In the modern world of eSIMs, you don’t have to worry about keeping track of a postage-stamp-sized piece of tech to use your phone, but there is one glaring downside: if you break your phone, transferring the eSIM from the broken device to your new one leaves you at the whims of your carrier. A new update to Google Play Services suggests an alternative might be on the way in the form of eSIM backup as part of the Google One subscription.
Android Authority dug into Google Play Services v25.16.33, the latest beta version, and found references that suggested a SIM data backup. You can pretty safely rule out physical SIM cards here, since those aren’t affected by data wipes. That leaves only eSIMs, and it would certainly make it easier to transition from one phone to another.
While it’s important to remember that code found in beta versions doesn’t guarantee a feature, it does suggest it’s something the developer is working on. In this instance, further proof can be found in another update from March in which Google mentioned SIM backups, too.
The ability to back up an eSIM would come in handy if you break your phone or you want to transfer everything to a new device without relying on your carrier (assuming you’re allowed to do that), but it’s likely to remain a somewhat niche use case. If you need to factory reset your phone, Android devices give you the option to keep eSIM data. All you would need to do in that case is restore your data from the cloud.
On the other hand, phone theft is a common problem, and if you’re already performing frequent backups, you could disable the stolen device and activate a new one with all of your preferred settings much more quickly. The feature could be beneficial, but there’s no guarantee of when or even if it will see an official release.