Move Service to New Phone (?)

[VanguardLH]

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

The IMEI for the phones is different. Some lock to the IMEI of the
phone, not to the SIM card. Check with your cellular provider. They
should know how they track an account. Tell them which make and model
of phones you have, and if they are SIM card or cardless (eSIM).

I've never noticed such a thing.
I just moved over the card (sometimes with a size change), then moved
the data.

Again, depends on the cellular provider. I use an MVNO (Tracfone), and
asked them about moving the SIM card from my old phone to a new phone
that I might get later. They said No, that I couldn't just move over
the SIM card to the new phone. I had to buy another SIM card from them
(~$5 USD) for the new phone, and register it with them which is when
they link the new phone's IMEI with their SIM card's ID. I remember
having to get a new SIM card from them before when I got a new phone
(now my current/old phone). During the registration process to grant
access to their service, they ask for the IMEI of the phone in which I
use their SIM card. They link IMEI + ICCID to my account.

Getting your cellular carrier to track your phone on your behalf
requires jumping through a lot of hoops proving you're the owner of the
phone and account, and may even require a court order. They don't have
to jump through any loops to link IMEI to SIM ID (aka ICCID), but
they'll make you jump. You can ask the police since the mobile carriers
will work with them, but obviously the police get involved in criminal
situations, not because you lost your phone, or it was stolen.

https://www.airdroid.com/parent-control/how-to-track-phone-using-imei-online/

While most phones will show the IMEI somewhere under Settings -> About
phone -> SIM [Status|Card], not all will show you the SIM card's ID aka
ICCID (Integrated Circuit Identification number), a 18-22 digit number
usually printed on the SIM card. On some phones, you can dial *#06# to
get IMEI, MEID, ICCD, MSISDN, and serial number. On my ancient phone
(c.2016, Android 8), just the IMEI is returned.

Because the ICCID is unique to every SIM card, mobile carriers can
simply track accounts to the ICCID, and not bother with the IMEI, yes,
you should be able to simply move the old SIM card to a new phone. All
depends on how a mobile carrier tracks which IDs in an account to
determine if you can access their services.

https://www.infobip.com/glossary/iccid-number
https://onomondo.com/blog/iccid-number-explained/

[micky]

In comp.mobile.android, on Wed, 4 Sep 2024 07:12:03 +0200, Jörg Lorenz

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:00:25 -0700, croy

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

My guess is that any app whose notifications have been surpressed has to
have it surpressed again. I hate notifications and I'm not crazy about
having to surpress them one app at a time, in part because I don't know
which apps will be sending them.
What are the shortcuts that Andrew refers to?

Are you getting senile? You have absolutely no clue how to correctly
answer questions or reply at all that your postings are in the correct
place in the tree. It is bizarre because I killfiled Andrew alias Arlen
and do not see his postings.

People oftens recommend therapy for cases like yours. I don't know how
often it works, so please ask your family to hide any knives and guns
you might get your hands on.

[Jörg Lorenz]

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Yes.

[VanguardLH]

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

The IMEI for the phones is different. Some lock to the IMEI of the
phone, not to the SIM card. Check with your cellular provider. They
should know how they track an account. Tell them which make and model
of phones you have, and if they are SIM card or cardless (eSIM).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity

You can go into the Android setting -> General -> About phone -> Status
to see the IMEI for each of your phones. That is fixed to each phone,
and why it provides a means of tracking.

[Carlos E.R.]

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

The IMEI for the phones is different. Some lock to the IMEI of the
phone, not to the SIM card. Check with your cellular provider. They
should know how they track an account. Tell them which make and model
of phones you have, and if they are SIM card or cardless (eSIM).

I've never noticed such a thing.

I just moved over the card (sometimes with a size change), then moved
the data.

[Jörg Lorenz]

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:00:25 -0700, croy

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

My guess is that any app whose notifications have been surpressed has to
have it surpressed again. I hate notifications and I'm not crazy about
having to surpress them one app at a time, in part because I don't know
which apps will be sending them.
What are the shortcuts that Andrew refers to?

Are you getting senile? You have absolutely no clue how to correctly
answer questions or reply at all that your postings are in the correct
place in the tree. It is bizarre because I killfiled Andrew alias Arlen
and do not see his postings.

[Carlos E.R.]

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

Motorola has a procedure for this. The new phone will guide you. Better
if you have an USB-C to USB-C cable to connect both phones. And also
better if you have a working backup.

Details vary.

[Gelato]

Post by Carlos E.R.

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

Assuming he has a Google account in the first place, how does that
accomplish the task of unlocking the network if the phone is locked?

[Jörg Lorenz]

Post by Carlos E.R.

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

[Carlos E.R.]

Post by Carlos E.R.

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

That was in the next paragraph which you have deleted.

