Other eSIM + Dual SIM Q&A

[AnthroMatt]

Good question! Try tapping on the line and it’ll ask to update contacts, tap yes or update

Then gone!

In my experience it still comes back. I've done everything short of doing a network settings reset or a phone reset, but it always comes back after a reboot.

 

[boxermansr]

Good question! Try tapping on the line and it’ll ask to update contacts, tap yes or update

Then gone!

Keeps coming back, as mentioned by AnthroMatt.

I guess it's about time to just wipe everything and start from scratch, as I've had other pesky issues that while they don't break things, just irk me. :/

 

[teeshot44]

How can I actually delete an eSIM. I had T-Mobile on eSIM and Verizon on physical SIM and got rid of T-Mobile - I removed the cellular plan prior to doing so, now each time I boot my device under cellular I see my active Verizon line and then "secondary" that says NO SIM.

I've reset network settings, and it doesn't fix it, I've also downgraded back to iOS 12.4 to see if that would remove/fix it and it hasn't either. Under settings -> reset there is no option to remove all cellular plans so that's not an option. I can't get rid of this. I've also set the device up as new (without restoring a backup) and same thing, that secondary line keeps popping up. Any ideas?

(Also posting on the iOS 12 eSIm thread for more exposure since it happens with 12.4 and 13 Beta)

Thanks.

Same with me. FWIW, an AT&T rep told me that they hold the IMEI in their system for 90 days after account is closed. That it should go away after that. I had tried both T-mobile and AT&T prepaid on eSim. Hasn't been 90 days yet. We'll see. In any event, it doesn't seem to affect anything.

 

[CrashTestWalrus]

Keeps coming back, as mentioned by AnthroMatt.

I guess it's about time to just wipe everything and start from scratch, as I've had other pesky issues that while they don't break things, just irk me. :/

I had this exact issue. The only way I found to get it to go away short of erasing everything is resetting all settings. You would think that resetting the network settings would do it, but it doesn’t.

 

[Blueberry79]

Is the way you make calls the same way on iOS 12 or have there been improvements?

I would like a setting that says “always make calls from the default voice SIM card” and don’t remember where I made the last call from. It’s currently annoying that when I put in a new SIM card, and I try to make a call to a number it uses my other SIM card which is now roaming instead of the local SIM card.

It would be great if they add a feature (toggled on or off of course) where it asks before each call or sms I make. I find it easy to get confused which number is selected at the moment.

 

[Arni99]

How can I actually delete an eSIM. I had T-Mobile on eSIM and Verizon on physical SIM and got rid of T-Mobile - I removed the cellular plan prior to doing so, now each time I boot my device under cellular I see my active Verizon line and then "secondary" that says NO SIM.

I've reset network settings, and it doesn't fix it, I've also downgraded back to iOS 12.4 to see if that would remove/fix it and it hasn't either. Under settings -> reset there is no option to remove all cellular plans so that's not an option. I can't get rid of this. I've also set the device up as new (without restoring a backup) and same thing, that secondary line keeps popping up. Any ideas?

(Also posting on the iOS 12 eSIm thread for more exposure since it happens with 12.4 and 13 Beta)

Thanks.

Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. ...
Then you will be asked whether or not you want to keep your esim profile.

 

[boxermansr]

Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. ...
Then you will be asked whether or not you want to keep your esim profile.

Doesn't work, as there is no eSIM associated with the device anymore. When I removed the eSIM plan with T-Mobile, I removed all cellular plans at that time, that way, and device rebooted, but it still continues to return, and show a secondary line with NO SIM, I click on it, it says the line is no longer available, asks if I want to update contacts, I do and it goes away. Whenever I reboot the device it comes back. I've reset network settings, and everything short of wiping the entire device and setting up as new, which I'll likely be doing this weekend to see if it removes it.

 

[DeanL]

Doesn't work, as there is no eSIM associated with the device anymore. When I removed the eSIM plan with T-Mobile, I removed all cellular plans at that time, that way, and device rebooted, but it still continues to return, and show a secondary line with NO SIM, I click on it, it says the line is no longer available, asks if I want to update contacts, I do and it goes away. Whenever I reboot the device it comes back. I've reset network settings, and everything short of wiping the entire device and setting up as new, which I'll likely be doing this weekend to see if it removes it.

It's probably a glitch with the beta. What you did is what you should do to remove it from that menu.

 

[jessebkr87]

Doesn't work, as there is no eSIM associated with the device anymore. When I removed the eSIM plan with T-Mobile, I removed all cellular plans at that time, that way, and device rebooted, but it still continues to return, and show a secondary line with NO SIM, I click on it, it says the line is no longer available, asks if I want to update contacts, I do and it goes away. Whenever I reboot the device it comes back. I've reset network settings, and everything short of wiping the entire device and setting up as new, which I'll likely be doing this weekend to see if it removes it.

I had this issue on 12.x and it followed to the beta. It FINALLY stopped coming back either after one of the beta releases or a certain amount of time (I didn’t notice).

