RCS waiting activation after upgrading to iPhone 16 Pro Max

I was having the same issue. What resolved it immediately was disabling my third party VPN (PIA)—make sure you toggle “connect on demand” OFF. Otherwise it’ll keep restarting after you turn off the VPN.

Perhaps a long shot:

Do you have a 3rd party VPN installed, even if you are not using it? If so, delete the VPN profile in Settings/General/VPN & Device Management/VPN. Don't just turn it off; delete the profile. If that fixes it, you can try reinstalling VPN. However, VPN actually reduces your privacy, it does not enhance it.

i transferred from Verizon to ATT and upgraded to an iPhone 16. I never got any RCS messaging or calls. I called today and the technician said that my number wasn’t ported when I changed services (which was ATT fault) he had to create a profile for me and then finishing the porting. If you transferred carriers I would call and see if your number wasn’t ported properly ported. They say my phone should work in 2-3 hours crossing fingers !

This is the exact same thing that happened to me. You are correct, transferring carriers is the issue. Like mentioned my number wasn't ported correctly and I had to call to have them "PUSH" my port through and do some tech stuff on their end. They set the expectation after the port was pushed through it would take a few hours. I took approximately 30 mins for me for RCS to remove the "Waiting for Activation" and started working properly. Hope this helps too

Want to post this incase it helps someone! Verizon did all the trouble shooting they could and finally gave me a phone replacement. After 3 weeks of no RCS I finally have it again.. this is iPhone 16 pro max, replacement is the same phone .

So I say that it’s the phone itself that is somehow having issues with the compatibility. 🤷🏻‍♀️

acahir93 wrote:

Unfortunately I don’t have that.. I have even tried factory resetting my phone and not restoring it just to see and still nothing I’m stuck I don’t know what else to do

If you’ve done all that it’s a carrier problem. Call support and ask to be escalated to a senior tech.

Go to Settings/Apps/Messages and make sure RCS Messaging is turned on. After that, it’s up to your carrier. Be sure you have Cellular Data enabled.

Switching back to your old phone solved the issue? My phone experienced this issue when we changed phone plans. We just switched to a new phone (14 Pro to 16 Pro Max) hoping that would fix it and still no luck. Cannot send/receive texts on either device.

A_lil_gL1tchy wrote:

Can you explain why a VPN reduces your privacy?

Basically, because it adds an additional source of risk by putting a 3rd party that sees all of your traffic the VPN service provider. Here is some additional information:

• Something to think about→Don't use VPN - GITHUB
• Here's Brian Krebs on VPN security (or lack thereof)→Why your VPN may not be as secure as it claims
• And here is late news from the from the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency The Feds Have Some Advice: Don't Use a VPN. The reasons they give:

• Why not use a VPN to encrypt all of your online traffic? “Personal VPNs simply shift residual risks from your internet service provider (ISP) to the VPN provider, often increasing the attack surface,” CISA’s guidance fairly explains. “Many free and commercial VPN providers have questionable security and privacy policies.”
• (Plus, almost all sites now encrypt data flowing between them and a visitor’s browser. Either your ISP or your VPN can tell you’re visiting PCMag.com, but not that you’re reading this post.)

The above is an excerpt from a longer user tip: VPN: What you need to know - Apple Community

Not OP, but i switched to an iphone 12 and its working, iphone 16 pro max is not, This started after an update i think on March 11th.