eSIMs are getting more popular daily, but transferring them between Android smartphones is still challenging. One needs to deactivate their eSIM on an old smartphone on Android before moving it to a new device. To activate, on the other smartphone, one may need to contact their carrier, which is a challenging option. In contrast, one can transfer eSIMs on iPhones without deactivating them on the old device. But it seems like Google will improve the transferring process soon. The latest Android 13 QPR2 Beta 2 update has hinted at the same. The update has included a new system property named euicc.seamless_transfer_enabled_in_non_qs.
Esper’s Mishaal Rahman found it, and he explained the same in a tweet. The new property will control whether eSIM profile transfers should be enabled while going through the standard SetupWizard. The new setup will also help to convert a profile on a physical SIM card into an eSIM profile. Google will implement support for transferring profiles in Google’s SIM Manager app, i.e., the LPA on Pixel and other devices using Google Mobile Services (GMS). Even though there are no official announcements from Google regarding the same, it will likely be available for transferring between Pixel smartphones first.
The conversion of physical SIMs to eSIMs would be limited to selected devices and carriers. The launch of the feature is still under wraps. It might come with the stable Android QPR2 in March. There are chances that Google may take more time to launch, and it will come with the Android 14 update. Once this feature goes live, more people will switch to eSIM.