Use iPhone At&T sim in Android device

[Pipper99]

From what I’ve read, generally, you can put an AT&T sim, that had been originally used in an iPhone, into an unlocked android device with GSM, and it’ll work on that data plan. I want to use my iPhone X sim in an unlocked Galaxy Note 8; however, my data plan is a grandfathered iPhone unlimited data plan, and I don’t want to do anything to cause AT&T to void or cancel the plan. Various AT&T reps give me conflicting information. If anyone here has experience or knowledge with this, I’d appreciate your help.

 

[mtneer]

I have the AT&T unlimited plan and I have used that SIM on an unlocked Nexus 5X multiple times over the past 2 years. Nothing has happened - either to my SIM, my phones or my data plan.

 

[tbayrgs]

When I was with AT&T, the only issues I recalled dealing with when switching sims involved visual voicemail and VoLTE and wifi calling. I'd still have LTE connectivity but if AT&T didn't provision the sim in their system for the specific phone, the aforementioned functionality wouldn't work when I just switched the sim card. That meant either a stop in store or a phone call if I wanted those back.

I haven't been on AT&T for about a year and a half so maybe this has changed but it was one of a bunch of reasons that led me to switch.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I have heard that if you keep your sim in another device long enough, then your data plan can be automatically switched. Basically, if their system detects you are using a non-iPhone for months at a time, you should be concerned. Not saying it's guaranteed to happen, but I have heard those complaints years ago.

BTW ... It's never happened to me back when I was on AT&T with the same plan and using an Android.

 

[Pipper99]

Great info, I'll give it a go. Thank you all so much!

 

[Breaking Good]

I have switched back and forth between iOS and Android devices several times on AT&T Wireless. In my experience, you can switch between iOS and Android with one caveat. You need to call AT&T's Technical Support group and have them update your device setting in their system.

The reason for this, as I understand it, is that they use different "codes" in their network to identify the services that a line has.

You need to make sure that you speak with Technical Support and not some run of the mill customer service rep. The CS rep will just run through a script they have to get your device working and it will not work because they don't have access to update the codes. If you get customer service, be polite but firm that you want to speak with technical support.

Technical support will have you up and running in about ten minutes.

If you decide to switch back to your iPhone X, you will need to call technical support again and have them switch the codes back to iOS.

Swapping from one iOS device to another iOS device or from one Android device to another Android device does not encounter this problem. It only happens when you swap between iOS and Android.

Also note that WiFi calling and VoLTE will not work on your unlocked Samsung device. AT&T has not certified unlocked Samsung devices to use these services on its network.

As best that I've been able to learn about this, the reason for has something to do with the E-911 service. WiFi calling and VoLTE use the same technology for sending voice data through the Internet.

Unfortunately, I cannot explain any more than this because I just don't know.

 

[Pipper99]

I have switched back and forth between iOS and Android devices several times on AT&T Wireless. In my experience, you can switch between iOS and Android with one caveat. You need to call AT&T's Technical Support group and have them update your device setting in their system.

The reason for this, as I understand it, is that they use different "codes" in their network to identify the services that a line has.

You need to make sure that you speak with Technical Support and not some run of the mill customer service rep. The CS rep will just run through a script they have to get your device working and it will not work because they don't have access to update the codes. If you get customer service, be polite but firm that you want to speak with technical support.

Technical support will have you up and running in about ten minutes.

If you decide to switch back to your iPhone X, you will need to call technical support again and have them switch the codes back to iOS.

Swapping from one iOS device to another iOS device or from one Android device to another Android device does not encounter this problem. It only happens when you swap between iOS and Android.

Also note that WiFi calling and VoLTE will not work on your unlocked Samsung device. AT&T has not certified unlocked Samsung devices to use these services on its network.

As best that I've been able to learn about this, the reason for has something to do with the E-911 service. WiFi calling and VoLTE use the same technology for sending voice data through the Internet.

Unfortunately, I cannot explain any more than this because I just don't know.

Thank you so much: very helpful!

 

[chagla]

As long as the IMEI of the device is not blacklisted, you should be able to swap sim cards and use it fine. Basic service (calls/texts) works without any configuration on your part. When it comes to data/internet access two possibilities - if the new device is ATT branded, then you don't have to do anything. If the device is unlocked, then you have to configure APN settings, 2 minute deal.

AT&T will automatically (like every other carrier) receive some identifiable information when you insert sim to a device.

 

[jamezr]

From what I’ve read, generally, you can put an AT&T sim, that had been originally used in an iPhone, into an unlocked android device with GSM, and it’ll work on that data plan. I want to use my iPhone X sim in an unlocked Galaxy Note 8; however, my data plan is a grandfathered iPhone unlimited data plan, and I don’t want to do anything to cause AT&T to void or cancel the plan. Various AT&T reps give me conflicting information. If anyone here has experience or knowledge with this, I’d appreciate your help.

You can put your AT&T sim into any unlocked phone and it will work. Doing this will not alter your plan at all. This is how allot of us here switch back and forth between Android and iphones.

Just be sure to sign out of iMessages first on your iPhone before you swap sims.

Complete these steps from your iPhone before starting to use your new smartphone:

1. Launch Settings from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap Messages.
3. Tap the slider next to iMessage to turn it off.
4. Go back to Settings.
5. Tap on Facetime.
6. Tap the slider next to Facetime to turn it off.

