2degrees Esim. What's the point? Trying to move from Apple to Android

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timmccullough

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#324947 17-Jun-2026 16:58

Can I have a sanity check here please? I decided to move back to Android after a number of years in the Apple ecosystem. The only real snag I've had was moving my esim from the old iPhone to Android, I'll admit that I didn't check but I simply assumed you could remove the esim from the old device and scan it into the new one. Apparently not, I've since found. So that begs the question, what's the point of an esim? I had to visit a store to get it ported just like a sim swap AND they charged me $5 to do it. In hindsight I should have just said put me back on a physical sim card, at least I can swap it around between phones. Is this normal or is there some weirdness with 2degrees?

snj

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#3503815 17-Jun-2026 17:11

Apple<->Android eSIM swaps are becoming a thing, but requires carrier support and the right Android versions.

According to https://cupboardunderscore.github.io/ios-rcs/cresimtr/#NZ none of the NZ carriers support it at this stage.

For future, if you have the 2degrees eSIM, you can use the app and Manage eSIM, which seems to let you regenerate/shift the eSIM between devices. Would be good for someone from 2D to clarify, but it sounds like you were charged $5 for something they should've pushed you towards Self Service for.

Linux

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#3503816 17-Jun-2026 17:16

As above you can manage eSIM in the 2degrees App

muppet

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#3503848 17-Jun-2026 21:03

Yea I find the whole eSIM thing pretty funny. They're great for when you go a a new country and want a SIM for 7 days. You can usually download the local carrier's app, pay a few pingers and get an eSIM. So they're kinda disposable SIMs really, without the rubbish. But I'm glad my phone's Primary SIM is still a physical thing I can move around devices, I mean that was the whole point of a SIM.

eSIM goes back to the old world of your account being tied to your phone, not your SIM. Yea you can move 'em around virtually but it's a PITA and you can't shove it in old phone easily etc.

When I bought a new phone recently I thought about getting the American version of it, because it doesn't have a SIM slot, eSIM only. So you get more battery life. But then I thought "The hassle is gonna really annoy me" and yea, getting my 2nd account SIM (an eSIM) moved from the old phone to the new was a whole palava of contacting the carrier, getting an email with a QR code blah blah kill me now.

So yea. They're great cause you can put a SIM in your phone without needing a physical thing. But they're a nightmare to swap between phones, so they blow hard for that.

Dochart

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#3503853 17-Jun-2026 21:29

snj:

Apple<->Android eSIM swaps are becoming a thing, but requires carrier support and the right Android versions.

According to https://cupboardunderscore.github.io/ios-rcs/cresimtr/#NZ none of the NZ carriers support it at this stage.

For future, if you have the 2degrees eSIM, you can use the app and Manage eSIM, which seems to let you regenerate/shift the eSIM between devices. Would be good for someone from 2D to clarify, but it sounds like you were charged $5 for something they should've pushed you towards Self Service for.

On the 2degrees app there is a manage esim and then when you go in it says activate esim on this device. Whether you can easily switch between iPhone and Android eSIM using that setting hasn’t been confirmed by 2degrees. I thought you had to do a sim swap and switch back to a physical 2d sim then switch it to Android eSIM.

I’m currently using an iPhone 2degrees eSIM and have also been thinking about switching back to Android in the future but it’s going to be a hassle on having to go into store, pay the $5 and switch it to a physical 2d sim card then switch it back to an Android eSIM. Hopefully one of the 2degrees staff can confirm whether the activate esim on this device works when switching between iPhone and Android without having to go in to the store.

timmccullough

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#3503928 18-Jun-2026 11:20

I did try that one, I logged into the 2degrees app on the new phone (using wifi) and tried the activate option but it flat out did nothing.

roobarb

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#3504069 18-Jun-2026 17:46

muppet:

eSIM goes back to the old world of your account being tied to your phone, not your SIM

Not quite. The IMEI identifies your phone. The ICCID identifies your SIM. Both physical SIM and eSIM contain their ICCID.

The eSIM runs using a card applet downloaded to the secure element. They can be added, used and removed. Anyone remember Semble?

When you go from iPhone to iPhone, Apple has the keys to the secure element and can initiate the management to move it.

Likewise when you go from Google Android to Google Android.

I don't know what happens if you go from Samsung to Google.