[The Real Bev]

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

I'm no fan of the cloud. I switched from Pixel 3 to Pixel 6 with the
transfer cable that came with the phone. Every app was re-installed
(some needed logging in again) and they even were in the same order on
my screen. All data (pictures, sound, video) was copied. The
step-by-step instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I don't
know if Motorola works in a similar way.

Don't know if Motorola does it too, but this is exactly what happened
when I switched from Motorola to Pixel2. Absolutely blew my mind. I
wish I'd removed the sdcard from the Motorola first, though. Now I have
a weirdly-named subdirectory with a lot of stuff that would be better
off elsewhere.

[s|b]

Post by The Real Bev
Don't know if Motorola does it too, but this is exactly what happened
when I switched from Motorola to Pixel2. Absolutely blew my mind. I
wish I'd removed the sdcard from the Motorola first, though. Now I have
a weirdly-named subdirectory with a lot of stuff that would be better
off elsewhere.

Can't you change that? I use Total Commander for my files:
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ghisler.android.TotalCommander&hl=en>

[s|b]

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

I'm no fan of the cloud. I switched from Pixel 3 to Pixel 6 with the
transfer cable that came with the phone. Every app was re-installed
(some needed logging in again) and they even were in the same order on
my screen. All data (pictures, sound, video) was copied. The
step-by-step instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I don't
know if Motorola works in a similar way.

[Arno Welzel]

Post by Carlos E.R.

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

Not all apps will be backed up in the Google Cloud.

First of all you have to enable backup at all - in "vanilla" Android
(e.g. on a Pixel device) you find this here:

Settings - System - Backup

There you can enable "Backup by Google One" which will backup *most*
apps and their data, but *not* everything! You can also select what
should be backed up.

Why do not all apps get backed up?

Some apps - for example banking apps - store login credentials in the
secure storage of the device which can not be backed up and restored to
another device for security reasons. Also some apps do not allow to
backup their data since it may be protected using DRM or is paid content
which must not be transferred to any other device but only be downloaded
using the official sources.

So eventhough many apps and settings can be restored on another Android
device using Google backp, you still may have to set up individual apps
manually.

[Carlos E.R.]

Post by Arno Welzel

Post by Carlos E.R.

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

Nonsense. That is all in the Google Cloud. He has just to login into the
Google account.

Not all apps will be backed up in the Google Cloud.
First of all you have to enable backup at all - in "vanilla" Android
Settings - System - Backup
There you can enable "Backup by Google One" which will backup *most*
apps and their data, but *not* everything! You can also select what
should be backed up.
Why do not all apps get backed up?
Some apps - for example banking apps - store login credentials in the
secure storage of the device which can not be backed up and restored to
another device for security reasons. Also some apps do not allow to
backup their data since it may be protected using DRM or is paid content
which must not be transferred to any other device but only be downloaded
using the official sources.
So eventhough many apps and settings can be restored on another Android
device using Google backp, you still may have to set up individual apps
manually.

And some apps have their own backup method, like whatsapp, which stores
the backup on the google account, separately.

What I don't know is if transferring usage phone to phone using the
usb-c cable bypasses the need of the backup on google for whatsapp.

The whatsapp backup is normally incomplete, it does not include videos
(and I'm unsure about photos). There is a separate tick mark.

I had to disable video backup because it then takes too long and fails.
I also had to disable encrypted backup.

If cable transfer bypasses the need for using the backup, that would be
very welcomed.

[s|b]

Post by Carlos E.R.
Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

They don't have to be...

[Carlos E.R.]

Post by s|b

Post by Carlos E.R.
Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

They don't have to be...

Why not? :-o

If I am moving to another phone, I absolutely want everything exactly
the same.

[AJL]

Post by Carlos E.R.

Post by s|b

Post by Carlos E.R.
Not as simple as move the SIM card. Yes, phone service will just work,
but that's about it. Your apps and your data (apps, messages, photos,
etc) has to be copied as well.

They don't have to be...

Why not? :-o
If I am moving to another phone, I absolutely want everything exactly
the same.

YMMV. When I change phones after 5+ years I will start from scratch to weed
out and get rid of all that accumulated no longer used junk (seen and
hiding) that has built up...

[Andrew]

Post by AJL

Post by Carlos E.R.
If I am moving to another phone, I absolutely want everything exactly
the same.

YMMV. When I change phones after 5+ years I will start from scratch to weed
out and get rid of all that accumulated no longer used junk (seen and
hiding) that has built up...

As others said, everyone has differing opinions, where what I do is
periodically save the homescreen setup to a file on the sd card.

That saves everything about the homescreen (folders, icons, shortcuts,
positions, names, icons, colors, shadows, etc.) to that single file.

Then, when I get a new phone, I simply pop in that SIM card and re-load
that file. No cable is needed. Every app icon is where it belongs.

I've done this so many times, it comes naturally to me; but I understaqnd
that most people don't come up with their own systems, so they're at the
mercy of whatever MARKETING has come up for them.

