iOS 14 broke video calls (FaceTime and WhatsApp) 14.4 didn't fix it. Any help?

[RedTomato]

FaceTime and WhatsApp video calls were working fine. Upgrading to iOS 14 broke them Upgrading further to iOS 14.4 hasn't helped either.

Note - not my phone, my partner's iphone 7+. Every time she makes or receive a video call on both FaceTime and Whatsapp, the call says 'connecting' then fails to connect. FaceTime calling works fine on her laptop, her Apple account is fine, iMessages works fine with blue bubbles, Whatsapp works fine, camera works fine, it's just connecting a video call that fails.

I'm reasonably technically competent, but this has beaten me. I've googled the problem and tried various things but nothing has worked.

Any help?

 

[ManuCH]

Does it happen only on Wifi? Or only on 4G? Or both?

It's weird because FaceTime and WhatsApp video calls have literally nothing in common (except using the camera and microphone).

Try to check if there's some weird profile installed (Settings -> General -> Profiles) or some VPN.

 

[RedTomato]

Does it happen only on Wifi? Or only on 4G? Or both?

It's weird because FaceTime and WhatsApp video calls have literally nothing in common (except using the camera and microphone).

Try to check if there's some weird profile installed (Settings -> General -> Profiles) or some VPN.

Thanks for asking - happens on both 4G and Wifi. No profiles or VPN installed!

 

[xifu]

FaceTime and WhatsApp video calls were working fine. Upgrading to iOS 14 broke them Upgrading further to iOS 14.4 hasn't helped either.

Note - not my phone, my partner's iphone 7+. Every time she makes or receive a video call on both FaceTime and Whatsapp, the call says 'connecting' then fails to connect. FaceTime calling works fine on her laptop, her Apple account is fine, iMessages works fine with blue bubbles, Whatsapp works fine, camera works fine, it's just connecting a video call that fails.

I'm reasonably technically competent, but this has beaten me. I've googled the problem and tried various things but nothing has worked.

Any help?

Did you update to iOS 14 using over the air (OTA) or iTunes? If it was done OTA, you might need to go the nuclear option: use iTunes to backup the iPhone and do a full reinstall of iOS 14.4. Then, restore the backup using iTunes.

I'm a bit old school and only trust updating/upgrading iOS using iTunes. So far, I've never had any issues doing it that way since it does a full install of the operating system.

 

[ManuCH]

Thanks for asking - happens on both 4G and Wifi. No profiles or VPN installed!

That's really weird. Have you tried calling someone else with your partner's phone? Does it happen with everyone? Or did you only try calling you? I can't find of any situation where iOS get so f-ed up that both Whatsapp and Facetime fail on such a specific function.

If all the attempts don't work, I would do this:
- make an iCloud backup
- make an iTunes backup
- reset the iPhone to factory defaults as a new phone. Now try making Facetime and Whatsapp calls. Does it still fail with the phone set up as new? Then it could be defective
- if that works, restore from the iTunes backup. Does it work now? Good!
- if that doesn't work either, reset the iPhone to factory defaults again, but this time, restore from iCloud. Does it work now? IT HAS TO!

Try along those lines, that's what I would do. Good luck!

 

[Slartibart]

1. Did you reset the network settings? -> Settings→General→Reset→Reset Network.

2. If the issue is caused by an authentication problem try to logout from FaceTime.
Open Settings → FaceTime, turn it off.
Leave if off for 5 Minutes.
Re-enable.
You should see the ‘waiting for activation…’ sign/notification below the on/off switch.
After FaceTime is activated, you should see the Apple ID field. Tap on it and then tap on Sign out.
Now, re-login by tapping on Use your Apple ID for FaceTime.

 

[Applelover88]

I’ve had exactly the same issue. Resolved this by turning off (pausing) a VPN I have running.

 

[RedTomato]

Given up on fixing this issue. Sold the iPhone 7+, got her a new one.

Her iPhone 13 arrived last week & she loves it. Better battery, decent FaceID and a working FaceTime are all huge wins.