iPhone RCS "Waiting for Activation..."

[djc6]

I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 26.0.1 - I switched to Visible in December 2024, a little over ten months ago.

I found out recently I wasn't receiving group texts from Android users.  I looked and noticed that while RCS Messaging is enabled, its stuck reporting "Waiting for activation..."

I've tried resetting network settings, I have chatted and had phone call with Visible representatives who gave me a new eSIM - still doesn't work.

If I go to "Settings > General > About" and scroll down to the "eSIM" section, there is a field that says "Carrier" with a value of "Visible 65.0".  If I click on Carrier  it shows "IMS Status" as just "Voice & SMS" but on another working visible phone, it says "Voice, SMS & RCS".  So it seems RCS is somehow missing for my line. 

I used to work for Verizon and I remember there was a line feature called RCS block (90393) that we would have to remove sometimes to enable RCS for a customer - how do I know if such a line feature is set on my phone?

[djc6 · Accepted solution]

I spoke on the phone with a representative named Anthony who helped me resolve this issue!  He was very methodical in trying different items to troubleshoot.

He moved the line having problems to my daughter's 2nd eSIM (on an iPhone 13 mini) and we both noticed RCS worked for that line on this other phone immediately.  Moving the line back to the iPhone 15 Pro Max in question did not restore RCS service, it was still "Waiting for Activate...".  So this test convinced both of us the issue is with the phone and NOT the Visible network.  

So I did a backup of the phone, a factory restore, and then restored the backup to the phone - and Voila! RCS worked immediately!  No "Waiting for activation..." and I was able to successfully send/receive RCS messages to an Android phone.

Thanks Anthony!