Having said that, MARKETING (both Google & Samsung), and hell, even Apple,
has come up with some pretty easy ways to bring over all your apps & data.

[AJL]

Post by Andrew

Post by AJL
When I change phones after 5+ years I will start from scratch to
weed out and get rid of all that accumulated no longer used junk
(seen and hiding) that has built up...

As others said, everyone has differing opinions, where what I do is
periodically save the homescreen setup to a file on the sd card.
That saves everything about the homescreen (folders, icons,
shortcuts, positions, names, icons, colors, shadows, etc.) to that
single file.
Then, when I get a new phone, I simply pop in that SIM card and
re-load that file. No cable is needed. Every app icon is where it
belongs.

My Galaxy S10+ is a semi-virgin. Never has had a USB cable plugged into
her but I do defile the headphone hole occasionally...

Post by Andrew
I've done this so many times, it comes naturally to me; but I
understand that most people don't come up with their own systems, so
they're at the mercy of whatever MARKETING has come up for them.

I've only had this ONE phone for the last 5+ years. The get a bunch of
phones marketing has failed on me. However not so with tablets. I do
have a bunch of them toys.

Post by Andrew
Having said that, MARKETING (both Google & Samsung), and hell, even
Apple, has come up with some pretty easy ways to bring over all your
apps & data.

Yup. I'm a Google captive. Since my S10+ is still working well I doubt
I'll change it out anytime soon. But when I do it won't be all that
hard. Just go to my Play Store account and check off the apps I still
want from my app list and hit download. Then as I open each app, Google
will put in the password for me. And then I will download any old apks
(like my favorite newsreader Groundhog) that I still want that aren't
in the store from my Google Drive. Easy peasy...

[s|b]

Post by Carlos E.R.

Post by s|b
They don't have to be...

Why not? :-o
If I am moving to another phone, I absolutely want everything exactly
the same.

I just meant the phone will work (with the new SIM) even without those
app and data. They don't /have/ to be copied (but of course it's
something what most people will want).

[Carlos E.R.]

Post by s|b

Post by Carlos E.R.

Post by s|b
They don't have to be...

Why not? :-o
If I am moving to another phone, I absolutely want everything exactly
the same.

I just meant the phone will work (with the new SIM) even without those
app and data. They don't /have/ to be copied (but of course it's
something what most people will want).

Ah, of course.

[Chris]

Post by VanguardLH

If I get another phone of the same make and model (in this case a Moto g5
Plus), can I just move the SIM card to the new phone and continue on?

The IMEI for the phones is different. Some lock to the IMEI of the
phone, not to the SIM card. Check with your cellular provider. They
should know how they track an account. Tell them which make and model
of phones you have, and if they are SIM card or cardless (eSIM).

I've never noticed such a thing.
I just moved over the card (sometimes with a size change), then moved
the data.

Again, depends on the cellular provider. I use an MVNO (Tracfone), and
asked them about moving the SIM card from my old phone to a new phone
that I might get later. They said No, that I couldn't just move over
the SIM card to the new phone. I had to buy another SIM card from them
(~$5 USD) for the new phone, and register it with them which is when
they link the new phone's IMEI with their SIM card's ID. I remember
having to get a new SIM card from them before when I got a new phone
(now my current/old phone). During the registration process to grant
access to their service, they ask for the IMEI of the phone in which I
use their SIM card. They link IMEI + ICCID to my account.
Getting your cellular carrier to track your phone on your behalf
requires jumping through a lot of hoops proving you're the owner of the
phone and account, and may even require a court order. They don't have
to jump through any loops to link IMEI to SIM ID (aka ICCID), but
they'll make you jump. You can ask the police since the mobile carriers
will work with them, but obviously the police get involved in criminal
situations, not because you lost your phone, or it was stolen.
https://www.airdroid.com/parent-control/how-to-track-phone-using-imei-online/
While most phones will show the IMEI somewhere under Settings -> About
phone -> SIM [Status|Card], not all will show you the SIM card's ID aka
ICCID (Integrated Circuit Identification number), a 18-22 digit number
usually printed on the SIM card. On some phones, you can dial *#06# to
get IMEI, MEID, ICCD, MSISDN, and serial number. On my ancient phone
(c.2016, Android 8), just the IMEI is returned.
Because the ICCID is unique to every SIM card, mobile carriers can
simply track accounts to the ICCID, and not bother with the IMEI, yes,
you should be able to simply move the old SIM card to a new phone. All
depends on how a mobile carrier tracks which IDs in an account to
determine if you can access their services.
https://www.infobip.com/glossary/iccid-number
https://onomondo.com/blog/iccid-number-explained/

Maybe the regulators here impede charging money to move to another
phone, impeding this silliness.

Am with you. Never had to get a new SIM card and simply moved the SIM from
one phone to the next.

If you do need a new SIM here, it's usually free.