com.samsung.android.provider.filterprovider Copy

A Samsung component that every observation on this site reports as "Filter Provider", untranslated in every locale recorded, so the label is a product name rather than a localised description. It is preinstalled, Samsung-signed with certificates this site also records as signing the framework, has no launcher entry on any of the 44 devices that report it, and is not marked Play-eligible on any observation, so on this sample it changes only with firmware. Samsung lists it by name and package in its Common Criteria mode application lists as far back as the Galaxy Note9 on Android 8, so it is a standard part of the Samsung image rather than a carrier or regional addition. Unusually for a component of this kind, Samsung does describe it. Samsung's own support article on the My Filters feature tells users that "the Filter Provider system app works alongside the Camera app" for filter creation, and that clearing this app's data through Settings and Apps is a remedy when filter creation misbehaves, with the warning that doing so may delete filters the user has already made. My Filters itself is the feature that lets a user build up to 99 custom filters from a photo in the Gallery, apply them from the Camera app's Effects icon, and tap "Download filters" to add more. A third-party firmware tree published on GitHub supports the same reading from the other direction: it carries native libraries named for this package, such as com.samsung.android.provider.filterprovider.libgreyscale.so, libcartoon.so, libfisheye.so and liboilpastel.so, under system/cameradata/preloadfilters, sitting beside similarly named libraries from third-party filter suppliers. That is a firmware dump rather than a Samsung statement, so it is offered as corroboration of where the preloaded filters live rather than as documentation. Consistent with a component that manages downloadable filter packs, this site's record shows it declaring REQUEST_DELETE_PACKAGES, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE, GET_INTENT_SENDER_INTENT, INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL, INTERNET, RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED and Samsung's own com.samsung.sea.retailagent.permission.RETAILMODE. Version note: this is a long-lived component that has been maintained rather than replaced. Samsung's application lists record version 3.0.21 on a Nougat era Galaxy S8 list, 3.0.40 on the Galaxy Note9 on Android 8, 5.0.09 on an Android 10 Galaxy S20+ and 5.0.27 to 5.0.32 on Android 11 devices, while this site's sample runs API 28 to 37 with versions 5.2.21 to 9.6.08, target SDK 29 to 37 and package sizes from roughly 289 KB to 739 KB. No change of role across those releases could be sourced, and nothing found suggests the feature has been taken over by a platform role holder or a Mainline module. For Android Enterprise, EMM and kiosk use it has no documented part in enrolment, policy or Knox. Its scope is a discrete user-facing feature, photo filters in the Camera and Gallery apps, so on a locked-down build where the camera is unused or filters are unwanted it is a reasonable candidate for removal. Two cautions apply. Samsung's documented remedy for filter problems is clearing this app's data, and Samsung warns that doing so may delete filters the user has already created, so disabling or removing the package may leave created filters unavailable. And Samsung publishes nothing about what else in the camera and gallery stack expects it to be present, so prove the effect on a test device before applying it to a fleet. Where it must be suppressed rather than removed, Samsung documents blocking a preinstalled app by package name through Knox Manage's application policies.

• Customize your photos with My Filters on your Galaxy phone or tablet - Samsung Support →
• Galaxy Note9 (SM-N960N, Android 8) Common Criteria mode application list - Samsung Knox Documentation →
• Galaxy S20+ 5G (SM-G986U1, Android 10) Common Criteria mode application list - Samsung Knox Documentation →
• Galaxy S21+ 5G (SM-G996B, Android 11) Common Criteria mode application list - Samsung Knox Documentation →
• Galaxy S20 5G (SM-G981U, Android 11) Common Criteria mode application list - Samsung Knox Documentation →
• Galaxy S8 (SM-G950U1) Common Criteria mode application list - Samsung Knox Documentation →
• Preloaded camera filter libraries in a published Samsung firmware tree - GitHub →
• Enable or disable a specific system app - Knox Manage - Samsung Knox Documentation →
• Package provenance for com.samsung.android.provider.filterprovider - Android System App Database →

• Signed by the device maker's own signing key (Samsung), so it is an OEM preinstall, but 2 different certificates appear across the fleet, so OEMs ship their own builds of it. It also signs the Android framework, so it is a platform-level key on its device(s). Inferred from the certificate appearing only on Samsung devices (508 packages, 10196 observations).
• Its largest observed manifest declares 10 permissions: 2 runtime (user-granted), 3 signature or system-level, 3 install-time and 2 vendor or uncatalogued.
• Never reported as user-facing, so it runs as a background or system component rather than an app the user opens.