rather carry one phoneBackward step in my opinion regards data and voice.
Good luck with the issues though.
ETA: This isn't why I'm changing and it could be the handsets rather than the networks, but I find the voice quality much, much better on my O2 BlackBerry and it seems generally more reliable (at least around where I live and work)
Edited by Jimmy Recard on Sunday 23 April 14:48
Whatever the problem, after backing it up and restoring it, nothing changed.
So I restored it completely to factory settings and it seems to work. Brilliant.
I'd better spend the evening setting it up how it was
I also hadn't realised how much it was lagging. It's about a million times sharper and quicker now
So I restored it completely to factory settings and it seems to work. Brilliant.
I'd better spend the evening setting it up how it was
I also hadn't realised how much it was lagging. It's about a million times sharper and quicker now
Edited by Jimmy Recard on Sunday 23 April 15:53
Hi all, just a small update.
You were right, I had to get the phone unlocked. I followed Three's procedure, it didn't work. I phoned Three and a very polite Indian girl talked me through Three's procedure again, which didn't work. And then again.
Then she was really stumped and her supervisor was stumped too. They thought I had done something wrong.
Then eventually they found someone who knew the score - as I hadn't bought the phone from Three, Three didn't have the IMEI. So I had to email the IMEI with proof of purchase (showing the IMEI on it), and my ID. This I did on Friday.
Three texted today saying just to plug my phone into iTunes with a new SIM in and it would activate and work. Now it's working happily on O2
Separate point - I restored the phone because of Three's instructions and put the back up from when iMessage didn't work. Lo and behold, suddenly iMessage didn't work and neither did texts. Then I put a more recent backup on it, and iMessage and texts work perfectly. I guess something is corrupted or screwed up on that backup. So I've deleted it
You were right, I had to get the phone unlocked. I followed Three's procedure, it didn't work. I phoned Three and a very polite Indian girl talked me through Three's procedure again, which didn't work. And then again.
Then she was really stumped and her supervisor was stumped too. They thought I had done something wrong.
Then eventually they found someone who knew the score - as I hadn't bought the phone from Three, Three didn't have the IMEI. So I had to email the IMEI with proof of purchase (showing the IMEI on it), and my ID. This I did on Friday.
Three texted today saying just to plug my phone into iTunes with a new SIM in and it would activate and work. Now it's working happily on O2
Separate point - I restored the phone because of Three's instructions and put the back up from when iMessage didn't work. Lo and behold, suddenly iMessage didn't work and neither did texts. Then I put a more recent backup on it, and iMessage and texts work perfectly. I guess something is corrupted or screwed up on that backup. So I've deleted it
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