Why do I have com.vzw.apnlib on my phone when I don't have Verizon as a carrier?

[Android Central Question]

I got a notification from my Norton security app that I have unusual behavior, the app is com.vzw.apnlib. After looking into it, looks like it's an app from Verizon. I have Cellcom as my provider not Verizon.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Which phone do you have? Did you get it directly from Cellcom, or from somewhere else? If the phone was originally from Verizon, or if it was an unlocked phone that's compatible with Verizon, that could explain why that APN library is present.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

My assumption is because cellcom sells you Verizon service. Like most small carriers, they don't actually have a network, they are a partner for Verizon and you are actually using Verizons network.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yep, L0n3N1nja's right: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellcom_(United_States)

 

[Capt BJ]

I have this on my phone as well, & I would like to know WHY it's there.
I have a Samsung Note 8 that I purchased directly from Sprint.
Furthermore, I cannot find this app in Google Play under my "Installed apps,"
so it seems like there something fishy going on here.

Can anyone help with this?

 

[B. Diddy]

See this other thread for my thoughts on that: https://forums.androidcentral.com/a...apps-brand-new-tmobile-phone.html#post6528269

 

[The Stryker]

I have this on my phone as well, & I would like to know WHY it's there.
I have a Samsung Note 8 that I purchased directly from Sprint.
Furthermore, I cannot find this app in Google Play under my "Installed apps,"
so it seems like there something fishy going on here.

Can anyone help with this?

This came on my factory unlocked Galaxy Note 9 which I use on varied mobile networks, with different sim cards depending on where I am around the globe... From what I can gather, it's an assistant service which ships with the phone from the factory, preinstalled, to allow connections to Verizon Access Points (APN) should you want to use the Verizon mobile network on your mobile Android device.

I too like many users have had this app flagged by my anti malware setup on my phone as possible malware & while I'm almost totally sure it's function is to be a "helper app" in initializing/maintaining connections to Verizon's mobile data network for certain mobile apps, the jury is still out on if it can definitely be disabled safely or not it seems...

I've seen non Verizon Wireless users claim to disable this system app without any issues, while I've also seen VZW customers report that disabling it has had zero effects on their connections to 3g and 4G-LTE mobile data on that network, however I've also seen posts/reports that disabling it can prevent other user installed & system apps from properly connecting to VZW's mobile network if disabled.

My conclusion is that whether it's part of the Verizon mobile suite of apps, a connection helper app to the Verizon network (which your smaller, non Verizon mobile carrier may use as their network under a licensing agreement) or if it's simply bloatware, I've seen more discussions stating that it's smarter to keep it on/running than I have seen reports or forums stating that it should be disabled unequivocally.

So in my (admittedly amateur) opinion, unless you're identifying a specific privacy threat to your non Verizon Wireless mobile device (or non 2nd party licencensed carrier company's device that's using Verizon's mobile network), I wouldn't disable it if you want to ensure all apps can utilize mobile data on your Verizon Wireless Network mobile device. It doesn't seem to be doing anything too invasive with sharing private information or compromising me on my device in other ways, so since many reports & forums are saying it's basically harmless, without an identified threat to point to as a result of this app, if you're a VZW customer or your carrier uses the Verizon Mobile Network to serve your device, I wouldn't risk messing up the capabilities of any apps or processes which may rely on it.

 

[CSharpner]

I have a T-Mobile Galaxy S10 that I bought from T-Mobile. I've not rooted the phone. This app is on my phone. It appears everyone is assuming this is a Verizon app because it has "vzw" in the file name. I'm not saying it's NOT, but do we have anything else to go on other than it has "vzw" in the title? Verizon & T-Mobile are not compatible networks (unless that's changed), so it wouldn't make sense to put Verizon apps on a T-Mobile phone.

Is there an official answer or documentation anywhere? After lots of web searching, I couldn't find anything other than guesses.

 

[B. Diddy]

The networks may not be compatible, but the phone itself is compatible, so my suspicion has been that this is something many phone companies preinstall in case the user ever brings it to Verizon. But sorry, I haven't found an official answer yet.

 

[polive96]

verizon makes system app devs run their network connections through this library to not affect network data usage limits. your phone must of been verizon at one time or was flashed with a verizon build.

 

[joeldf]

verizon makes system app devs run their network connections through this library to not affect network data usage limits. your phone must of been verizon at one time or was flashed with a verizon build.

And, after almost 5 years later, this may not matter anymore.