Which Android version introduced support for eSIM?

Android 9 introduced standard platform support for eSIM management.

Released in 2018 and also known as Android Pie, Android 9 added public framework APIs for working with embedded SIMs, or eSIMs. Its EuiccManager API lets supported carrier and system software manage downloadable subscription profiles on an eUICC, allowing a mobile plan to be provisioned without inserting a physical SIM card.

This does not mean every Android 9 phone automatically had eSIM hardware. A device still needed a compatible eUICC chip, modem integration, carrier support, and manufacturer implementation. Google’s Pixel 3, released later in 2018, was an important early Android example, with eSIM support available in supported markets and networks.

Another common mix-up is Android 10: it expanded and refined eSIM-related capabilities, but the foundational standard APIs arrived in Android 9. eSIM is also different from dual-SIM support in general; a phone may support two physical SIMs, one physical SIM and one eSIM, or multiple downloadable profiles while using only one active profile at a time.