com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver Copy

This is the CellBroadcastReceiver, the default Android app that receives and displays cell broadcast alerts, usually surfaced to users as "Wireless emergency alerts" or "Emergency alerts". It handles emergency and non-emergency broadcasts such as national or presidential alerts, amber alerts and severe or extreme threat warnings, presenting them based on carrier and regional regulations. It is part of the CellBroadcast module and, on the site, is signed with Google and OEM platform keys. Version note: since Android 11 the CellBroadcastService and CellBroadcastReceiver ship together in a single updatable APEX (com.android.cellbroadcast), signed with a Google signature rather than the platform signature, so the alert handling can be updated through Google Play independently of full system updates. This AOSP com.android.cellbroadcastreceiver is the module's receiver app, and its package name doubles as the runtime resource overlay (RRO) target used to customise the CellBroadcast module (for example alert dialog colours and dimensions or which channels are enabled). Which receiver is actually live depends on the build: on Google Mobile Services devices the active receiver is generally the separately-listed, Google-signed com.google.android.cellbroadcastreceiver, and this AOSP package is typically the inactive fallback, so disabling it there does not usually stop alerting. On AOSP or non-GMS builds this package is the active Wireless Emergency Alerts app. The "generally active on GMS" split rests on the receiver-selection configuration and the two packages coexisting rather than a single authoritative document, so confirm on the target device (for example with "pm list packages -e") before acting. For Android Enterprise, EMM and kiosk use this package should be treated with care rather than removed as routine debloat. Emergency alerting is safety- critical and is governed by carrier and regional regulations, so disabling the active receiver can suppress legally significant public-safety warnings. On a GMS device this AOSP variant is usually the inactive fallback, where disabling it typically has no effect on alerting; on an AOSP or non-GMS device it is the live alerts app and must not be disabled. Because the effect is device- dependent, verify which receiver is enabled before touching it, and prefer adjusting individual alert categories in Settings, where policy and local rules allow, over disabling the app.

• CellBroadcast - Android Open Source Project →
• Package signer and observation data - sysapps.bayton.org API →

• Signed by Google's own signing key (the same key Google uses across devices), so it is a Google-provided preinstall that updates independently of the system image, though 27 different Google signing keys appear across the fleet. It also signs the Android framework, so it is a platform-level key on its device(s).
• Its largest observed manifest declares 19 permissions: 4 runtime (user-granted), 10 signature or system-level, 4 install-time and 1 vendor or uncatalogued. The signature/system share marks it as a privileged component, not an ordinary app.
• APK size ranges from 0.7 MB to 10.0 MB across the reporting device profiles, so the build differs substantially between them.
• Never reported as user-facing, so it runs as a background or system component rather than an app the user opens.