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Android now lets you transfer eSIMs between your phones
(www.androidpolice.com)
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this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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Android
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I've been avoiding eSIMs like a Boomer avoids anything tech because I don't understand them, and now I'm glad I did.
SIM cards work fine; other than waste reduction, what's the point of eSIM?
I still prefer a physical SIM for my main cell plan, but when travelling to other countries it is so amazing to be able to just download an eSIM and avoid roaming fees. Airalo is quite convenient, but I hear it’s getting pricey compared to other options.
Plus with dual SIM I can disable roaming on my main SIM but still receive texts for free, but use data for cheap with the local eSIM at the same time.
Disclaimer: I live in Canada which has some of the most expensive cell plans in the world. Roaming in the US is $13 CAD/day and $16 CAD/day in the rest of the world. That seems like blatant extortion to me, they can’t blame Canada’s large size for expensive roaming fees (right?). I think US plans are a lot better, and I assume European cell plans are generally even cheaper.
Edit: I prefer physical SIMs for my main plan because if my main phone is dead or broken, I can just pop the physical SIM in an old phone that I bring while travelling. Until eSIMs can be somehow transferred like that, I don’t see myself using them for my main cell plan. Just remember to set a SIM PIN so that if someone steals your phone, they can’t use your SIM card to receive 2FA texts.
Edit 2: eSIMs are generally a pain to transfer between phones. I think my cell provider lets you do it online by scanning a QR code, but I know some make you call them and read 16 digit codes over the phone. Some even charge a small fee. I dread the day where other cell phone manufacturers follow what Apple did in the US (I think?) and make eSIMs the only option.
Well, on the other hand, do you just understand how simple cards work? I for sure don’t and I don’t see why I would need a chip from my provider to access it’s services, if I can get a digital key instead.
I like that I can switch phones with a physical card. IPhone to android still no way.
My understanding of this is that the hardware vendor has a pool eSims that work on their devices. The eSIM "transfer" is actually a new eSIM from the carrier's pool and their simply transfer the emei over to the new eSIM so there shouldn't be a reason these cannot be transferred between iPhone and Android other than service providers needing to support it.
Your provider won't issue a new eSIM?
They can and probably already do charge extra for that service.
How do you get that to your new phone?
As I understand it (I've done literally zero research), it's to prevent spam/spoofing, at least in the US. With a physical card, you can't just instantly convert your phone to a different number and carrier. Now, with all the robocalls I get, there's obviously still more work to be done...
Spoofing what? Imei numbers? Phone number spoofing is not solved by this. With VOIP you can literally tell it to send whatever number you want to be its caller I'd.
Not that simple type of spoofing. The kind where I could set up a phone with your number on your network that the network thinks is yours and then intercept your incoming calls and text messages. Including being able to get your security texts to verify who you are when I would change your passwords, emails, banking info, stock accounts, etc.
I could see security being one but the only reason that I got one is lack of dual sim tray on my pixel
My sim card was acting weird. I switched it to eSIM the moment I realized that was an option in my Mint app and it solved the issue. I wasn't planning on getting a new phone for a long time at least not until my current one becomes unusable and can easily get a new SIM card sent if needed. But it's just a nice option. I haven't had any 'no sim' errors since.