How to prevent phone operator from opening spam popups?

Question

My phone operator, Movistar Argentina, is sending a lot of spam. I managed to block most of the SMS, however it has now also started opening ad popups on my phone (see below).

I've looked at How do I block this (carrier) advertisement dialog? but I cannot find the "SIM Toolkit" app anywhere on my phone to disable it. Is there any other way to block this?

Desactivate: adb shell pm disable-user com.android.stk
To activate again: adb shell pm enable com.android.stk — aDoN, Aug 27 '20 at 12:37
On a Dual SIM phone I additionally had to use adb shell pm disable-user com.android.stk2 to disable both. By the way, the advice works and the SIM Toolkit applications do not reappear after phone restart. — Vyacheslav Lanovets, Jun 15 '21 at 07:07

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:18

This generally seems to be done as a 'value added service' in the Andriod SIM Toolkit, as per this question here.

However, in this case it may be a Cell Broadcast.

Cell Broadcast is designed for simultaneous delivery to multiple users in a specified area. Whereas the Short Message Service-Point to Point (SMS-PP) is a one-to-one and one-to-a-few service (requires multiple SMS messages, as each message can only carry one phone number), Cell Broadcast is a one-to-many geographically focused messaging service. Cell Broadcast messaging is also supported by UMTS.

If you go to your SMS app and go SMS > Settings > Cell Broadcast and disable it, this should stop this popup.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 07 '14 at 15:33

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If that can help someone, the app I needed to disable was /system/app/Stk.apk and it was called "Services SFR v4.1.2-LL__zg".

answered Oct 07 '14 at 15:33

laurent

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Sorry, I didn't understand. What do you mean by 'it was called "Services SFR v4.1.2-LL__zg"'? Isn't it just Stk.apk? – Luis A. Florit Sep 03 '15 at 15:00
@LuisA.Florit, I guess it's a custom service by the phone operator (SFR), so it would be called differently on a different phone. – laurent Sep 03 '15 at 15:31
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You mean the process/service, or the APK? How did you discover the actual name? I just renamed Stk.apk, but not sure if that will do it. La RPTMQLP a las operadoras de telefonia!! – Luis A. Florit Sep 03 '15 at 15:37
@LuisA.Florit, to discover it I think I've used "Root App Delete". In there, you can open "System apps" and view all the apps, including those that are normally hidden. You can then search and disable the app from there. – laurent Sep 03 '15 at 16:16
Removed the APK and disabled cell broadcasts. No more spams! – Luis A. Florit Sep 16 '15 at 14:18
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Stk is probably shorthand for SIM Toolkit – Display Name Jan 19 '16 at 18:35
I closed it but looks like it opens again. – master_dodo Dec 27 '16 at 08:38

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 01 '15 at 19:51

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Unless your are root-ed, you won't be able to uninstall it. It is bundled with your SIM (damn modern world...) and you can only "force stop" STK services for current session: go to your Settings-Apps-All and stop "SIM Toolkit" and "Cell Broadcasts".

They will restart on next boot.

answered Jun 01 '15 at 19:51

Dima Gram

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In my case it restarts right after disabling it (damn modern world) – golimar Jun 29 '18 at 16:31

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 08 '14 at 01:44

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Try looking in Settings -> Apps -> swipe to the right until you get to the "all" tab, and then scroll down until you see "SIM Toolkit", at which point you should be able to tap on it, force stop it and disable it.

answered Jul 08 '14 at 01:44

keepcalm

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"SIM Toolkit" is not on my list. There is one with my Cell company name instead, but it does not allow to be turned off. – Luis A. Florit Sep 03 '15 at 15:00

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 14 '14 at 09:59

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Try turning off 'Cell broadcasts' under the SMS app's settings menu. (it was there in my Samsung TW ROM)

answered Jul 14 '14 at 09:59

Bodo

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 21 '18 at 16:22

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As it looks it may be a operator service (here in india called flash services/flash messages) you can disable it by contacting with your service operator or can be disabled by sending a message (methods can very from operator to operator)

or either it can be a cell broadcast you can disable it by going to sms settings (cell broadcast in android version upto oreo )(wireless alerts on android pie)

answered Oct 21 '18 at 16:22

tycoon

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This is a very obnoxious thing to get rid of, and never could get rid of it. I could surely freeze/force uninstall the app as root, but I ended up being unable to place or receive any calls, and ultimately got my phone soft bricked (if you reboot with it uninstalled). I did try to contact the carrier, they said they disabled it, but after some months the popups came back. Even as root, it's difficult to get rid of it, but I am sure there IS a way (at least as root). – Renato May 13 '19 at 12:27

How to prevent phone operator from opening spam popups?

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