 

[Cergman]

I'm traveling to Ireland in a few days and this is the first time using dual SIM. Wondering if anyone can help confirm that iOS 13 beta will help my use case here:

My AT&T service is using the eSIM with no international plan. My phone will still roam abroad and connect to local networks, but charge me a ridiculous amount of money to call / text / use data.

I'm planning on getting a Vodafone sim when I arrive. This will be used for data, but I want my AT&T number still active for iMessage/Facetime/WiFi Calling/receiving SMS

Questions:
1) Can I use the Vodafone mobile data to route AT&T WiFi calls over? (the OP's first post makes me think this might be possible with iOS 13)
2) If I "Turn off this line" for AT&T, will my US number still be registered to iMessage?
3) I imagine having two SIMs registered will eat up extra battery. Should I manually select for AT&T to roam on Vodafone to help with battery so both SIMs are on the same carrier, or would that not matter?

Hopefully someone can shed some light into any of these cases 🙂

 

[DeanL]

I'm traveling to Ireland in a few days and this is the first time using dual SIM. Wondering if anyone can help confirm that iOS 13 beta will help my use case here:

My AT&T service is using the eSIM with no international plan. My phone will still roam abroad and connect to local networks, but charge me a ridiculous amount of money to call / text / use data.

I'm planning on getting a Vodafone sim when I arrive. This will be used for data, but I want my AT&T number still active for iMessage/Facetime/WiFi Calling/receiving SMS

Questions:
1) Can I use the Vodafone mobile data to route AT&T WiFi calls over? (the OP's first post makes me think this might be possible with iOS 13)
2) If I "Turn off this line" for AT&T, will my US number still be registered to iMessage?
3) I imagine having two SIMs registered will eat up extra battery. Should I manually select for AT&T to roam on Vodafone to help with battery so both SIMs are on the same carrier, or would that not matter?

Hopefully someone can shed some light into any of these cases 🙂

1. You'll have to find out. There might be restrictions: for example, TELUS in Canada doesn't allow Wi-Fi Calling outside of Canada (enforced by checking IP addresses). That theoretically means that Wi-Fi Calling over the other line's data wouldn't work with TELUS in a foreign country.
2. Yes, but it will be disabled in the settings (Settings > iMessage > Send & Receive). You can still re-enable that number for iMessage manually without having to enable the line.
3. That does not matter at all. In fact an iPhone with two lines from the same carrier might be connected on two different frequencies.

 

[Cergman]

1. You'll have to find out. There might be restrictions: for example, TELUS in Canada doesn't allow Wi-Fi Calling outside of Canada (enforced by checking IP addresses). That theoretically means that Wi-Fi Calling over the other line's data wouldn't work with TELUS in a foreign country.
2. Yes, but it will be disabled in the settings (Settings > iMessage > Send & Receive). You can still re-enable that number for iMessage manually without having to enable the line.
3. That does not matter at all. In fact an iPhone with two lines from the same carrier might be connected on two different frequencies.

Thanks for the reply.

AT&T does allow WiFi calling outside of the country for free, so I know I'm fine over WiFi. However, is there an option to force phone calls over "WiFi calling" using either actual WiFi or Vodafone data instead of using AT&T's roaming?

 

[IslesFan]

1. You'll have to find out. There might be restrictions: for example, TELUS in Canada doesn't allow Wi-Fi Calling outside of Canada (enforced by checking IP addresses). That theoretically means that Wi-Fi Calling over the other line's data wouldn't work with TELUS in a foreign country.
2. Yes, but it will be disabled in the settings (Settings > iMessage > Send & Receive). You can still re-enable that number for iMessage manually without having to enable the line.
3. That does not matter at all. In fact an iPhone with two lines from the same carrier might be connected on two different frequencies.

With regards to #2, I just shut off my T-Mobile eSim for a moment, and my T-mobile phone # disappeared from iMessage and didn't allow me to "turn it back on". Is there something I'm missing?

 

[DeanL]

With regards to #2, I just shut off my T-Mobile eSim for a moment, and my T-mobile phone # disappeared from iMessage and didn't allow me to "turn it back on". Is there something I'm missing?

Yes. After turning the lien off, you need to go in Settings > iMessage > Send & Receive. There your number should be showing under "You can receive imessages to and reply from", then you can tap on it.

I've replicated this on two different iPhones on beta 8.
If anything, it could be a carrier limitation too.
[doublepost=1565974018][/doublepost]

Thanks for the reply.

AT&T does allow WiFi calling outside of the country for free, so I know I'm fine over WiFi. However, is there an option to force phone calls over "WiFi calling" using either actual WiFi or Vodafone data instead of using AT&T's roaming?

No there's no option to force it. That Wi-Fi Calling over the other line's data only happens when there's no service. You can't force it.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

I'm traveling to Ireland in a few days and this is the first time using dual SIM. Wondering if anyone can help confirm that iOS 13 beta will help my use case here:

My AT&T service is using the eSIM with no international plan. My phone will still roam abroad and connect to local networks, but charge me a ridiculous amount of money to call / text / use data.

