3d ago

It’s time for Apple, Samsung and Google to solve the eSIM problem

www.digitaltrends.com It’s time for Apple, Samsung and Google to solve the eSIM problem

The global approach to eSIMs is a huge mess, and it's time for it to be fixed. Here's why Apple, Samsung and Google need to work together to do this.

Phone makers need to collectively decide how we approach SIM cards going forward. The current state of eSIMs is an absolute mess, so we either need to ditch the idea of the eSIM-only future, or the big companies need to partner to solve this once and for all.

9 comments

The last thing I want is for big corporations - independent of whether they're phone making or telecommunications companies - to decide "the future of eSIM".
Much like USB-C in the 🇪🇺 , this needs to be enforced as a standard via law!
- Carriers do not have your best interest in mind. At least smartphone vendors are closer to the end user. Carriers figure you’ll have to buy from someone and have a long and colorful history of disregarding the consumer.

Honestly, I dread the e-SIM only future. They're okay as something that complements a physical SIM, but I much prefer swapping the physical one than going through the carrier to transfer it.
I tend to use devices and mobile OS's that aren't carrier-blessed (but are otherwise compatible with the network); it's often necessary to first activate the service in a "supported" device and then move the SIM to the device I actually want to use.
I also change devices often, kind of like choosing the right footwear for the event. I've got a general purpose "daily driver" mostly dumb phone, but I also swap my SIM to a few other devices depending on need. e.g. occasionally, I'll need my actual smartphone and move my SIM into that for the day or I'm going backpacking and move my SIM into my rugged smartphone which is otherwise a beast to carry but nice in the wilderness, etc.
Plus, I've had phones just up and die. With my cell as my only phone (and sometimes only internet connection), it's a little difficult to reach the carrier to move service to my backup device. Much easier to just pull my SIM and move it.
If I were doing all this with eSIMs, I'd probably be setting off all kinds of false alarm bells swapping around so much; all false alarms that, to date, haven't been an issue with a physical SIM. That's not even getting into the artificial restrictions that will eventually come. Wouldn't put it past some shitty carriers (cough Verizon cough) to limit the number of times you can swap in a month and/or to charge a BS "activation" fee for it.
- Any time people start cheering for eSIMs I think back to the days when Verizon was CDMA and you had to go to a store to have them move your account to a new phone.
  
  Same here. I like the idea of eSIMs, but there's too much ambiguity around it right now.
- The technology as it is used today isn’t ready. It’s half-baked, and many of its features aren’t fully or properly deployed. I think we’ll get there eventually, but carriers are known for stifling technology for decades being on the wrong side of history. Who thought it was a smart idea to give carriers more control?
  Look at RCS, and look at how Apple more or less has to force carriers to comply to get updates to users in a reasonable timeframe.
  Smartphone vendors need to strong arm carriers into compliance. They’re happy to do nothing and collect rents in perpetuity.
  
  Look at RCS
  I'd rather not lol. Google basically forces you to use your phone in a Google-approved configuration or RCS silently fails. So if you're rooted, no RCS for you. You can spoof SafetyNet attestation all you want, but they constantly blacklist fingerprints (even legit ones) and RCS stops working (but still says "connected"). After 3 months of fighting it, missing messages, or having to wait 90+ seconds for outgoing messages to fallback to SMS, I just disabled RCS and went back to SMS/MMS. Since that was the last Google service I was trying to use, I just disabled Play Services and completed the de-googling of my devices.
  If RCS is to ever succeed, , it needs to be a carrier service and not a Google service. As it is now, it is impossible to use RCS on Android without Google Play Services (e.g. De-Googled device). That's absolutely unacceptable.

It's not companies role to solve our problems. It's government 's. We need an open standard that gives **Us ** the power to add, remove or transfer SIMs.as we want and can with physical ones

Inb4 they create some proprietary garbage standard that only them will have access to, leaving small vendors to die.

9 comments