Why was the option to disable individual SIMs removed?

See issue #55 https://bugtracker.fairphone.com/project/fairphone-android-7/issue/55 where a lot of customers/owners complain about this issue. You can use both SIM card slots but in the Version Android 6 Fairphone build in a feature that one could disable one or the other of the SIM cards.

With the Update to Android 7 some staff at Fairphone took the decision that this feature was not longer needed to add also to Android 7. I am devastated and with a lot of other FP2 users as this is/was a very important feature. A real unfriendly customer decision that will put a lot of customers to shy away from an already purchased FP2. I for that have gone back to the old Android 6 as this feature is essential to me and other. Totally flabbergasted by this decision not to include it in the Android 7 update. Peter Tetteroo.

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@pettet I believe this was explained to you multiple times by now: This is simply not a feature Android 7 contains by default. So it’s not Fairphone who decided this, but G%§$e.
Fairphone could now develop the feature themselves, which will take time and human resources which they sure didn’t have in abundance while porting Android 7.

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Sure Paula Kreuzer Indeed explained to me several time but I am still flabergasted and will continue to boost About the lack of Customer understanding / ussage of FP2 that such an importasnt feature was not being included in the update to Android 7. We do not care wether it is not part of Android 7 all other companies that had this feature also included it in their updates. This feature is essemtial and I Paid in August 492 Euro for a FP2 with a Certain feature that are now being curtailed. I will continue to ventilate my opinion both in Forum as well as in the various other social media About the lack of this feature in the Android 7 update. It is not FAIR to treat customers like that. Thank you Peter Tetteroo.

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Indeed.
How dare Fairphone delivering an upgrade with a feature missing with them probably having no hand or decision in it.
How dare they giving this upgrade to surely a majority of users who don’t run a Dual-SIM setup, part of whom were equally vocal about what would take Fairphone so long.

Instead they should have made who knows how many users wait for who knows how long.

How dare the world not entirely revolving around oneself. Inconceivable.

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Hi Peter, all Fairphone OS (except the Open version) need approval from Google. We don’t know what’s been happening between Fairphone and Google behind the scenes.

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I can understand that you are angry about the loss of an important feature for you. On the other hand I recommend that you sit back for some time and reconsider the topic. In my eyes you are not blaming the correct one. The decision to change dual SIM feature was done by Google. Instead Fairphone is trying to bring the feature back. I think it’ll just take more time.

Not angry just flabbergasted. Blaming Google is in my analysis from the answer’s we get from FAIR phone where resources is blamed for lack of this most important feature.

Sorry for misunderstanding.
Well, knowing the number of software developers I’m actually not too surprised that developments takes its time and won’t believe in a lack of Customer understanding

Just for the sake of accuracy:

Not exactly. It’s correct that this isn’t a core feature of Android 7, but it wasn’t a feature of Android 6 either. Fairphone had their own implementation for Android 6 (like most vendors), but decided not to port it to Android 7 (unlike most vendors). That’s significantly different from “Google removed it and it’s not Fairphones fault”.

I also have to agree with Peter that from a customer’s perspective it doesn’t make a difference anyway. People bought a phone with a feature which is essential to them. A common feature which basically every Dual SIM phone has by the way. Now they get the choice to be either excluded from security updates or loose that feature.

“Them probably having no hand or decision in it” is just not true. See my comment above.

Sorry, but this goes both ways. Saying “I don’t need that feature so I don’t care” is equally egoistic. This is now the second-most voted issue on the bug tracker. The most commonly mentioned use case is a business SIM and a personal SIM. Not being able to turn off your business phone outside work hours is just not acceptable. If I would use it that way I wouldn’t be here on the forum any more. Because that would definitely have ended my Fairphone journey. So I understand why people are angry about this.

Again, this is not entirely correct. To quote Karsten Tausche (Fairphone employee):

Where did they say that?

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Well, it may be a matter of interpretation. Tasks in bugtracker which are not rejected but open and confirmed do I see as “planned to solve”. And as you said, it’s highly voted and backed. And so Karsten’s “Thanks for commenting and upvoting! That helps us a lot setting our priorities.” may be interpreted as priority for bringing it back is high.
Thanks anyway for bringing up here that it had already been removed by Google from an Android 6 standard release.

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Thanks Chuck for the support…

You’re right. I hadn’t read the respective part in the bugtracker yet.

Is there a source for that, I mean for the part that Fairphone themselves implemented that? Why I ask …

… Could the “vendor” in this quote be Qualcomm? Could explain the difficulty with this.

I said something about being equally vocal :wink: .

Decided to prioritize upgrading the OS which everybody was already eagerly waiting on to porting some function a few people used is more like it.

If they downgrade to Android 6 until the feature is here for Android 7 again they are in the same position they would have been if FP decided to wait with the upgrade until it’s all done. So all that Fairphone decided here was that people who didn’t need it could get security updates now instead of waiting for a feature they have no interest in.

Nobody is saying “I don’t care” here. Only that we don’t understand the blaming and ranting.
Fairphone will always get blamed for any decision to prioritize one thing over another, but reasonable people stop blaming them after the n-th time they are being told the other side of the story.

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I have to agree, bought a fairphone2 also this summer for work and personal. Fact that I cannot disable work sim makes me go back in time, meaning having to use 2 phones. In my spare time I don’t want to be disturbed with workmatters. So please, fingers crossed this feature comes back soon.
@pettet how did you switch back to android 6? That’s another option ofcourse

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Dear Paula, would like to correct you: I am not blaming anyone that the feature of disabling one of the SIM cards in Android 7 is no longer a feature. I am only questioning the fact that this feature was not included in the update to Android 7 without pointing fingers. Additionally I believe those that upgrade should be made aware of the fact that this feature is no longer available before they update so that they remain in Android 6 mode when this feature is important to them. After trying out the Android 7 update I reverted back to Android 6 because this disabling of one of the SIM cards is very important to me as a customer and purrchaser of an FP2. I only can imagine the rafts of people that have this feature also high on their list of features among others when they purchased an FP2.
So I do not understand that the word “…ranting …” is used in your function as a moderator. I believe we all have in mind the prosperity of Fair Phone and its products as well as its feature, hence. Peter Tetteroo a concerned but vivid user of FP2.

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Living at the boarder it is good to disable one SIM in order to get the desired phone network. Inside the EU you have often no additional costs but otherwise the wrong sim card can cost and sometimes much. I have two SIM to avoid roaming.

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Please see also: https://bugtracker.fairphone.com/project/fairphone-android-7/issue/55 and suggest you add your name and issue to the list so that priorities can be set at Fair Phone staff level. Thanks.

  1. This is a community forum, not the company.
  2. Please read the post above yours.
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