iPhone 6(S)/Plus iMessage / Find my iPhone Issue

[Ifti]

My daughter having an issue where iMessage and Find My iPhone works fine on her handset when she is at home using WiFi. As soon as she goes out and is on cellular neither service works.

When I try to iMessage, it gets sent as a normal text.
If I try to use Find my iPhone I either get 'Offline' or 'Online, No Location Available'

I have checked all settings and switched Find My iPhone and iMessage off and back on again.
Cellular data otherwise works perfectly fine - she can still browse the internet, use Whatsapp etc on Cellular fine.

She has recently changed handsets from an old iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6S+ and everything used to work fine before this handset change. I did this for her, following the process of backing up onto iCloud, then logging out of her old handset before setting up the new - so I know all was done properly.

Any ideas?

 

[netnothing]

My daughter having an issue where iMessage and Find My iPhone works fine on her handset when she is at home using WiFi. As soon as she goes out and is on cellular neither service works.

When I try to iMessage, it gets sent as a normal text.
If I try to use Find my iPhone I either get 'Offline' or 'Online, No Location Available'

I have checked all settings and switched Find My iPhone and iMessage off and back on again.
Cellular data otherwise works perfectly fine - she can still browse the internet, use Whatsapp etc on Cellular fine.

She has recently changed handsets from an old iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6S+ and everything used to work fine before this handset change. I did this for her, following the process of backing up onto iCloud, then logging out of her old handset before setting up the new - so I know all was done properly.

Any ideas?

With the phone off of Wifi, toggle the Cellular data off and on again. Also make sure the LTE options are for voice and data.

We had an issue with my wife's 6s on AT&T a month back where I couldn't send texts and Find my friends wasn't working. Somehow toggling cell data off and on fixed it.

 

[Ifti]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and it worked straight away, but after she's been on WiFi it goes back to how it was

I just want to be able to track and wipe the handset should it ever be lost etc

 

[Renho]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and it worked straight away, but after she's been on WiFi it goes back to how it was

I just want to be able to track and wipe the handset should it ever be lost etc

Sign up for the beta program and Download 12.1 beta 3. That should fix it.

 

[netnothing]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and it worked straight away, but after she's been on WiFi it goes back to how it was

I just want to be able to track and wipe the handset should it ever be lost etc

Have you toggled iMessage off and on again to have it login and activate again? Might be worth a try. Maybe force the phone to using the cell network and turn iMessage off/on to see if that fixes it?

 

[Ifti]

Sign up for the beta program and Download 12.1 beta 3. That should fix it.

Actually, I'll check to see if she has upgraded to 12.0.1......

Have you toggled iMessage off and on again to have it login and activate again? Might be worth a try. Maybe force the phone to using the cell network and turn iMessage off/on to see if that fixes it?

Ive tried that, although on WiFi. Will try again on cellular, thanks!

 

[Ifti]

Ok so finally went to an Apple store and asked the question.

I was told that it is normal behaviour. Find my iPhone only works while on WiFi.
I told the 'Genuis' that it had always worked before - I could locate a lost or misplaced iPhone via Find my iPhone when the handset was connected to cellular - or anywhere with a data connection. It seems crazy that should a handset be lost, I have to wait for the person who has it to connect it to a WiFi hotspot in order to track it? How would they even do this if the iPhone is locked in the first instance?

I was then told that I would have to wait for the handset to be taken to an area with 'free WiFi' where it would automatically connect. I could then track it via Find my iPhone.

Personally I think this 'Genius' didn't know what he was talking about.
[doublepost=1542099677][/doublepost]So just tried my logging in online - I can view all devices and locate them perfectly fine when I log in to Find my iPhone via a computer. Kinda kills everything the Apple Genuis told me!
However, when I try via my own iPhone it doesn't find my daughters handset - just appears offline, even though it appears perfectly find when I try via a browser online.....