- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM.
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Out of curiosity, what sort of reasons do people have to switch out their SIM? I haven’t done that in a long time myself, but I might not be the typical user.
I travel internationally semi-regularly. I use an eSIM when not traveling, and will buy a local physical SIM if I’m visiting somewhere where local service is cheaper than my roaming rates.
If you are a phone reviewer, you would have to swap it frequently. For the average person, maybe if they have two devices, one each for work and personal, with just a single line. Not very common tho.
For the average person, maybe if they have two devices, one each for work and personal, with just a single line. Not very common tho.
I’ve never heard of anybody doing that, and I work in an industry where separate work phones are extremely common. 99% of them are company-supplied.
I do that exact thing. My shop doesn’t supply a phone, just a small stipend (like $30) and they lock they ever loving shit out of any phone you use that for. We can’t have cameras for example, and require specific mobile apps.
Only $30? Jesus… I’d just use that stipend to fund a basic prepaid plan on an equally basic device. If they’re gonna cheap out on the stipend, then I see no issue getting the cheapest device. Calls and texts only, and only available when you’re on the clock.
I did use it for a very basic device, that’d be the one I swap my card out of. I happen to like having plenty of mobile data, as it lets me move around the city easily enough when on-call.
If you travel internationally, you might need to swap sims out.
It might be useful to switch phones when you’re going somewhere with a high risk of loosing your phone or the phone getting stolen.
Sometimes just switching to another phone I don’t mind losing with it not having anything important on it depending on where I’m going, but wanting internet and phone access just in case.
Phone manufactures, who create some very good smartphones but put inside of them only 1 physical Sim slot, what forces you to either choose another model or start using eSim.
I switch mine out fairly often. I can’t use a phone with a camera at work, so i just swap it out for my normal phone on Friday. Alternatively I’d either need 2 lines, 2 providers, or whatever. Instead i just toss the work phone in the drawer and use the phone i had from before.
I used an eSIM a few years ago, but it always felt iffy and reminded me too much of Verizon’s old CDMA networks where the phones had no SIMs and were permanently tied to the carrier no matter what. Then my phone (Pixel 7 Pro) decided to take a shit, leaving me with no phone number for several days while I waited for the replacement SIM.
eSIMs have their place for secondary lines, like a different carrier for certain low-service situations that pop up here and there in my area, but otherwise I now only run a physical SIM for my main line.
I moved to eSIM a few years ago and I had to switch back to physical.
Why did you switch back?
If I recall correctly my service provider was unable to transfer my esim to a new phone unless I switched to physical.
I personally like eSIM. I have an app by my phone provider where I can just create or move a eSIM in minutes.
And additionally, I can just create a new eSIM with a new number in just about the same time. When my wife got a new phone, I just created a new eSIM for her old phone. This way, she could use them both for a week or two.
So you’re now fully bound to your ISP, their proprietary shit app, and their servers providing you a new SIM instead of just swapping a physical piece of hardware in seconds. Getting new SIMs in an ideal condition is the only advantage.
So you’re now fully bound to your ISP
Do you think you can only use an eSIM on a locked phone? Physical SIM or not, a carrier locked phone is a locked phone. You can use eSIMs on unlocked phones just fine
their proprietary shit app, and their servers providing you a new SIM instead of just swapping a physical piece of hardware in seconds
The difference is you don’t have to physically go someplace to get a card or have one shipped to you. You just need the Internet and an app.
You’re complaining about semantics with no real difference, just convenience 99% of the time.
For me wanting to switch to a Linux phone in the future it seems less than ideal to have esim instead of physical.
You’re right, i need to use this specific app to change my eSIM. But I’m not bound in any way that I can’t change providers. In fact, eSIM makes switching to another provider even simpler.
Have you had to recover from a failed device yet? Managing the SIM with the app will work great as long as the app is in fact working, but it’s not obvious how you would go about connecting a new device when the old device is not available.
I did not do it yet myself, but I would just install the app on the new device, and register it again - exactly the way I did it the first time. Anytime a new eSIM is created, the old profile will revoked. At least, thats what the FAQ says.
