iPhone Wi-Fi Calling for Other Devices causes calls not to be received

[Böhme417]

So, I've been working through an issue with Verizon for several weeks, maybe longer. Suddenly, I had a problem where I wasn't receiving any calls on my phone. They would all be sent to voicemail after half a ring. There were a few things that would fix the issue but only temporarily. 1. I could restart my phone. 2. I could toggle wi-fi calling off and back on. 3. I could take my SIM card out and put it back in. Oddly enough, toggling airplane mode on/off didn't fix it. After a back and forth between Apple and Verizon and them trying to pass the blame to each other, Verizon decides that it's a problem with my SIM card. So, they send me a new SIM card. Everything seemed to work fine... except that I noticed a few days later that calls on my Mac and iPad are "from...iPhone" and not directly over wi-fi. Apparently swapping the SIM card caused the "Add Wi-Fi Calling for Other Devices" setting to be turned off. When I noticed, I turned it back on, so my devices wouldn't be relying on my phone to make a call when it wasn't near. Et voilà, the problem came back. None of my incoming calls made it to my phone again and were instead just sent to voicemail. I notified Verizon that I finally pinpointed the problem, and of course their response was that it has nothing to do with them and I should forward my concerns to Apple, which I have also done. So, I now have to use my phone with this feature turned off, as I can't seem to get it to work properly otherwise and actually receive calls.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[jschnee21]

Yes, this is a known issue. Not sure whose fault it is — most likely Apple. I’ve not seen any mention a resolution other than disabling calling on other devices.

 

[McScooby]

+1, also FaceTime audio drops off WiFi when making and receiving calls. Unfortunately the best of the bunch for me seems to be WhatsApp audio.

 

[codeman7]

I also experienced this, went through similar troubleshooting steps, and arrived at the same conclusion. Really a bummer.

 

[cynics]

I had the same issue. I was able to diagnose it pretty quick because with my phone off my laptop would ring, turn the phone on and everyone goes straight to voicemail. I turned wifi calling off and phone worked normally again.

Since I use my phone for work I didn't even bother trying to diagnose the issue I just left it off.

Missing phone calls is unacceptable.

I don't know if the fault is from iCloud, other Apple services, Verizon (I too have verizon btw), or what. But being the manager of people that need responses to issues within minutes doesn't give me the opportunity to risk experimenting with the issue.

I'm not glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem but hopefully since its clearly not just me a solution comes around sooner than later.

My issue began July 6-8th, I diagnosed and turned off wifi calling on July 13th. My carrier is Verizon. Not sure which version of iOS I was on but I stay at the latest public release (non beta). At the time I had a 2013 iMac, 2018 MBP and iPad Air 2 (all on latest OS version) being used for Wifi calling.

I didn't actually use it that much so I didn't miss it. But I would still like it to work properly because I would like to turn the MBP back on.

 

[Böhme417]

Does anyone know if this was resolved with iOS 14? I'm not updating to iOS 14 on my main device until at least 14.2 (been running the betas on another device and still encounter too many bugs).

I really want this feature to work properly, because I would frequently take calls on my Mac or iPad.

 

[phuncky]

Does anyone know if this was resolved with iOS 14? I'm not updating to iOS 14 on my main device until at least 14.2 (been running the betas on another device and still encounter too many bugs).

I really want this feature to work properly, because I would frequently take calls on my Mac or iPad.

It hasn't. I had the problems on the 11 pro and have the same issue on the 12 pro running 14. For now I've turned off wifi calling for other devices and rely on the phone being near to make calls.

 

[Böhme417]

Yeah. I finally gave in and installed 14.2. The issue persists. Verizon still acts like it has nothing to do with them. Maybe it doesn't, but I know people on AT&T who don't have this issue.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Yeah. I finally gave in and installed 14.2. The issue persists. Verizon still acts like it has nothing to do with them. Maybe it doesn't, but I know people on AT&T who don't have this issue.

It does sound like this is something specific to Verizon. I have AT&T and don’t have this problem.

 

[csalm87]

It does sound like this is something specific to Verizon. I have AT&T and don’t have this problem.

Man, I've been having this issue ever since early 2020. I will try turning off WiFi calling on other devices, but it's a real bummer because I've been working from home since March and it's so much easier to just call from my computer.

There are periods where everything will work perfectly fine for several days or even a few weeks, then randomly all calls will go to VM again. I went from an 11 Pro Max to a 12 Pro and have the same issues. I got so frustrated, I purchased a GoogleFi plan for the eSIM for work purposes and have had no issues with that number. Verizon blames Apple, Apple blames Verizon. It's been almost a year with no resolve. This is completely unacceptable.

 

[phuncky]

Man, I've been having this issue ever since early 2020. I will try turning off WiFi calling on other devices, but it's a real bummer because I've been working from home since March and it's so much easier to just call from my computer.

There are periods will everything will work perfectly fine for several days or even a few weeks, then randomly all calls will go to VM again. I got so frustrated, I purchased a GoogleFi plan for the eSIM for work purposes and have had no issues with that number. Verizon blames Apple, Apple blames Verizon. It's been almost a year with no resolve. This is completely unacceptable.

You can make calls from the computer just don't enable the wifi calling. You can do calls from other devices so if your phone is close to the computer you can use it. Thats what I've been doing. Its not as good but gets the job done for now

 

[AxelFoley]

Yeah. I finally gave in and installed 14.2. The issue persists. Verizon still acts like it has nothing to do with them. Maybe it doesn't, but I know people on AT&T who don't have this issue.

I know that my response is 4 years later however I am wondering if this was ever resolved for you. If it was resolved, then how was it done? I have T-Mobile and I am experiencing this issue ever since iOS 17 on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and an Apple Mac and an iPad Pro. T-Mobile and Apple are pointing fingers at each other at this time. No resolution. I believe that the issue is with Apple but cannot prove it. I will be happy to learn what you had experienced since you first reported this issue 4 years ago. Thanks.

Axel F.

 

[AxelFoley]

This issue, for me, has been finally resolved at this time. I ERASEd ALL CONTENTs & SETTINGS on my iPhone and then Restored it from a recently created backup file on my Mac. It was painful and time consuming however the issue appears to have been resolved now. Add Wi-Fi Calling to Other Devices works perfectly well and my iPhone rings when there is an incoming call. I still closely monitor my iPhone’s performance in the event that the issue returns.

Axel F.