Cell Broadcast Service

The background service that decodes cell broadcast messages and checks alert areas before emergency alerts are shown. Keep it: Cell Broadcast Service is needed for the phone, its updates or its security.

What it does

Cell Broadcast Service is the service half of Google's build of the CellBroadcast Mainline module. It decodes cell broadcast messages coming from the radio, checks whether a geotargeted emergency alert applies to where you are, filters duplicates and passes the result to the Wireless emergency alerts app for display. It runs in the background whenever the network sends a broadcast.

If you disable it

Emergency alerts stop reaching the alerts app, so you may miss them.

How to disable it

On most phones Settings greys out Disable for this package, so ADB is the way to turn it off. The commands below work without root and can be undone.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.google.android.cellbroadcastservice

adb shell pm enable com.google.android.cellbroadcastservice

The stronger option removes it for your user only; the original copy stays on the phone and a factory reset brings it back. Prefer disabling: it is easier to undo.

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.cellbroadcastservice

adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.cellbroadcastservice

New to ADB? Set it up in about ten minutes.

Data and battery

Reads incoming broadcast messages and may compare an alert's target area with the phone's location; nothing is sent back.

Where it appears

• Made by Google LLC.
• Android versions: 11 and later as a module.