C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Code found within Android 13’s QPR2 update suggests Google could be bringing support for transferring eSIM profiles.
- It’s unknown if this feature would come to Android devices outside of the Pixel.
- Support could also include converting a physical SIM into an eSIM.
After Apple went eSIM-only with the iPhone 14, it was only a matter of time before others started following Apple’s example. Now it appears Google could be preparing for that potential eSIM future by adding support for eSIM profile transfers.
Within the code of Android 13’s latest QPR2 beta exists information about eSIM profile transfers. As discovered by Mishaal Rahman, it appears that Google is working behind the scenes to enable the transferring of eSIM profiles on at least Pixel phones.
As for converting a SIM profile into an eSIM profile, that’ll probably be even more limited, as it’d depend on whether the carrier of that profile supports eSIM activation.
There’s a chance the feature could eventually find its way to other Android phones, but as Rahman mentions, it’s hard to tell what brands would support eSIM transfers.
Rahman also suggests this discovery may result in users being able to convert their physical SIMs into eSIMs. However, this may be complicated and could be limited to which carriers support eSIM activation.
Right now, it’s unknown what exactly Google intends to do with the feature. It’s important to remember that just because the feature is in the code, that doesn’t guarantee that it’s coming. It’s possible that Google could decide to just do nothing with it at all.
But with how things are trending, something like this would be very helpful to a lot of Android phone users. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