I'm planning on getting a Vodafone sim when I arrive. This will be used for data, but I want my AT&T number still active for iMessage/Facetime/WiFi Calling/receiving SMS

Questions:
1) Can I use the Vodafone mobile data to route AT&T WiFi calls over? (the OP's first post makes me think this might be possible with iOS 13)
2) If I "Turn off this line" for AT&T, will my US number still be registered to iMessage?
3) I imagine having two SIMs registered will eat up extra battery. Should I manually select for AT&T to roam on Vodafone to help with battery so both SIMs are on the same carrier, or would that not matter?

Hopefully someone can shed some light into any of these cases 🙂

All you really need to do is turn off Data Roaming. When you pop in the Ireland SIM, keep your default voice as AT&T but change default data to the Ireland SIM. You can still use iMessage, make phone calls, send/receive texts, etc. I never noticed a significant drain in battery using Dual SIM but that was on iOS 12.

But if you are on iOS 13, you should read my thread on the dial assist issues for 2 diff country SIMs. Some were ok, some experienced it on iOS 12 (I did not) but something to be ware of. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios13-pb4-us-uk-country-codes-in-dual-sim.2192601/

 

[Cergman]

Yes. After turning the lien off, you need to go in Settings > iMessage > Send & Receive. There your number should be showing under "You can receive imessages to and reply from", then you can tap on it.

I've replicated this on two different iPhones on beta 8.
If anything, it could be a carrier limitation too.
[doublepost=1565974018][/doublepost]

No there's no option to force it. That Wi-Fi Calling over the other line's data only happens when there's no service. You can't force it.

Interesting. I believe I can disable roaming on my AT&T account so that my phone just shows No Service while traveling rather than connecting to other networks. Then it should use WiFi calling over the other SIMs data. But, will having No Service on a line eat up the battery since it will constantly be searching or does the phone know to not look for networks?

Is this WiFi call over data thing a feature of iOS 13 or can I use it on 12.4? I don't really want to upgrade to the beta, but this feature may convince me to do so.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

Interesting. I believe I can disable roaming on my AT&T account so that my phone just shows No Service while traveling rather than connecting to other networks. Then it should use WiFi calling over the other SIMs data. But, will having No Service on a line eat up the battery since it will constantly be searching or does the phone know to not look for networks?

Is this WiFi call over data thing a feature of iOS 13 or can I use it on 12.4? I don't really want to upgrade to the beta, but this feature may convince me to do so.

No, you misunderstand. Go to Settings > Cellular > Data Roaming set to OFF. You can still use your phone as normal for calls, texts, iMessage but data will be through WiFi or another local SIM card once you get it. It will pick up a cellular signal on your US line but it won’t use data.

 

[Banglazed]

According to a reddit post, eSIM is coming to T-Mobile postpaid

https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/co..._sim_fee/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

 

[NYCValkyrie]

According to a reddit post, eSIM is coming to T-Mobile postpaid

https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/co..._sim_fee/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

Interesting. And just in time for the release of the new iPhones. Guess they got tired of people leaving for Verizon & AT&T.

 

[Cergman]

No, you misunderstand. Go to Settings > Cellular > Data Roaming set to OFF. You can still use your phone as normal for calls, texts, iMessage but data will be through WiFi or another local SIM card once you get it. It will pick up a cellular signal on your US line but it won’t use data.

I understand what the roaming toggle does on the phone. I don’t want ANYTHING going through AT&T since they bill per minute. I can disable roaming on my AT&T account so that my
phone doesn’t connect to a cellular network at all, but I’m wondering if having “No Service” constantly on a line will be a huge battery drain or not.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

I understand what the roaming toggle does on the phone. I don’t want ANYTHING going through AT&T since they bill per minute. I can disable roaming on my AT&T account so that my
phone doesn’t connect to a cellular network at all, but I’m wondering if having “No Service” constantly on a line will be a huge battery drain or not.

Then just turn the line off in Settings and don’t worry about battery. You’re making it harder than you need to. I don't know how WiFi calling works on AT&T if you turn off roaming from the provider side. You'll have to do your own testing w/ battery drain based on your scenarios.

 

[iGeneo]

Any current thoughts on using Google Fi for international travel? Any impact in iMessage when using Google for the data?

 

[cdcdoc]

I am on iOS 13 beta 7 and dual sim calls does not work. It does not matter which line I am calling from, the other line goes automatically on "no service". What am I missing?

 

[iGeneo]

I am on iOS 13 beta 7 and dual sim calls does not work. It does not matter which line I am calling from, the other line goes automatically on "no service". What am I missing?

Not seeing that at all. Currently traveling and using Vodafone as my second line. I’ve made calls using my Verizon line as well.

 

[cdcdoc]

Not seeing that at all. Currently traveling and using Vodafone as my second line. I’ve made calls using my Verizon line as well.

So when you are making calls on one line, the other line is available as well and call waiting works?