Apple ID Verification Request

[Allen Davis]

For the last few days, I've bee getting an annoying pop up asking me to verify my Apple ID.

No matter how many times I enter my Apple ID, I get a "Validation Failed. Unknown Error Occurred."

This happens whether I'm on my WiFi network at home or out and about (and I use a VPN).

Restarting the phone has had no effect.

I have an iPhone XR, and I'm running iOS 13.3.1, which is supposedly up-to-date.

I don't understand why I'm getting this request. I'm the only one who knows my 6-digit passcode to unlock the phone, and my face is the only one it recognizes. Why am I getting these persistent requests since the dang phone should know it's me using it?

As I said, I run a pretty good VPN (VPN Unlimited), but I do have my banking and financial accounts, debit cards and my Apple Card all on this phone and I'm worried that something is badly amiss here.

I would appreciate any advice. Especially why entering my Apple ID results in a "failure."

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

First suggestion - have you tried turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and trying to authenticate via cellular?

C

 

[Allen Davis]

I tried that just as soon as I read your e-mail.

Didn't work. It's still saying verification failed/unknown problem.

This is becoming extremely annoying. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to have to wipe my phone and do a restore, and I'd rather visit the dentist when he's low on anesthesia than resorting to that.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hmmm...

I wonder what is causing the prompt - iCloud, iTunes Store, App Store, etc.?

Before totally restoring the iPhone, I wonder if you could sign out of iCloud, iTunes Store, or the App Store to see if that quells the prompt.

C

 

[Allen Davis]

I've tried signing out, and I get a request to enter my AppleID, and you guessed it... "Verification Failed. An unknown error occurred."

I've shut WiFi and Bluetooth off, I've restarted my phone, and I'm about to resort to waving a dead cat over a cauldron of simmering chicken bones while wearing an orange and purple kilt and quoting Bulgarian poetry.

Another kink has arisen as well. My phone is no longer uploading my photos and videos to my iCloud Drive.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

Yes, it sounds like that may be the next step - to restore iOS. Something is amiss if it isn't updating iCloud Photos as well.

Can you tell if it has been backing up to iCloud...as that will make it much easier to restore your data?

C

 

[Allen Davis]

I did a manual iCloud backup this evening. Sometimes I do a redundant backup to either my iMac or MacBook Pro, but haven't done one of those for a couple of weeks. Normally I'm pretty anal about multiple backups, but I've been up to my neck in alligators for the last few weeks.

Forgive my ignorance or forgetfulness, but how should I proceed in wiping my phone before doing a restore? I know I should know this, but I'm just too exhausted right now to look it up. I'll get around to this awful chore first thing in the morning.

By the way, thanks a bunch for helping me out with this.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...

You can either go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings on the iPhone, or connect it to iTunes and choose Restore.

When done, you can choose to restore from iCloud.

C

 

[Allen Davis]

When I attempted the Erase All Content, I chose to backup first, and it hung up for nearly an hour saying "about 1 minute left."

Getting tired of that, I cancelled the backup and proceeded, then the d*** thing wanted my AppleID to erase the phone, and you guessed it, "Verification Failed. Unknown error occurred. Now I'm really confused.

I'm going to hook it to my MacBook Pro (Catalina) and see if I can do a restore or something from the Finder.

Thanks Cory. This is driving me nuts.

 

[Allen Davis]

I can't even erase the phone. Everything I try insists I enter my AppleID, and I keep getting "verification failed" crap.

I have to turn off Find My, and it's the same deal with it, too.

 

[dj13990]

As a last resort, you can always try DFU restore from your computer. This should always be a very last resort as it will erase everything and upgrade your phone. You will still have to put your Apple ID into it once it's done at the startup screen, but since it seems as though there is some corruption on your phone I would think this would fix it. I would have Cory chime in one more time to make sure there is not something else you can try. YOu can follow these directions on how to perform the DFU mode restore: https://help.ifixit.com/article/108-dfu-restore

 

[Allen Davis]

It turns out it was my VPN that was at least part of the problem.

I've used VPN Unlimited from KeepSolid for more than a year on my iPhone, iMac and MacBook Pro without any problems other than glitchiness when using Amazon Prime Video. (I have a lifetime subscription.)

After deactivating my VPN, my AppleID was (finally) verified, but nearly every setting on my phone was changed regarding Location Services. That raised my eyebrows, and my hackles. And I began getting some squirrelly notifications, something I rarely allow for.

Still knowing something was amiss, I took the plunge and wiped my phone.

When I restarted it, I went though the normal "new phone" routine up to the point it asked if I was doing a restore, which I proceeded with. Nevertheless, a few preferences were still different from what I'd had before, and almost all of those had to do with Location Services and Notifications. So I had to spend a bit over an hour going through everything.

One thing I found deeply disturbing was getting my Apple Card and VISA working in my Wallet App. And I've been keeping my eyes peeled closely on my bank accounts as well as my stock/retirement accounts ever since. As a matter of fact, my Apple Cash balance didn't appear for two days.

I have absolutely no idea what exactly went wrong with my phone, and things still aren't copacetic.

For instance, photos are uploading to the Cloud and appearing on my MacBook Pro in Photos, but my iMac has "gone blind" to my photos ever since, and I haven't figured out what's up with that, either.

And I'm far from happy with KeepSolid's VPN Unlimited App. I re-downloaded it to my iPhone, and have repeatedly attempted to Restore Purchase, and it refuses to activate. I've e-mailed KeepSolid three days straight about this, and they aren't helping. Previously, their customer service had been sterling.

I purchased my lifetime subscription through iDrop News, so I'll add a note about that. I previously purchased two other lifetime subscriptions from other VPN services. Those VPNs were pretty decent until a few days or weeks after the trial period and I had ponied up their money. In other words, they sucked, and I felt like I'd been misled.

PureVPN was the worst of them. While their desktop/laptop app worked okay, there wasn't an iOS version available, despite their assertions that one was available. When I contacted them and complained about no iOS version, they repeatedly swore up and down it would be on the App Store "any day now." That was almost two years ago, and as far as I know, it still isn't there, and they don't have an iOS version as a download from their own website!

These remarks are not libel, because I can prove every word of what I've said here.

While iDrop News is a decent source of news about everything Apple, they also act like prostitutes when it comes to hawking third-party VPNs. Every one they begin touting is supposedly the latest, greatest, fastest, bestest, and none-more-gooder than what they're touting that particular week. It's like they're anybody's dog who will hunt for them, and they're more concerned with getting their cut of the pie than actually marketing products will real value. I'm not alone in this, either. I've read numerous accounts from other dissatisfied customers who aren't getting what they paid for. And while VPN Unlimited has been a pretty good service until recently, I'm having serious doubts.

I don't know whether to consider my problems with my iPhone solved or not, because I'm still ironing out kinks after restoring it. But if anybody out there has any thoughts or ideas, I'd really appreciate hearing them.

 

[Allen Davis]

As a last resort, you can always try DFU restore from your computer. This should always be a very last resort as it will erase everything and upgrade your phone. You will still have to put your Apple ID into it once it's done at the startup screen, but since it seems as though there is some corruption on your phone I would think this would fix it. I would have Cory chime in one more time to make sure there is not something else you can try. YOu can follow these directions on how to perform the DFU mode restore: https://help.ifixit.com/article/108-dfu-restore

I posted something about this right before I saw your response, and wanted to thank you anyway. I had to go medieval. As for entering my AppleID, it appears my VPN was causing an unknown error that prevented its verification.