GoKawiilAamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
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TL;DR Apple is introducing “iPhone Handoff” in iOS 27, allowing a single cellular plan and phone number to be shared between a primary iPhone and a secondary companion iPhone via dual eSIMs.
Unlike basic Continuity features that require Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, iPhone Handoff could potentially operate natively at the network level, keeping the companion device fully connected even when the main phone is switched off.
Android has no such feature in the works for network-level phone number sharing, and it needs to copy this to reduce multi-device friction across Android’s varied form factors and use cases, such as foldables, camera phones, gaming handhelds, tablets, and even laptops.
Most users carry only one phone in their pocket, and many even use two SIMs in the same phone to reduce how many phones they need to carry. That being said, there are a bunch of people (including us phone reviewers) who end up with two and sometimes even more phones in our pockets. Using the same phone number on these phones has been nearly impossible, and even handling two phones and switching between them is often a logistical nightmare by itself. With the iPhone Ultra foldable right around the corner, Apple might have a solution up its sleeve for this niche problem in the form of “iPhone Handoff,” and this is something that even Google should copy for Android.
iPhone Handoff: Phone number sharing between iPhones iPhone Handoff was mentioned during WWDC 2026 on a slide listing a whole bunch of new features coming in iOS 27, but Apple didn’t share further details at the time. Now, MacRumors forum member pdfu spotted the feature in the latest iOS 27 beta 8 release, showcasing how Apple will soon allow users to seamlessly switch between two iPhones while sharing a single phone number and cellular plan across both devices.
iPhone Handoff will live in Settings > Cellular when it rolls out with iOS 27 stable, with the setup designating one iPhone as the main phone housing your primary eSIM, while a secondary companion iPhone receives an associated companion eSIM. Cellular settings remain centralized on the primary phone, while location sharing dynamically switches to whichever device is currently active.
While this feature is said to rely on carrier support (with T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom tipped to be early partners), it will seemingly eliminate the friction of manually swapping physical SIM/eSIMs or incurring duplicate carrier line fees just to carry a secondary or backup phone.
From the information available so far, iPhone Handoff appears to differ from Apple’s existing Continuity features, even if it becomes part of the broader umbrella when it is released.
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