APN removed Android 10?

[Justin Kahl]

So I will post both pictures of my chat with the help service and the screen that is missing the add apn option. I can't get help to register this as a problem (others are facing as well from searching the web). They need to update to add apn. Or say why they removed the option to add an apn.

This image is missing the add apn symbol that should be in the upper right where the search bar is now.

If I am incorrect and this is a carrier issue somehow, can someone please confirm that Verizon controls what options I have on this phone ux?

 

[Justin Kahl]

Also, the Verizon settings version is verizon_us-10000000049.2 if that helps anyone looking into this. (The reason I was trying to do add vpn was so I could change the settings for mmsc to troubleshoot an issue where I was stuck in roaming mode which is an issue with Android and in the bug tracker).

 

[NightAngel79]

I think I noticed this too when I traveled out of country and couldn't add an apn. Never did get service either, just gave up

 

[Jfalls63]

Ran into this issue a while back. From what I remember of the research I did, option to add or edit a APN was removed in Android 8 at the request from the major carriers in a effort to prevent tethering and creating a hotspot without paying extra for the privilege.
Had a lot of Pixel owners upset that were using a MVNO and the correct APN was missing or wrong in the APN database in the buildprop.

 

[mikedt]

This is a SIM-locked carrier(Verizon) phone? SIM-locked phones don't have provision to add or edit APN details anyway, do they. From experience changing APN is something I've only done when I've changed SIM to a different carrier, which you can't do with SIM-locked phones AFAIK.

 

[mikedt]

I think I noticed this too when I traveled out of country and couldn't add an apn. Never did get service either, just gave up

I sometimes travel internationally myself, but when roaming I've not had to touch the APN settings to get data to work. On my phone it was still set to China Unicom APN, even when roaming in the UK on Vodafone or EE with the Unicom SIM.

 

[Justin Kahl]

This is a SIM-locked carrier(Verizon) phone? SIM-locked phones don't have provision to add or edit APN details anyway, do they. From experience changing APN is something I've only done when I've changed SIM to a different carrier, which you can't do with SIM-locked phones AFAIK.

https://www.droid-life.com/2018/10/19/verizon-stops-sim-locking-pixel-3-and-3-xl-for-now/

 

[codesplice]

Certain carriers can prevent editing/adding APNs. I see the same thing with my work-issued Pixel 3 on Verizon but I can edit the APN with my personal Pixel 3a on Fi (data-only SIM so it's not managed by the Fi app).

 

[Justin Kahl]

If they knew this was the case for network specific situations when they designed it to be toggled, I don't get why they wouldn't say so when they are instructing fixes or troubleshoots with specific pictures that say to check and edit your apn. I don't know why customer support wasted my time going through the 30 minute process of getting exactly where I was in the beginning with no apn editing lol.

 

[Hadron]

I have the "new APN" option in android 10 (Pixel 2). Try the little 3 dot menu button.

If it's not there then it's your carrier has suppressed it.

 

[Jfalls63]

If they knew this was the case for network specific situations when they designed it to be toggled, I don't get why they wouldn't say so when they are instructing fixes or troubleshoots with specific pictures that say to check and edit your apn. I don't know why customer support wasted my time going through the 30 minute process of getting exactly where I was in the beginning with no apn editing lol.

Sounds like the Trouble Shooting script that your customer service center used hasn't been updated to reflect the new reality.
Even with my OnePlus 6T, I'm only allowed to edit one field. All the rest are grayed out. All the 3 dot menu does for me is to reset to default.

 

[Hadron]

I have the ability to add everything manually (the image below is what the "new APN" button gives me, and I checked that a couple of them worked). So it's definitely not a general Android restriction.

Of course it could be that the restriction is baked in so that the carrier can activate it. I'm speculating because it seems odd for a OnePlus to be restricted (unless they do a version with VZW firmware?).

Editing the pre-configured APNs for my carrier is different: I can't change them at all (probably in the ROM somewhere).

 

[Jfalls63]

Definitely carrier activated but allowed by Google/Android. There was a lot of discussion about it from what I remember. The fact that Google catered to the carriers demand/ Wishes.
I think this was one of the things I found online about it and led me down the rabbit hole to XDA and a lot of other sites
https://amp.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/77c1dj/android_tethering_and_apn_carrier_config/