Android 13 working on support for transferring eSIM on Pixel, just like iPhone

Ben Schoon | Jan 11 2023 - 7:11 am PT

As eSIM starts to take over, Google seems to be working on better support for the technology within Android, with the ability to transfer eSIMs being developed behind the scenes in Android 13.

eSIM has been around for a few years now, with Google having supported the standard in its Pixel phones since 2017’s Pixel 2 series. Over time, it’s become more and more common, with US carriers and other manufacturers such as Samsung expanding support. But it’s still a bit confusing to use eSIM on Android, largely due to inconsistencies in how the information is handled.

But with Android 13’s QPR2 update now in beta, Google appears to be working behind the scenes on at least one feature to improve eSIM support on Android – the ability to transfer an eSIM between devices.

Code under the hood of the latest beta update for Android 13 was highlighted by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter, and it shows support for transferring eSIM profiles at least on Google’s own Pixel smartphones running Android 13. Of course, there’s a good chance this could be implemented beyond Pixel, but it’s hard to say either way at this time. Support could also include converting a physical SIM profile into an eSIM.

When this might arrive is unclear, but there are surely a lot of hoops to jump through including how it all relates back to carriers.

In QPR2 Beta 2, there's a new system property called 'euicc.seamless_transfer_enabled_in_non_qs' that controls whether eSIM profile transfers should be enabled when going through the standard SetupWizard.
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) January 9, 2023

But this is certainly progress that needs to happen. Apple’s iPhone 14 went eSIM-only in the United States last year, and that was partially on the back of Apple’s software improvements to how eSIM is handled. That includes the ability to transfer eSIM between devices, something that takes a lot of headaches out of upgrading. As it stands today, some carriers still require Android users to active their phones with a physical SIM, only to then convert to an eSIM later on.