For many years, FaceTime has been blocked in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to local telecommunications restrictions. However, with today’s iOS 13.6 release, this restriction appears to have been removed, at least partially.
In 2018, we reported that Apple was in active negotiations with the UAE federal government to allow the use of Internet video chat services on their devices, allowing FaceTime to be unlocked for Apple customers. Apple’s goal was to ensure that people in the United Arab Emirates were not forced to use the terrestrial video chat services of established local companies.
The ban has long been applied to all iOS devices sold in the UAE, regardless of where they were actually used. On the other hand, iPhones sold in other countries and brought to the region were not subject to the ban, and in some cases, users could circumvent the ban by using a VPN as well.
As first reported by Mac magazineToday’s version of iOS 13.6 appears to unlock FaceTime support on iPhones originally purchased in the UAE. This comes after the United Arab Emirates lifted the ban on Microsoft’s Skype for Business and Google Hangouts earlier this year, as well as Zoom and other services “exceptionally.”
Apple has yet to confirm these changes, and the change may be rolling out slowly or may not be available to everyone. Apple’s FaceTime support document has also not been updated yet to acknowledge that the service is available in the UAE.
However, according to the first reports on Twitter, it appears that this FaceTime expansion applies not only to devices purchased in the UAE, but also to devices currently in use in the UAE. We’ll make sure to update this story when we know more about FaceTime’s expansion to new countries.
iOS 13.6 is out and official … FACETIME IS AVAILABLE IN UAE. Now I can receive my phone calls on all my devices 😭!
– ifSaif Alshehhi (@ saif_a7med95) July 15, 2020
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