- David and David here,
let's talk about what to do when FaceTime is not working
on your iPhone.
- So we're gonna start in the settings app.
And the first thing we're gonna check is if FaceTime
is missing from your iPhone, and if so,
we're gonna fix that.
- Yep, open the settings app.
Tap on screen time, tap on content and privacy restrictions.
If time isn't even on, skip this step.
- Yep, and then we're gonna go back.
But this takes two seconds just to check.
- Yep, tap allowed apps,
and then just make sure this switch next to FaceTime is on.
- Right, parents can turn it off for their kids.
Sometimes people accidentally turn on screen time
when they don't mean to.
So assuming that you don't have screen time turned on,
let's go back to the main page of the settings app.
- Yeah, I'll tap back upper left-hand corner of the screen.
Back, back here we are.
- Yep, and we're gonna head down to FaceTime.
- Yep, scroll down, keep scrolling.
Right underneath messages, you'll see FaceTime. Tap on that.
- So what we're gonna do is sign out of FaceTime
and sign back in using your Apple ID.
So we're gonna scroll down to Apple ID.
You're gonna see a link in blue.
[David Lynch]- Yep, tap on that.
And then you just tap sign out.
It'll sign you out and then you just sign back in.
- And just when they thought I was out,
they pull me back in.
- And while you're here just make sure that switch
next to FaceTime is on.
If it's off, FaceTime isn't going to work.
- Right, you'll see you could be reached by FaceTime at,
and then the caller ID, I always choose my phone number
like David does too and not an email address.
It's easier for some people.
But make sure that your phone number is checked off here.
If somebody's trying to call you and it's not checked off
using your phone number, it's not gonna work.
- Yep, next just try closing and reopening FaceTime.
It might be a minor software crash within the app itself-
- Mm-hm.
- And closing and opening can fix that.
So I'm gonna go to the apps feature here.
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Hold my finger there.
If you have a home button on your iPhone,
just double press that.
And then swipe, FaceTime up and off the top of the screen.
- Perfect.
- Now it's closed, go back, reopen it.
Try making the call again.
- Right.
For FaceTime to work,
you have to have a reliable internet connection,
which can be WiFi or cellular data.
If you're on WiFi, try disconnecting from WiFi
and using cellular data to make the phone call.
Then you can find out if it's the WiFi network's fault.
If you're on cellular data,
try connecting to a WiFi network and making the call.
If it works on one and not the other,
then you've identified what the problem is.
You can either go to your carrier or address a WiFi issue,
maybe at home, by resetting your WiFi router.
- Yeah, we have videos on what to do
when your iPhone won't connect to WiFi or cellular data.
We'll link to those in the description section-
- We've got you covered. - Below.
- It's like choose your own adventure with "Pay It Forward."
- Yes.
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which we really appreciate.
Or becoming a "Pay It Forward" Channel member.
By clicking that join button,
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We love our members and it's a great way to connect with us.
- Yep, next try making a FaceTime call to somebody else.
Maybe it's just an issue with one person
and the problem's on their end.
And you say, "Hey, check out this video."
- It's your problem.
- Yeah. - Exactly.
- But if it doesn't work-
- No offense. - Yeah.
- Yours is nicer.
- Yeah.
- I was gonna say, it's your fault.
- It's your fault.
And then, but if it's not working for anyone,
we'll move on to the next step.
- Right, then it's your fault.
- All right, George, it's you.
- You are damn right it's me.
- But it's not really your fault, is it?
'Cause nothing's ever your fault.
- Yep, we're gonna check the date and time settings.
- That's a good one to do. Let's do that.
- All right. - All right, smooth.
- So I'm gonna go back into the settings app here.
Tap back the main page of settings, scroll up to general.
Tap on that.
Then tap date and time here.
- [David Payette] Yep.
- You wanna make sure this is set to set automatically.
Things can go really wrong when it's not set automatically.
And then your iPhone thinks it's in the past or the future.
And a lot of things just break.
- Right, the reason is that FaceTime is super secure
in the way that it connects.
The way the device has established security
a lot of the time is that they say,
this is the date the security certificate was issued.
If the dates don't match, it doesn't work.
So make sure that this is on and this will solve problems.
- [David Lynch] Yep.
Next just try restarting your iPhone.
It could be a minor software glitch.
Let's tap back to general upper left-hand corner
of the screen and come all the way down to shut down.
And tap shut down. And swipe the power icon
from left to right.
And then let your iPhone shut off.
Press and hold the side button or the power button again.
Turn your iPhone back on.
Next, check for an iOS update.
FaceTime is a native app.
So you need to update iOS to update the app.
There's an independent FaceTime update.
So in settings general come up here to software update,
tap on that.
If an update is available, tap download and install,
or if it's already downloaded, just tap install now.
- Yep, or if that doesn't work or there isn't an update,
this is a problem that you should be able to fix at home.
Because it's a software problem.
If the Internet's working on your phone
and you make phone calls and you haven't smashed your phone,
what you need to do is a DFU restore.
which is the deepest type of restore that you could do
on an iPhone.
Before you do that, make sure that you've backed up
your iPhone to iTunes or iCloud, or Finder on a new Mac.
We have videos about how to do all this stuff.
- Yeah, link's in the description section below.
- Right, that will take everything off your phone
and fix this problem, hopefully.
And if you still are having a problem after you do D,
if you restored restore from your backup,
I would recommend first,
making sure that there isn't a problem with your Apple ID.
And the way to do that,
and we'll drop a link in the description section,
is to go to appleid.apple.com and just sign in
with your Apple ID and password.
And sometimes there'll be some sort of a security problem,
or you have to add security questions or whatever,
and then that will solve the problem.
If that doesn't solve the problem,
you have to talk to Apple Support because they are the ones
who control the internal workings of FaceTime and iMessage
and all this stuff.
Even Apple stores, if you go to an Apple store,
will have to file a request with Apple corporate
to like fix the problem.
So there's really no reason to go to an Apple store.
Just do a chat.
- [David Lynch] Yep, go to getsupport.apple.com.
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