Apparatus and methods are disclosed for a multi-SIM/multi-standby wireless user equipment (UE) configured for tune-away operations enabling simultaneous communication on multiple subscriptions using a shared RF chain while maintaining an ongoing signaling procedure on a primary subscription. The UE performs a signaling procedure with a first network associated with a first subscription, and decodes a downlink channel of the first network during an initial period of a transmission time interval (TTI). If the decoded downlink channel indicates that no data of the first subscription is destined to the UE during the current TTI, the UE tunes away to a second subscription to receive data from a second network associated with the second subscription.