Apple ID iMessage won't activate

[Tuppery Numnak]

Hi all,

Out of nowhere the other day, my iCloud kept asking me to sign in, after a few attempts, it locked me out. I unlocked it, turned on two-step authentication. After that, it kept asking me to log in yet again but wouldn't. I talked with Apple support. We reset all settings, logged out of all things Apple ID, then the final thing that solved the issue was turning off two-step. They aren't sure why this caused the issue. Flash forward to today. Since I was able to log back in, the backups on iCloud work fine, however, FaceTime and messages won't let me log in with my Apple ID (can't text on my iPad or MacBook Pro). It just keeps saying iMessage can't activate and try again. I've tried everything to force iMessage to activate but nothing. Apple support said it could take 24-72 hours but I'm curious why my phone number can iMessage but it won't log into my Apple ID/email. Has anyone experienced this?

 

[Rok73]

No. Just do what Apple support said and wait it out.

 

[Tuppery Numnak]

No. Just do what Apple support said and wait it out.

We are well beyond their 24-72 hours and it's still not working.

 

[Yun0]

imessage timeouts can take up to 45 days

 

[gigapocket1]

What iOS version are you on

 

[Tuppery Numnak]

What iOS version are you on

The latest. Also, I plugged in my @me.com address instead, and it works. However, now when I plug in my @gmail to add it, it says it can't be validated because it's in use with another account.

So to break it down:

My iCloud/Apple ID is gmail
iMessage/Facetime was gmail for forever until it just stopped working
iMessage/Facetime is now working with @me/@icloud/@Mac addresses and says the @gmail is already in use with another account.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Apple. This is incredible frustrating.

 

[gigapocket1]

The latest. Also, I plugged in my @me.com address instead, and it works. However, now when I plug in my @gmail to add it, it says it can't be validated because it's in use with another account.

So to break it down:

My iCloud/Apple ID is gmail
iMessage/Facetime was gmail for forever until it just stopped working
iMessage/Facetime is now working with @me/@icloud/@Mac addresses and says the @gmail is already in use with another account.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Apple. This is incredible frustrating.

Just curious.. but rarely. Do people actually contact each other with their email addresses for FaceTime and iMessage anyway..