How to set up your eSIM (iPhone & Android)

Setting up a Huddle line takes about three minutes. You get an email with a QR code, you scan it with your phone camera, and your new UK mobile number goes live. Nothing gets posted, nothing needs a shop, and no one has to hunt for a paperclip to poke a SIM tray.

You need two things before you start: a phone that supports eSIM, and wifi. Not sure about the first one? Check does my phone support eSIM — it takes ten seconds.

Before you start

• Your phone must support eSIM. Most iPhones from the XR onwards, and most recent Samsung, Google Pixel and Motorola handsets, do.
• Your phone must be unlocked, or already locked to the network your Huddle line runs on.
• You need wifi (or a working data connection) to download the eSIM profile.
• Keep the email with your QR code. You can also find it any time in your account at /app.
• Charge the phone a bit. It is a short job, but a phone dying halfway through a network setup is a bad time.

Setting up on iPhone

1. 1

   Open the QR code somewhere else

   Pull your Huddle email up on a laptop, another phone, or print it. You are going to point the iPhone at it.

2. 2

   Go to Settings → Mobile Service → Add eSIM

   On some iPhones it is called Cellular or Mobile Data instead of Mobile Service. Then choose Use QR Code.

3. 3

   Scan the QR code

   Hold the camera over the code until it recognises it, then tap Continue. Your iPhone downloads the profile — that is the bit that needs wifi.

4. 4

   Label the line

   Give it a name you will actually recognise: "Huddle", "Mum", "Work", "Ella". If the phone already has another SIM in it, good labels save a lot of confusion later.

5. 5

   Pick which line does what

   iPhone asks which line is your default for calls and texts, and which one uses mobile data. Choose your Huddle line for both unless you are deliberately keeping an old number for calls.

6. 6

   Check it worked

   Look for signal bars next to your Huddle label, then send a text or ring someone. If you see bars and the text sends, you are done.

Setting up on Android

Android menus move around a bit between makers, so the wording below may differ slightly on your handset. The order of events is always the same.

1. 1

   Open your QR code on another screen

   Same as iPhone — laptop, tablet, second phone or paper. The phone being set up cannot scan its own screen.

2. 2

   Go to Settings → Network & internet → SIMs

   On Samsung it is usually Connections → SIM manager. Tap Add eSIM, Add SIM or Download a SIM instead.

3. 3

   Scan the QR code

   Point the camera at the code and confirm when your phone asks whether to download the plan. Give it a minute over wifi.

4. 4

   Name the SIM

   Label it "Huddle" or the person's name. On Samsung you can also give it a colour, which makes the two lines easy to tell apart at a glance.

5. 5

   Set your preferred SIM

   Choose which SIM handles calls, texts and mobile data. Pick your Huddle line for all three if it is your main number.

6. 6

   Turn it on and test

   Make sure the new SIM is toggled on, then ring or text someone. Signal bars plus a successful call means you are live.

If something goes wrong

Nine times out of ten it is one of these, and all of them take under a minute:

• Restart the phone. Genuinely. A new network profile sometimes needs a reboot before it settles.
• Toggle airplane mode on, wait five seconds, then off. This forces the phone to look for the network again.
• Check the phone is unlocked. A handset still locked to an old network will refuse a new eSIM. Your old network can unlock it, usually free and usually within a day or two.
• Check you are on wifi. Installing an eSIM needs a connection. You cannot download the profile using the line you are trying to install.
• Check the code has not already been used. An eSIM QR code installs once. If someone already scanned it, ask us for a fresh one from /app.
• Make sure the line is switched on in your SIM settings, and that data roaming is off if you are at home and do not want it.

Moving your line to a new phone

An eSIM lives in the phone, not on a bit of plastic, so it does not simply pop out and move across. When you upgrade, ask us for a new QR code in your account and scan it on the new handset. Your number, your plan and your place in the huddle all stay exactly the same.

Next steps

Line working? Two things worth doing next: add a family member so everyone is on one bill, and keep your number when you switch if you want to bring an old 07 number with you. Ready to go? Start your huddle.

Huddle Mobile is powered by eSIM Copilot and part of Mindszi. More on who we are in about us.