14 DAY TRIAL // For two days now, an increasing number of FaceTime customers have been reporting issues with the video calling service on iOS devices, mainly on those still running version 6.0. Some iOS 7 users also seem to be affected.
Forum posters both at Apple Support Communities and on forums.macRumors.com are reporting that the FaceTime video chatting service is no longer functional. The problems started to emerge on April 16, and the Mac maker’s System Status page has yet to acknowledge any server-side problems.
Some users who claim to have spoken to Apple’s Support staff say they’ve been instructed to upgrade to iOS 7. While that’s certainly not a viable solution in and of itself (those users are still on iOS 6 for a reason), iOS 7 devices also seem to be affected, albeit less frequently.
A user identified as diddl14 on Apple’s forums writes, “Since today FT stopped working on my mothers iOS6 iPad and iPhone. I've tried calling with an iOS6 iPod and also got ‘FT Connection failed’. Same whn I try to call from an iOS6 iPod to my iOS7 iPhone. From iOS7 iPhone to iOs7 iPad things are ok. Could it be that Apple made some service change that killed iOS6 FT compatability? [sic]”
“I have the same issue since yesterday,” another one wrote on April 17. “I think it is realted [sic] to iOS version. I have devices on various iOS version 5, 6 and 7. It only works for me when facetime from iOS7 to iOS7 device. All other connections failed. Probaby [sic] just wait to see if Apple can fix the issue soon.”
While it may appear iOS 6 is the culprit here, it should be noted that FaceTime worked fine for all users prior to April 16, therefore Apple is looking at a server-side problem. In usual manner, the California company fails to acknowledge any issues on its System Status page.
The problem could nevertheless be addressed with a software patch. Apple is known to still support iOS 6 with maintenance updates. The latest such update arrived in February, when users received a notification to install iOS 6.1.6, which addressed a widely-reported security flaw in the SSL/TLS architecture.
Therefore, it’s not out of the question to see iOS 6.1.7 released any minute now. Apple is also known to be actively testing iOS 7.1.1, so any users experiencing FaceTime issues on iOS 7 might also receive the patch.