Display carrier name in compose bar for dual-SIM devices

[gabkomarnicki]

DESCRIPTION

After using QKSMS v3.3 for a few days, I thought it’d be helpful for the carrier name of the selected SIM to be displayed in the compose bar to reduce any confusion.

Send message via [carrier name]…

Another option would be to simply state SIM 1 or SIM 2 instead.

Send message via SIM 1…

But I think displaying the actual carrier name would be much more understandable.

STEPS

1. Open a conversation thread on a dual-SIM device

EXPECTED

When creating a message on a dual-SIM device, there could be a clearer indication in the compose bar (aside from the SIM icon to the right) on what SIM will be used.

OBSERVATIONS

Right now, it's relatively easy to overlook the SIM icon in the compose bar, such as those with bad eyesight or under harsh lighting conditions.

[Raeitus]

I personally think SIM 1 & SIM 2 would be better.

[moezbhatti]

Hmm, I'll explore some alternative designs for this and see what I can do to improve accessibility.

One thing I'd definitely like to do however is display a popup if you long-press the SIM card icon, which displays the carrier and phone number for each SIM

[gabkomarnicki]

@realmain Well, displaying SIM 1 / SIM 2 would look cleaner than having the actual carrier name.

@moezbhatti Like in Android Messages? That'd be neat!

[eehpcm]

I'll add my thoughts here, backed by what some apps actually do.

First, the customizations in Android itself for identifying SIMs. Here's what I've done in Nougat (other versions are probably different):

I'm interested in identifying the carrier. So I used each carrier's dominant logo colour and named them accordingly. SIM 1 is named "Three" and the operator is "3". SIM 2 has "EE" for name and operator. Others might do it differently. They might have SIM 1 with name "Home" and "Vodafone" for the operator; SIM 2 with name "Work" and "Telefonica" for the operator. There is potentially a lot of variation in length of name and operator name and whether the name or operator name is more useful for identification by a particular user.

Here's how it displays in the phone dialler I use:

And here's how it displays in the SMS app I ditched in favour of QKSMS (QKSMS isn't more beautiful or usable yet, but it's not the untrustable garbage bundled with the despicable TrueCaller that was forced on me by my handset manufacturer):

I don't want lookup tables in my head, because they're stored in alcohol-erasable memory and easily get confused. I don't want to have to remember which SIM I have in slot 2, or even what the operator's logo colour is. Or even which operator I use for work. I want it so I have to be very drunk to make a mistake. :) Of course, the unavoidable mistake is texting while drunk. :D

Also, I now see why you weren't worried about what happens if people physically swap SIMs. At present you only use the SIM slot number. Once you start displaying name and/or operator you'll find that one way of using the APIs copes with physical SIM swaps and the other way gets very confused.