Over at UNEASYsilence that have quick tutorial on hacking your iPhone to support two different numbers by using two SIM cards. Basically this involves using a dual SIM card holder and manually trimming down the cards to fit into the adapter. With one kind of adapter the active SIM card automatically switches each time you turn the phone off and back on. If you have two AT&T SIM cards you don't have to do anything else to get two number support.On the other hand, if you want to use non-AT&T SIM cards you'll want a different adapter and then you'll need to jailbreak, unlock and activate your phone with ZiPhone.
As Dan notes this is not for the faint of heart since it involves actually cutting the SIM cards and the hacking the iPhone with ZiPhone. Nonetheless, if you want to use your iPhone with two different numbers and you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty, head over to UNEASYsilence for the step by step.
Update: I'm neither endorsing nor not endorsing the use of ZiPhone. I'm reporting the methodology Dan used. Also the support for two SIM cards is apparently built in to the adapter, not directly in the iPhone OS which rather has support for SIM applications.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-28-2008 @ 12:13PM
Achal said...
This dual sim trick is not new, its way older than you think.... It has been here since hyper card was introduced when we used 1.1.2...
and btw, the submenu you are are talking about are SIM applications which were also there with turbosim...
nothin new here....
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4-28-2008 @ 12:14PM
lifix said...
"If you have to AT&T SIM cards you don't have to do anything else to get two number support."
You spelled "two" wrong, and this sentence could do with a comma.
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4-28-2008 @ 12:22PM
Andrew A. said...
Why does TUAW still support ZiPhone? It f's up your bootloader, and besides the fact he stole code from the Dev Team.
You should either support the PwnageTool or iLiberty+, preferably the former.
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4-28-2008 @ 12:24PM
AriX said...
And to add to the list of corrections, it's not ziPhone, it's ZiPhone, and you probably should not use it because it is based off stolen code. Go with something better like iLiberty from http://ipluspwns.com/ or Pwnage from http://iphone-dev.org/ (iLiberty is easier to use and faster, while Pwnage is more powerful because it patches the iBoot to run custom firmwares)
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4-28-2008 @ 1:09PM
mark said...
I thought it was zitard.
4-28-2008 @ 1:14PM
Peter Zich said...
Does having two AT&T SIMs void the contract or warranty?
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4-28-2008 @ 1:58PM
Frank Furter said...
You're interested in hacking your phone and slicing up your SIM cards, but curious if your warranty will be voided? Nah....chop away.
4-28-2008 @ 2:12PM
Peter Zich said...
I know the issues with hacking and unlocking, but I'm curious what AT&T thinks about dual-SIMs.
4-28-2008 @ 7:15PM
robogobo said...
AT&T doesn't think about them.
4-28-2008 @ 1:27PM
gareth said...
If you need to remove the sim card or pop out the tray a lot, you may find the dual sim adapter can get damaged.
I used this back when 1.1.2 was around to give me data on one sim and calls on the other. (My work sim did not allow data).
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4-28-2008 @ 1:29PM
gareth said...
Forgot to say...
I got a nice sim card cutter on eBay (other auction sites are available) that easily pops out the gold wafer.
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4-28-2008 @ 1:47PM
Jason said...
Quit plugging ziPhone. It wrecks bootloaders, wi-fi, and Bluetooth, and it's no wonder poor newbie iPhone owners keep using it to f*ck up their phones.
Use Pwnagetool, or, on a PC, iLiberty+ instead. You'll thank me when your iPhone continues to work.
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4-29-2008 @ 12:24AM
compuguy1088 said...
Agreed. Pwnage tool is so much better!
4-28-2008 @ 3:40PM
Joke said...
"The neat thing about this method, however, is that Apple has apparently built dual SIM support into the iPhone OS"
I think that double sim support is not a native iPhone feature. The "SIM application" menu show a list of items right from the SIM data, such as answering service or call forwarding enabler from the carrier.
When you insert a multiple-sim holder, it has a special switching command which is listed on the Sim application. It's not a iPhone or Ziphone feature.
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4-28-2008 @ 3:56PM
kiwinerd said...
I prefer TalkPlus. It doesn't involve hardware hacks, but it does support two (or more) phone numbers on the one iPhone. I really appreciate being able to ring out from my iPhone as if the call is emanating from my office... TP gets the CallerID right.
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4-28-2008 @ 4:54PM
Marc said...
"The neat thing about this method, however, is that Apple has apparently built dual SIM support into the iPhone OS."
I think it's called Sim Toolkit and it was there since the early stages of cell phones :-/
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4-28-2008 @ 5:49PM
Speed8ump said...
I used to have dual number support on an old Nextel phone (pre Sprint merge). Great idea, terrible implementation. I (and I suspect most others interested in dual line support) want to have one device that handles my business and personal numbers:
1- configurable call waiting: if on line A (personal) enable CW for calls from line B (business) but not line A, if on line B disable CW from both lines.
2- ringer control: different rings for business & personal lines, as well as per contact rings. This probably requires mixing the two ringtones together. Also disable ringers separately. (business only, personal only, etc).
3- proper handling of voicemail: separate messages. Visual voicemail would be nice as long as I can distinguish which line a message came from.
4- dial out support for either line: contact manager remembers proper default line, but I can select the other.
IIRC, GSM networks can allow a single IMEI (device) to be associated with multiple IMSIs (SIMs) simultaneously, just most providers don't support it.
The Nextel dual line support pretty much sucked. One voicemail; ringers by contact but not by line; call out on either line, but its a pain to switch,; call waiting not supported. I'm curious how many business people would buy an iPhone on this feature alone.
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4-29-2008 @ 3:26AM
Chris Turpin said...
As far as wrecking SIMs go, you needn't worry if they are AT&T SIMs, since I stopped into an AT&T store and they say that making SIM cards for your phone is totally free.
My girlfriend has gone through about 5 cards. Does AT&T care? Not a whit.
If you store numbers on your SIM, however, then it's a bit dangerous. But knowing that you are doing something dangerous such as this, you already probably know the consequences.
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4-29-2008 @ 12:35PM
wsxijn said...
Mat Lu, you should never ever write about iPhone again. You misled the public by endorsing ZiPhone and dual-sim is not news that worth reporting at this stage of iphone hacking.
4-29-2008 @ 2:26PM
pierre said...
This article is really nonsens. It's completely incorrect:
- The iPhone does not provide any functionality for supporting dual SIMs.
- The support is in firmware which is in the SIM-adapter.
- Adding functionality to the phone by putting some extra software in the SIM is known and used for many years already by many providers; KPN in the Netherlands used it at least 10 years ago already.
- Which tool is used to unlock the iPhone is irrelevant; ZiPhone however is a great tool to do so.
- The are several providers of dual-sim cards; I used MagicSIM from quit a while in my previous phone which was Mobile5 based (sorry; yes I replaces it with an iPhone).
But anyway, the article puts some focus on the possibility to use two SIM cards in the iPhone which may not be known to many iPhone users (and potentially not even to many non-iPhone users). And that's a good thing to do. So anyway, thanks.
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