Android 13 seems to be making it easier for users who use multiple numbers on one phone. Google is reportedly developing a new feature for Android 13 that will allow eSIMs to connect with two different carriers.
This new feature was discovered by Mishaal Rahman of Esper. In his blog post, Rahman explained that references to the multiple enabled profile (MEP) feature were found on the Android Open Source Project and the Android Developer site.
As the name implies, this feature allows one eSIM to connect to several different carriers and profiles. Currently eSIM can store several profiles on one chip, but only one profile can be active at a time so users have to change profiles if they want to access other numbers.
Google apparently patented this solution in 2020. This feature itself works at the software level, by separating the physical interface between different digital connections.
"No rewiring is required, so existing devices with a single eSIM chip connected to a modem can theoretically support MEP," Rahman said in his blog as quoted from Tom's Guide, Tuesday (5/4/2022).
This new feature will certainly make it easier for users who have many numbers while accelerating the adoption of the eSIM feature which is still limited. Currently users who want to set up two different numbers on one device have to buy a phone with two SIM card slots, a phone with an eSIM and one SIM card slot or a phone with multiple eSIMs.
In addition to making it easier for users to access multiple numbers, this MEP feature also has the potential to eliminate physical SIM cards and make vendors switch to eSIMs completely.
As a result, mobile phone vendors no longer need to provide two slots for physical SIM cards in order to save space. This free space can then be used to put a larger battery or a slot for a microSD.
Despite having found evidence of the new feature, Rahman said Google has not yet enabled it on any Pixel devices. He believes this feature will debut on Android 13, and may be available on other operating systems such as iOS or Windows.