Android

18394 readers

428 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 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

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

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

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.

load more comments (2 replies)