Android

16882 readers

99 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

💡Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.

Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: [email protected]

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: [email protected]

💬Matrix Chat

💬Telegram channels / chats

📰Our communities below

Rules

Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.
No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to [email protected].
Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to [email protected].
No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.
No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.
No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.
No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.
No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.
No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!
No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

See thread

Chat and More

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Devgard

374

Android now lets you transfer eSIMs between your phones (www.androidpolice.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

96 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The major function of a normal SIM is the ability to take it out of one device and put it into another one, effectively disconnecting my identity towards the network provider, from the handset. With eSIM, that doesn't exist, and if my phone breaks, it's unclear what happens.

To me, that's not secure, that's unsafe and insecure.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

From a corporate device perspective it's an interesting evolution though, since we can remotely provision an eSIM through our mobile device management platform. No SIM to handle from the user point of view, and they can't take it out.

[–] 9point6 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

that doesn't exist

Well fwiw, the post we're commenting on is about that now existing.

the ability to take it out of one device and put it into another one, effectively disconnecting my identity towards the network provider, from the handset

Unless you think that taking a SIM out of a phone means that the phone is no longer connected to you, which isn't the case at all. A phone's IMEI is sent along with the SIM data as part of the initial handshake to make a mobile connection, your carrier knows the make, model and serial number of every phone you've ever put your SIM card in. The police in most countries make them keep track of which cell towers that combo of IMEI and SIM connect to and at what times. There's no privacy in using a mobile network you pay a bill for.

that's not secure

Obviously this isn't the be all and end all of security, but an eSIM slightly improves device security because a thief would be unable to remove it and disable any theft tracking measures which require network access. (Yes I know about EM shielded bags, but most thieves are opportunists)

The only real advantage of a physical SIM is that if you smash your phone up, you can walk into a shop and put it into a new phone without needing an internet connection first. If I smash my phone up, I need a WiFi network to hook my new phone up to the network. On the flip side, if I get robbed abroad, the process is the same. With a physical SIM it's gonna get sent to my home address.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

So can I move my sim to an iPhone? Or a non google android?

[–] 9point6 2 points 5 months ago

It seems to support transfer between Google and Samsung devices on the latest OS according to the article.

Given that, if it doesn't work with non-google/non-samsung devices today, I'd expect it to in the future as that's obviously the goal for this.

Funnily enough about iPhones, I don't think they even have a physical SIM slot anymore in some markets. So unless they have a transfer feature I'm unaware of, you're gonna spend a minute logging into your network's account screen and scan a new QR code, like you can with any eSIM phone today.