Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone carrier restriction for facetime without jailbreak

N

navigates

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
770
53
Is there a way to override the carrier restriction by modifying the carrier.plist to remove the AllowsVoip so that it appears. I am on a temp assignment to the UAE and got my phone replaced by the apple store here which is a local version without facetime.

Would a backup/restore with the carrier.plist work?

I was thinking of trying out the manual firmware and then restore on this phone but not sure if that's going to work. My previous phone had facetime and it worked well.

Any tips would really help. I'm on beta 9.2.1. I hope the jailbreak comes out soon.
 
Applejuiced said:
No. You need to be jb.
I dont get why they would disable FaceTime over there.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when the apple store replaced my phone, they made me sign acknowledging that the replaced unit does not have facetime. I was hoping it could be a simple plist update to update to allow the voip. I don't need a jailbreak but would surely do it for facetime. its very simple to use a native app to call home.

I thought the firmwares are different and if I can simply put the US phone firmware it would work but apparently somehow the devices got here are restricted by the carrier settings. Not sure how. However if you use an international phone, the facetime stays and works. On the UAE device facatime appears if I have an international sim. Confusing on how its done.

Any idea on the 9.2 jailbreak by pangu?
 
navigates said:
Yeah, when the apple store replaced my phone, they made me sign acknowledging that the replaced unit does not have facetime. I was hoping it could be a simple plist update to update to allow the voip. I don't need a jailbreak but would surely do it for facetime. its very simple to use a native app to call home.

I thought the firmwares are different and if I can simply put the US phone firmware it would work but apparently somehow the devices got here are restricted by the carrier settings. Not sure how. However if you use an international phone, the facetime stays and works. On the UAE device facatime appears if I have an international sim. Confusing on how its done.

Any idea on the 9.2 jailbreak by pangu?
Click to expand...

Yes, its not a firmware thing. Its a carrier restriction.
Once you get back in the US and put a US sim you should be able to get facetime again.
No JB yet for 9.2 but hope we get one soon.
 
Applejuiced said:
Yes, its not a firmware thing. Its a carrier restriction.
Once you get back in the US and put a US sim you should be able to get facetime again.
No JB yet for 9.2 but hope we get one soon.
Click to expand...

I wonder how does it have the carrier restriction. If you use a US phone on the local carrier, facetime works well. Its only when you use a UAE assigned AE iPhone version, facetime disappears. I would think the carrier plist should be the same all around the world isin't it?

Another difference I've seen and can confirm is the following.

1. The color on gold is lighter. I've seen this on my cousins phone when I had the US phone and the UAE phone side by side. Now when my phone got replaced it was a slightly lighter tone.
2. The US phone says FCC where as the UAE phone shows CE

:)

I believe the jailbreak will take about a month as they may be targeting 9.2.1's official release as 9.2.1 is in beta now and is slightly better. Want facetime back. I've also heard that you can modify the plist file and gain LTE here.

Voice and data combined does not work here unless you'r on LTE.
 
navigates said:
I wonder how does it have the carrier restriction. If you use a US phone on the local carrier, facetime works well. Its only when you use a UAE assigned AE iPhone version, facetime disappears. I would think the carrier plist should be the same all around the world isin't it?

Another difference I've seen and can confirm is the following.

1. The color on gold is lighter. I've seen this on my cousins phone when I had the US phone and the UAE phone side by side. Now when my phone got replaced it was a slightly lighter tone.
2. The US phone says FCC where as the UAE phone shows CE

:)

I believe the jailbreak will take about a month as they may be targeting 9.2.1's official release as 9.2.1 is in beta now and is slightly better. Want facetime back. I've also heard that you can modify the plist file and gain LTE here.

Voice and data combined does not work here unless you'r on LTE.
Click to expand...

The carrier package used depends on the SIM card

Are you saying US phone with UAE SIM has FaceTime but UAE phone with UAE doesn't have FaceTime?
 
darricksailo said:
The carrier package used depends on the SIM card

Are you saying US phone with UAE SIM has FaceTime but UAE phone with UAE doesn't have FaceTime?
Click to expand...

Yes that is true. If I use a US phone in the UAE, facetime application is there and works with vpn. If I use a UAE allocated device, facetime is missing in the carrier settings. That is what I don't understand how does apple achieve this.

My speculation is that the firmwares are different. and I thought If I can install a US firmware, which may not work due to keys would be a way around it.

I believe 9.2.1 jailbreak is around the corner, so I'll just wait for that. but speculating. :)
 
navigates said:
Yes that is true. If I use a US phone in the UAE, facetime application is there and works with vpn. If I use a UAE allocated device, facetime is missing in the carrier settings. That is what I don't understand how does apple achieve this.

My speculation is that the firmwares are different. and I thought If I can install a US firmware, which may not work due to keys would be a way around it.

I believe 9.2.1 jailbreak is around the corner, so I'll just wait for that. but speculating. :)
Click to expand...

The firmware .ipsw files are all the same. There is no US firmware or arabic firmware.
The system identifies the particular serial number as part of that region when it activates and disables some things. Same way japanese or chinese iphones you cannot disable the click shutter sound when taking pictures. Even if the phone is on mute that sound is still there as a regional preset.
 
  • Like
Reactions: darricksailo
Applejuiced said:
The firmware .ipsw files are all the same. There is no US firmware or arabic firmware.
The system identifies the particular serial number as part of that region when it activates and disables some things. Same way japanese or chinese iphones you cannot disable the click shutter sound when taking pictures. Even if the phone is on mute that sound is still there as a regional preset.
Click to expand...

Very clear explanation. Never understood how does apple identify the differences. The model is NG4J2AE/A (AE stands for UAE). hoping that the jailbreak comes out and fixes this. I want to try out two things.

one is facetime unblock and the other is enabling LTE.
surprisingly with 4g, I get 50 mbps down and 40 mbps upload. Didn't think mobile internet could go so fast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Applejuiced
Isin't there a way to mimic the career plist file and get it updated on the iPhone without jailbreak? How does the career do it anyways. I was hoping for a jailbreak but we all know that's not gonna happen anytime soon. The only hope was pangu but they are taking all of us on a ride with empty promises.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back