com.sec.imsservice Copy

Samsung's IMS Service: the vendor implementation of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) stack on Galaxy devices. Android does not ship an IMS stack of its own. Since Android 9 the platform has exposed a SystemApi interface called ImsService, which AOSP describes as a well-defined interface between the Android platform and a vendor or carrier-provided IMS implementation. An implementation that supports voice and video extends the MmTelFeature base class, and the framework binds to it based on carrier configuration or a device overlay. On Galaxy hardware this package is that vendor implementation. In our sample it is signed by Samsung OEM keys that also sign the Android framework, and it has no launcher entry, so it is a preinstalled system component; AOSP states plainly that Android does not support apps with third-party downloadable ImsService implementations. IMS is what carries voice and messaging over IP instead of the legacy circuit-switched network, so this package sits underneath VoLTE (Voice over LTE), Wi-Fi Calling (VoWiFi) and video calling. Samsung's own support guidance for Wi-Fi Calling shows the same dependency chain from the user's side: the feature needs an active SIM or eSIM on a carrier that supports it, and Samsung notes that on AT&T phones VoLTE must be turned on before Wi-Fi Calling can be activated. A related but separate component, com.android.imsserviceentitlement, performs the GSMA TS.43 entitlement check that some carriers require and is documented separately on this site. For Android Enterprise, EMM and kiosk fleets, the assumption that a SIM-less or data-only device makes this component irrelevant is worth resisting. AOSP distinguishes a carrier "override" ImsService, bound only when a matching SIM is inserted, from a device "default" ImsService loaded by the OEM, which it describes as useful where the device has no SIM card inserted or the inserted SIM has no carrier ImsService, and which it states MUST support the Emergency MmTel feature. Whether Samsung registers this package as the device default, as a carrier override, or as both is not something we can source, so the prudent assumption is that it may sit in the emergency IMS calling path even on a device with no SIM. Combined with the risk of breaking VoLTE and Wi-Fi Calling on devices that do make calls, that makes disabling it a poor trade on almost any fleet. It plays no part in enrolment or management, so there is no management benefit to weigh against the risk. Version note: the builds recorded here run from 1.0 to 6.0.260703.0 with target SDKs from 31 to 36, observed on devices from API 28 through API 37, so it spans several Android and One UI generations rather than one release. The platform side of this area has moved over time: ImsService arrived in Android 9, and Android 12 added support for TS.43 service entitlement. How Samsung's own implementation has changed across One UI releases is not documented publicly and is not something we can source.

• Implement IMS - Android Open Source Project →
• IMS service entitlement - Android Open Source Project →
• Turn on Wi-Fi Calling on Galaxy phones - Samsung US →
• Package provenance for com.sec.imsservice - 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 72 permissions: 14 runtime (user-granted), 19 signature or system-level, 9 install-time and 30 vendor or uncatalogued.
• APK size ranges from 4.4 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.