Android package names explained: how to read and look one up

Every app on an Android phone has two names. One is the label you see, such as "Samsung News". The other is its package name, such as com.samsung.android.app.spage. The package name is what Android uses internally, what ADB commands need, and what you see in Settings when a system part has no friendly label. Once you know how to read it, most mysterious entries stop being mysterious.

What is an Android package name?

A package name is an app's permanent, unique ID. Google's developer documentation calls it the application ID: a dotted name, chosen by the developer, that identifies the app on the device and in the Google Play Store. Two rules follow from that:

• Only one app with a given package name can be installed on a phone at a time.
• The name never changes. If a developer renames an app or redesigns it, the package name stays the same; a new package name would be a different app as far as Android is concerned.

That is why the same package name can carry different labels over the years. Samsung News, for example, has also shipped as Bixby Home, Samsung Daily and Samsung Free under one package name.

Why does it look like a reversed web address?

Developers are asked to start the name with a domain they control, written backwards, so that two companies never pick the same name. Google uses com.google, Samsung uses com.samsung, Motorola uses com.motorola. What follows is up to the developer, usually the product and the component.

So com.google.android.apps.maps reads as: Google, Android, an app, Maps.

How do I read the prefixes?

These are the prefixes you will meet most often in a system app list:

A prefix tells you who made a package, not whether you need it. com.android.phone is essential; com.android.egg is the hidden Easter egg. Check each one.

What do the endings tell me?

The last part of the name often describes the job:

• provider or providers: stores shared data for other apps, such as com.android.providers.contacts for your contacts. Leave these alone.
• service or services: runs in the background for other apps.
• overlay: changes the look or settings of another package, often for a carrier or a theme. It has no code of its own.
• module: an updatable part of Android that Google refreshes through Google Play system updates.
• stub: a tiny placeholder that downloads the full app when you first open it.
• ims, vvm, carrierconfig: calling, visual voicemail and carrier settings.

How do I find an app's package name?

Use whichever of these is easiest:

1. From the Play Store. Open the app's page in a web browser. The address ends with id= followed by the package name; for example, Android System WebView's page ends in id=com.google.android.webview.
2. From App info. Some phones show the package name at the bottom of the App info page or under App details. Others show it only for system parts with no label.
3. From ADB. List every package, or search for a word:

adb shell pm list packages
adb shell "pm list packages | grep weather"

4. From the app on screen. Open the app, then ask ADB which window has focus:

adb shell "dumpsys window | grep mCurrentFocus"

5. From the file. To see where a package's file lives, which hints at whether it is a system app:

adb shell pm path com.google.android.webview

Paths that start with /system, /product or /vendor are preinstalled; paths in /data/app are installed or updated apps.

If ADB is new to you, see how to set up ADB.

Can a package name be trusted?

The exact name, yes: Android will not let a second app take a name that is already installed, and updates must be signed by the same developer. The trap is a lookalike, such as an extra letter or a familiar word in an unusual place. If a name almost matches a known system part but the app shows Uninstall rather than Disable, or came from outside a store, look closer. Our guide to hidden apps on Android lists the checks.

Where can I look up a package name?

Type any package name or app name into the package lookup. Documented packages open a page with what the package is, who put it there, what it does, a verdict (Keep, Safe to disable, Advanced or Do not remove), what breaks if you disable it, and the sources. To check a whole phone at once, paste the output of pm list packages into the package-list audit. The package index lists everything we document.