Please please PLEASE update the VoLTE compatibility list

[emmeka]

I just got through a support ticket of trying to ascertain whether a phone I wanted to buy has VoLTE support on Public Mobile's network. The support worker's response to my question was to "check the compatibility list once a week to see if there is any update".

Thing is, this is terrible advice because the actual device compatibility list (here: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/volte) has never been updated and is absurdly out of date. It hasn't been updated at all since VoLTE support was first announced in 2022, and doesn't have a single device newer than 2022 on it, all of which are now discontinued. That doesn't mean no devices newer than 2022 support VoLTE on the Public Mobile network, plenty do. It's just that there's absolutely no way to check, which is why I was trying to ask for an answer via a support ticket.

And that's absolutely ridiculous. It's absurd given how close we are to 3G sunsetting and PM dropping 3G support in the 850Mhz band, that there is literally zero way to know in advance if any modern device you want to buy will even work on Public Mobile's network in a year or two. You literally just have to hope someone has mentioned a specific device somewhere in the responses to the countless Community posts about VoLTE or gamble on a device and hope it works. Even Public Mobile's own support staff apparently has no idea what the actual list of compatible devices is, or that the list they do have is incomplete and basically useless.

If they're going to have such a stringent whitelist for VoLTE (which is ridiculous in its own right - Telus and Koodo both have nearly universal VoLTE support for devices from the past few years while support on Public Mobile remains absurdly spotty on the same network for no reason) the very least Public Mobile can do is give us an up to date whitelist so we can actually know what phone we're even supposed to buy. So please, can we just get a proper, up to date compatibility list? Is it that hard?

[hTideGnow]

hi @ONE2 

Dunkman is the Oracle in the Community and Oracles talk to PM team directly.  So, you got the reply from a person with link to the direct source (PM)

as far as your list, PM's whitelist is Apple iPhone 8 & Above, Pixel 4 and above, Samsung S22 & above

and here is the full list
https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/volte

[ONE2]

What's the source of this information?

Interesting it has to be 2025Q3 when Telus already has a working IMEI checker & Koodo has a list.

I appreciate Koodo's blurb about compatibility with Telus' VoLTE network and the minimum models supported (followed by more comprehensive device listing):

- Apple iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and newer
- Apple iPhone SE 1st generation and newer
- Google Pixel 3, 3 XL, and newer

The simplest solution is sometimes the best.

[emmeka]

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@Gregoire wrote:

In the meantime, perhaps one can create a service ticket with the phone they are considering to buy to see if they are VoLTE compatible? I feel this is the only way for more recent phones outside of the ancient list Public Mobile created.

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As I mentioned in this post, I tried that and it didn't go well. The support worker's response was that if it's not on the existing list, it's not supported (which is wrong), and to "check the VoLTE list weekly for updates". The only real thing anyone has to go off of that has been figured out purely through collective trial and error, is that any model that is just the newer variant of an older model on the existing list seems to usually work. So the logic goes that the s25 should be fine, because the s21, s22 and s23 are on the old 2022 list. We have no way to guarantee whether that's the case, and neither do the support workers, unfortunately.

[hTideGnow]

hi @Gregoire 

as the list suggested, S22 and above will work with VoLTE here.  And my family has S25 and using VoLTE and voice calls without trouble. So, get it, it is a great photo 

[Gregoire]

Thank you for bringing this up emmeka. It's so true that there is no real list out there. I will soon have to replace my beloved s10e and have no idea if the s25 is VoLTE compatible. Hopefully this post brings attention to the issue. In the meantime, perhaps one can create a service ticket with the phone they are considering to buy to see if they are VoLTE compatible? 
I feel this is the only way for more recent phones outside of the ancient list Public Mobile created.

[hTideGnow]

thanks @Dunkman for sharing the good news. Looking forward to see the new tool 

[Dunkman]

@emmeka 

Just want to update this post. 

It does look like that PM is working on a VoLTE compatibility checker.  Tentative date for quarter 3 of this year.  

[funpig1]

@emmeka 

I agree with you 100%. 

I feel bad for those unsuspecting new customers who port in and find that their phones do not work on the PM network.  IMO, they deserve compensation for being mislead into switching and suffering inconvenience.

[emmeka]

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@will13am wrote:

The problem with trying to maintain a comprehensive list is that there are way too many android devices out there. 

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Every other carrier maintains a comprehensive list that is up to date, including Koodo. I do not know why you think this is impossible for Public Mobile to do. Telus even has an automated IMEI checker for VoLTE compatibility.

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As an android user, I can tell you that I believe that pretty much all relatively current devices running at least android 13 will work fine. 

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This is untrue, plenty of modern devices from later than 2022 in fact do not support VoLTE on Public Mobile. But this is also a perfect illustration of the problem: "you believe" this to be the case based on pure guesswork, and we have absolutely no up to date list to verify this, because there is no comprehensive compatibility list.

[hTideGnow]

hi @emmeka 

if PM is like Koodo 100%, why they need to be a separate brands?

PM is providing bear minimum service.  So, it support basic Canadian phones.  For other phones, if they work, great, if not, then remember, those are unsupported models then.

[emmeka]

This type of guesswork about what will and won't work and to what degree is exactly what I'm complaining about. We shouldn't have to read the tea leaves to try and figure out if a phone will or won't work on the LTE network. Every other carrier has a simple, reliable way to check if your device will work with VoLTE. In the case of Telus, it's a simple IMEI checker. In the case of Koodo, it's an up to date device list on their VoLTE help page. But for some reason we are Public Mobile get the short end of the stick and have to try and do guesswork based on three year old, never updated FAQ. It's ridiculous.

[hTideGnow]

hi @emmeka 

you will have good luck to stick with phones that are designed and sold in Canada.   If you are buying non Canadian models, even they work, they might not work as well.  This is true even with the major Tier 1 networks

[TheSterlinger]

From my understanding,  the list is not controlled by Public Mobile; it is the phone manufacturers that has to enable an update to their phones to allow VoLTE. 

Once they do this, Public Mobile adds the products to the list.

[will13am]

@emmeka , what phone are you trying to use on this service that concerns you about its VoLTE compatibility.  The problem with trying to maintain a comprehensive list is that there are way too many android devices out there.  It is unfortunate that the agents would not be able to provide an exact answer unless they tested the device themselves.  As an android user, I can tell you that I believe that pretty much all relatively current devices running at least android 13 will work fine.  

[Handy1]

@emmeka  All good points , it’s why I just stick to iPhones and Samsung as they generally always safe bet to work with all public mobiles features