Yeah, and my local walmart has a section where there is no network coverage; I was browsing the store and wanted to check something on my bank app; it prompted me for SMS code, which I didn't receive because of no network; & I would not have received the Google prompt if I needed one for the same reason.
I wonder if it just means I'm not within range or something, service is kind of spotty, but I was just asked about this by a friend as well, so I assume my wife and myself are not the only ones who noticed this.
Edit: After thinking about it, my wife noticed it at her job near Downtown where service isn't typically spotty, so I'm not sure why she wouldn't see that options but others would. We do have the latest iOS updates though.
I got a new phone last year because my old phone could not call emergency services. Even if it was still receiving updates it's not clear that this would be fixed though. Google seems to think that local regulations prevent them from fixing this users of certain of their phones on certain carriers.
I would fault my phone company if I could no longer make and recieve phone calls and send and receive SMS text messages.
And it's not just about stuff not working on simple machines - many sites are awful to use on recent smart phones and recent OSs because they have only been tested on local networks on development machines. No one has tested them on normal machines.
Yes, this is exactly the effect I am talking about.
You go into the store, and effectively, using the cell network for data goes to zero, but the cell voice service still works.
Could it be something that makes the cell network jittery or adds latency that interferes with cellular data but not voice service?
I think this is what caused the problems with the MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) I use. I noticed today that calling and texting weren't working on our phones. Our MVNO uses T-Mobile as its network, so this kind of explains everything.
Luckily I use Google Voice as my primary # and it rang on my computer but I didn't understand why it wasn't ringing on my cell phone. Now I know :)
> When I land in a new country it is normal for my cell/SMS not to work. But I can hop on some local wifi and get signal messages.
WiFi calling is a standard feature that does exactly what you describe for texts and calls, without using a third-party. I have cell connectivity turned off constantly on my phone and yet receive texts and calls via WiFi.
It is actually an awesome feature for receiving 2FA SMS at my parent's place where there is great internet but poor cell coverage.
Actually had to use WiFi calling yesterday and it just didn't work on my main #. Only my app based phone # (Google Voice) worked! That was a really unpleasant discovery since I had no cell service.
Definitely affirms what you are saying -- it doesn't always work! Yesterday was the first time I ever had a problem.
No errors or warnings, the calls just never go through.
Yeah same. Doesn’t work in parts of my apartment or Treppenhaus or Hof at all, also doesn’t work in shops for some reason which can be surprisingly annoying if I quickly need to look up something for a recipe or message my girlfriend to ask if we need something. Data is also absurdly expensive.
I don't think I've ever had this happen, but my outbound texts on Sprint haven't worked for a week ("invalid number of digits") so I gave up and used Google Voice for texts instead, which is pretty nice as a work-around.
I care, actually a fair bit, but only because I work in a building that has two areas that are complete dead zones for cellular reception, and our IT department blocks WiFi calling (but not iMessage data). Blue bubbles can message me in those areas; green cannot.
It's not at all unusual for my phone to explode in dinging when I leave one of those areas.
I wish they didn't block WiFi calling, because my cellular reception at home isn't great, and I'd use it there. We have an internal WiFi network separate from the public one, with per-user authentication, so you don't have to worry about visitors overloading the infrastructure (it's a hospital, lots of families and patients in addition to the staff).
For anyone else worried about this, print off your backup codes and put them in multiple places. A friend's house, a fire safe, a safety deposit box, etc.
I nearly had the same issue. My phone died and I couldn't get my new phone on Google Fi without receiving a text message but I couldn't get text messages until I was on Google Fi. My backup codes saved me.
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