However going from iPhone to Android, the only thing common is the phone operator so it has to do the remove from the old and add to the new. Whether you get the same ICCID after the transfer does not matter as long as it is mapped to your phone number with the correct telco and their is only one SIM in existance with that ICCID.

I expect it is easier for the phone company to simply issue you a new eSIM and new ICCID on the new device and leave the old one on the old device to rot.

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muppet

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#3504153 18-Jun-2026 20:09

roobarb:

Not quite. The IMEI identifies your phone. The ICCID identifies your SIM. Both physical SIM and eSIM contain their ICCID.

The eSIM runs using a card applet downloaded to the secure element. They can be added, used and removed. Anyone remember Semble?

When you go from iPhone to iPhone, Apple has the keys to the secure element and can initiate the management to move it.

Likewise when you go from Google Android to Google Android.

I don't know what happens if you go from Samsung to Google.

However going from iPhone to Android, the only thing common is the phone operator so it has to do the remove from the old and add to the new. Whether you get the same ICCID after the transfer does not matter as long as it is mapped to your phone number with the correct telco and their is only one SIM in existance with that ICCID.

I expect it is easier for the phone company to simply issue you a new eSIM and new ICCID on the new device and leave the old one on the old device to rot.

Yes, I'm aware of the actual real differences. You're arguing the technical (and yes, you're right). I'm arguing the practical.

My point stands:

Move an eSIM to the cheap non-smart phone you bought to tramping with... Oh, you can't.
Droped and smashed your iPhone so the screen doesn't display and want to move the SIM into your old backup iPhone. Oh, you can't.
Moving the SIM like the OP wanted to do? Oh, you can't.

The window of mobility with eSIMs is so narrow as to be basically useless - your subscriber identity is once again, for almost all practical useful purposes, physically bound to your handset.

I don't understand what we gained with them. Slightly more internal space and one less water ingress point. Not even "protection against SIM theft" either because that was a solved problem 20 years ago with SIM PINs.

insane

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#3504206 18-Jun-2026 20:52

As was mentioned above, you can happily migrate an eSIM from Android to Android, or Apple to Apple from the device initiated flows. The eSIM QR codes you see on the 2degrees mobile app are single device use, so would require a SIM swap to install the plan on to another device.

That said, 2degrees corporate customers have the ability to provision them straight to devices over the air, and self-serve SIM swaps, all combinations i.e Physical to Physical, Physical to eSIM, eSIM to Physical.

eSIMs are great when a plan and phone are ordered together, no messing around with paperclips, no shoving the paperclip into the mic hole by mistake, instead the eSIM just pops up on first use. In some corporate use cases there's even silent/zero touch installs which makes rolling new connections out to large fleets that much easier. Also rather handy for provisioning to fleets of laptops etc, so they absolutely have their place.

SIM swap fraud is unfortunately very real, and there's skilled syndicates operating all over the world that know all the tricks and exactly how the backend systems work, so security controls have to be tight. Anyone would be distraught if someone could simply hijack your number, receive OTP tokens for your social and email accounts, harvest personal details, and then have a run at socially engineering their way into your bank accounts. All three of the main telco's in NZ are working together on this, you may recall the announcements a couple months back.

snj

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#3504207 18-Jun-2026 21:08

insane:

eSIMs are great when a plan and phone are ordered together, no messing around with paperclips, no shoving the paperclip into the mic hole by mistake, instead the eSIM just pops up on first use. In some corporate use cases there's even silent/zero touch installs which makes rolling new connections out to large fleets that much easier. Also rather handy for provisioning to fleets of laptops etc, so they absolutely have their place.

They're also great when coupled with decent device security settings (such as disabling Control Centre while locked), they can't be ejected and fraudulently used on another device, and short of a thief putting the phone immediately into a faraday cage or getting to an out of a signal area, the phone will stay attached to networks for tracking & locking/etc purposes.

roobarb

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#3504227 18-Jun-2026 22:59

muppet:

I don't understand what we gained with them.

I totally understand, it is like your credit card from your leather wallet still works when your battery goes flat.

I used to use dual SIM phones when travelling, but now a physical SIM and an eSIM is the normal ( outside of the US ). I prefer my primary physical SIM being the account I depend on if in trouble, and then something like Ubigi where I purchase the days and configure it ready to roll when the plane touches down ( ok after permitted to turn flight-mode off).