This is great news for anyone that has longed for the Google Fi plan to be officially compatible on phones other than Google-branded ones! According to a post that broke a Google embargo, Google Fi will be officially coming to iPhones, Samsung, and other branded phones. It is expected that this will come as early as this week.
Google Fi Reportedly Officially Coming to iPhones, Samsung, and Others!
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For years now, it has been possible to order a data only SIM with Google Fi and have that work inside of your iPhones, Samsung phones, LG, and others. It gave full data use and it was even possible to use the iPhone similar to Google phones, with a workaround.
However, it appears that Google Fi is now officially coming to iPhone, as well as other Android phones. It was expected for a while that this would be the case and I figured it could be sooner rather than later, especially when it was reported that Google was leaving the “Project” part of the Project Fi name behind. That seemed to indicate they were moving it away from their own system, or at least that it was no longer a project.
The source of this report was a now-deleted post from BGR. Apparently, they broke embargo by publishing and quickly pulled it down. Not quick enough as other outlets picked up on and it is thought that it will be coming out officially as early as this week.
Google Fi (Reportedly) Officially To be Compatible with iPhones and Android Phones
This means that it should be possible to now activate Google Fi accounts directly on these other phones through the Google Fi app (not currently available to iOS devices) and make real phone calls through the native dialers as well as use full text messaging capabilities (there were problems with MMS under the workarounds).
One thing that will not be possible with this new official compatibility will be the ability to switch between Sprint and T-Mobile in the US, both of which are networks that serve as the backbone for the Google Fi system in the US. The reason for this is that Google Fi phones have hybrid switching capability that allows the phone to switch between networks, one of which is a GSM network and the other is a CDMA network. So, this means that the new compatibility with iPhones and other Android phones will only allow the continued use on the T-Mobile network in the US. This will not affect users outside the US.
This is certainly great news, especially for any new iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR owners. Those phones now come with dual-SIM functionality with the eSIM working with your native carrier in the US and the other SIM could be used as a fully-functional Google Fi SIM card!
HT: Dustin from Waller’s Wallet
Charlie, I’m with T-Mobile now, if I switch to Fi won’t I lose the WiFi Calling feature? The problem since I’ve been with TMo (2002) is the signal inside our house is almost non existent so the WiFi calling is a must.
Dino
Dino, Google Fi has built-in WiFi calling on their existing Fi-compatible phones (and they actually just improved the handoff on those phones). I would imagine that the Fi app for this increased compatibility would allow for the same WiFi calling as well. I will be all over testing this when it comes so I will be sure to provide an update!
Tnx, Charlie! I’ll sure try it out when it officially comes.
If I want to keep Verizon at home but use Google Fi overseas when I travel will this be better than the current $10/day use your plan overseas thing Verizon has now (and it only works in 130 countries)? I’ve been trying to find a better way to use data when walking around a city without having to buy a SIM card for every country I go to (once a month for a week of work).
I have Verizon Wireless in the US and use a Google Fi SIM that we got through my partner’s Google Fi account 2+ years ago, for data. I have used it in at least 10 countries and so far have only traveled in 2 countries where it is unavailable: Lebanon and French Polynesia. I use it with an iPhone 6+. I use Google Hangouts to make calls to the US.
I have been quite happy with my experience so far. Having calling capabilities soon, (hopefully), is very exciting to say the least!
This is great news. Charlie, do you know when the iPhone dual SIM will actually be supported by companies like TMobile?
I think T-Mobile is the only one in the US (of the big ones) to release it yet. Employees have it now so I think it is fair to say that they should allow it by the end of the year!