 

[Grimham]

When I was with AT&T, the only issues I recalled dealing with when switching sims involved visual voicemail and VoLTE and wifi calling. I'd still have LTE connectivity but if AT&T didn't provision the sim in their system for the specific phone, the aforementioned functionality wouldn't work when I just switched the sim card. That meant either a stop in store or a phone call if I wanted those back.

I haven't been on AT&T for about a year and a half so maybe this has changed but it was one of a bunch of reasons that led me to switch.

Yeah, that use to be. But i've switched multiple times lately with no issues. Voicemail now works just by switching the sims.

 

[Breaking Good]

Voicemail now works just by switching the sims.

Voicemail or visual voicemail? When I switched about two months ago I had to call Tech Support and get them to update to update something on their side to get all services working correctly.

 

[Grimham]

Voicemail or visual voicemail? When I switched about two months ago I had to call Tech Support and get them to update to update something on their side to get all services working correctly.

Visual. I haven't had to call in a long time to get them to fix anything switching from my Note 8 to the iPhone X. Both Visual voicemails work fine.

 

[Pipper99]

One other issue that I forgot to mention: this is an international variant. United Arab Emirates is listed as the country under About this Phone. Is there a way to change the country to the US at the device level, or does it matter? I've been using the phone on wifi since Friday, and everything is working well as far as that goes. I'm wondering if I'll have problems with a US sim along with Samsung Pay.

Again, thank you all for the assistance: I appreciate your help very much.

 

[Breaking Good]

One other issue that I forgot to mention: this is an international variant. United Arab Emirates is listed as the country under About this Phone. Is there a way to change the country to the US at the device level, or does it matter? I've been using the phone on wifi since Friday, and everything is working well as far as that goes. I'm wondering if I'll have problems with a US sim along with Samsung Pay.

Again, thank you all for the assistance: I appreciate your help very much.

If it were my phone, I would just put my AT&T SIM into the Galaxy Note 8. If everything worked the way I wanted it to, great. If not, I'd call Tech Support.

AT&T is a GSM network and isn't supposed to care what device you use. If you have a phone line with a data plan, it shouldn't matter what smartphone you use.

I have been told by two different AT&T reps that if you try to put a smartphone on a phone line without a data plan AT&T will slap a data plan on the line. But I don't think there are that many lines left like that.

Reading though all the replies is seems that people have different experiences in regards to additional services like visual voicemail, WiFi calling, VoLTE and I'd probably add hotspot to the list as well. But if things don't work the way you want you can go back to your iPhone X.
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Just be sure to sign out of iMessages first on your iPhone before you swap sims.

Complete these steps from your iPhone before starting to use your new smartphone:

1. Launch Settings from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap Messages.
3. Tap the slider next to iMessage to turn it off.
4. Go back to Settings.
5. Tap on Facetime.
6. Tap the slider next to Facetime to turn it off.

jamezr makes a good point here. Make sure you turn off iMessage before you swap the SIM over to the Note 8. You can always turn iMessage back on if you decide to go back to the iPhone X.

 

[aneftp]

Only issue with me sim switching from iPhone to android is mobile hot spot. I have the unlimited plus data plan (att released that plan in early 2017)

Data works fine. Just as usual. But mobile hotspot is disabled when I switch to android. It’s a pain cause I have to call att to give Imei number of android to enable hotspot

But if I were to put SIM card back to iPhone. Than my mobile hotspot won’t show up on the iPhone and it says to call 611. Than I will have to give att the imei of the iPhone to reenable hotspot for iPhone.

And so one. Switching back to android. I gotta give att the imei number again.

Suffice to say. I wouldn’t recommend sim switching if you use the hotspot a lot

 

[csurfr]

If it were my phone, I would just put my AT&T SIM into the Galaxy Note 8. If everything worked the way I wanted it to, great. If not, I'd call Tech Support.

AT&T is a GSM network and isn't supposed to care what device you use. If you have a phone line with a data plan, it shouldn't matter what smartphone you use.

I have been told by two different AT&T reps that if you try to put a smartphone on a phone line without a data plan AT&T will slap a data plan on the line. But I don't think there are that many lines left like that.

Reading though all the replies is seems that people have different experiences in regards to additional services like visual voicemail, WiFi calling, VoLTE and I'd probably add hotspot to the list as well. But if things don't work the way you want you can go back to your iPhone X.
[doublepost=1532901185][/doublepost]

jamezr makes a good point here. Make sure you turn off iMessage before you swap the SIM over to the Note 8. You can always turn iMessage back on if you decide to go back to the iPhone X.

I’ve turned iMessage off before when using an android phone, and sometimes it still takes a bit of time for SMS to start working. Seems like it takes a bit for everything to sync. No rhyme or reason to it. However, I’ll have to go through it again this week when my note 9 arrives.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Visual. I haven't had to call in a long time to get them to fix anything switching from my Note 8 to the iPhone X. Both Visual voicemails work fine.

In my experience dealing with all major US carriers except Sprint. You can run into problems with your carrier reactivating visual voicemail, after using an Android device for long enough, if the iPhone was bought unlocked from Apple instead of the carrier.

I have no explanation why, but I been through that issue several times. It one of the reasons I use Google Voicemail for both Android and iPhone.