Activate

How to login with Comcast Xfinity on unsupported Apple TV apps

I've been catching up with AMC's The Walking Dead on my iPad because AMC didn't offer a dedicated Apple TV app until last week. As soon as the Apple TV app was made available, I tried logging in using the same Comcast Xfinity credentials I used on the iPad app, but to my surprise, Xfinity was not an option.

How could Xfinity be an option on the AMC app for iPad but not for Apple TV? Does it have anything to do with rights and what devices can be used to watch certain shows? Honestly, I have no idea, but as I complained about this issue on the latest episode of Let's Talk iOS, a listener was quick to email me with a simple workaround.

Apple reposts iOS 9.3 for older devices bricked by Activation Lock

Shortly after releasing the new iOS 9.3 firmware, Apple was forced to stop signing the update following numerous complaints from owners of older iPhones and iPads, such as the original iPad Air and the iPhone 5s and older, that it was bricking their devices.

Monday, Apple re-released iOS 9.3 to fix an issue that prevented users from activating their device via Activation Lock if they couldn't recall their Apple ID password used to originally set up their device with.

The re-released versions of iOS 9.2 carries a build number of 13E237 and is now available as an over-the-air download although those with a bricked device might want to apply the update through iTunes in DFU mode.

Apple releases a new iOS 9.3 build for older devices affected by the bricking issue

As we reported, numerous users took to Apple's support forums to complain that some owners of older iPhone and iPad devices saw their hardware bricked after updating to the recently released iOS 9.3 firmware. Apple has since detailed the problem in a support document on its website and pulled the software update for select devices.

Today, the company has re-released iOS 9.3 for those devices. The new build of iOS 9.3 for the iPad 2 has version number “13E236” versus the now defunct iOS 9.3 build “13E234” for the iPhone and “13E233” for the iPad, as per 9to5Mac's Chance Miller.

Apple support document addresses activation issues some users may encounter after updating to iOS 9.3

Apple has released a support document Wednesday night to address an issue where some iOS users are unable to activate their devices after updating to iOS 9.3, a software version released earlier this week.

Most reports of the issue seem to come from iPad 2 owners, although a quick search online shows that some iPhone users were also affected. In this support document, Apple offers a few options to try and remedy the problem.

Security experts contracted to attempt to bypass iOS 7’s Activation Lock feature

Earlier this year, San Francisco's district attorney George Gascón met with Apple's government rep Michael Foulkes to discuss the rising number of iPhone thefts. He felt like the company could be doing more, on a technological level, to thwart these would-be thieves.

Apple responded in a major way. In June, the company introduced a new feature in iOS 7 called Activation Lock, which can prevent thieves from activating a stolen handset without the proper credentials. But while Gascón says he appreciates the effort, he's not convinced...

Having Trouble Activating Your New iPhone 4S? Try This

With over a million iPhone 4S units pre-ordered and countless more sold through retail stores today, it's no wonder that carriers' activation systems are crippled. If you've been having problems activating your new iPhone, you're not alone.

We've actually been having quite a few issues ourselves today, and have been searching for workarounds to get our new handsets active. After a lot of digging, I've come up with two pretty good alternatives to the typical activation methods...

Could Not Activate iPhone 4S

Just picked up your iPhone 4S? Excited? You should be.

But that excitement may be quickly quelled when you try to activate your new device.

Apparently, AT&T's servers are getting hammered, and it's causing activation to fail over, and over, and over...

miTime Updated: Activate FaceTime on Unofficial Carriers

One of the problems with using the iPhone 4 on an unofficial carrier is you lose the ability to FaceTime. Enter MiTime. MiTime is an application available for jailbroken iPhones that activates FaceTime on unlocked iPhone 4s that are running on unofficial/unsupported carriers, such as T-Mobile USA.

The app was first introduced back in August of 2010 and now it has been updated with support for iOS 4.1 and 4.2.1. It works by sending two international SMS messages to activate FaceTime. It is currently the only way to activate FaceTime on unofficial carriers, and in my opinion, it’s definitely worth it.

Follow the guide below to activate FaceTime on your unlocked iPhone 4...

Activate FaceTime on Unofficial Carriers with MiTime

Those of you who purchased an iPhone 4 and are using it on an unofficial carrier were not able to activate FaceTime. There is now a fix for this. It's called MiTime and from what I read, it's working well.

MiTime is an app/service for activating FaceTime on phones that are operating on unofficial carriers. It should work worldwide and will use two text messages to activate. You must be able to receive an international SMS message to get activated (see here if you can receive international SMS).

How to Fix the “Different SIM Detected” Issue on the iPhone

A few weeks ago we told you about a trick to activate an iPhone without the original SIM card. This was used by jailbreakers and unlockers who didn't have the original SIM card to activate their iPhone. It worked well for a while but it seems Apple caught up to it and put an end to it all by hooking the activation wildcard ticket to the ICCID of the used SIM. Fortunately, an alternative method was found to go around the "Different SIM Detected" message you might get.

Step 1: Download iFunBox from here.

Step 2: Download the patched LockDown folder from here.

Step 3: Run iFunBox and sync it with your iPhone.

Step 4: Go to /private/var/root/Library/ and replace the Lockdown folder with the one you downloaded in step 2.

Step 5: Reboot your iPhone.

I haven't tried this myself but it seems to work well. If you do try it, please let us know how it went by leaving a comment below.

[Sherif Hashim]