SKMSAgentService: SKMS Agent Service

Wondering about the SKMS agent service on your phone? Concerned about the app stealing your data? Are you sure that the app is not malware on your phone stealing your data? Learn what SKMS is and what it is used for on your phone. See What are the advantages and disadvantages of SKMSAgentService? Learn how you can remove the app without losing any of the critical data. See how you can use the Android Debug Bridge to remove the app from your phone.

Before we can jump to the Q&A, we need to understand what SKMS agent service is and why we need it in the first place.

What is SKMS Agent Service?

The SKMSAgentService is an internal/system app that comes pre-installed in Samsung phones. However, you can not see the app icon or open it like normal apps because it’s not for the user but for the device. These “system app” are critical for the functioning of your phone which means removing them is simply not an option. There are a number of different system apps which handle you being able to use the screen to be as insignificant as changing text.

The SKMSAgentServive is used for supporting the NFC (Near Field Communication) operations on your device using the eSE (Embedded Service Element). SKMS stands for “Service Knowledge Management System ” which is composed of tools and databases which are used to manage information on your device. eSE stands for “Embedded Secure Element” and is responsible for ensuring that the data is stored in a safe place, we can also see it as a temper-proof chip on our device.

What does SKMSAgentService do?

It is responsible for managing the SKMS protocols and eSE commands which handles the interactions between SKMS, client apps, eSE.

In simple words, we can say that it is used for performing “silent logging” on your device. This allows your device to share information with another device via the NFC chip, you must be familiar with NFC. It is used for transferring any information with a simple touch of two phones, or the tap to pay feature on the phone as well as your credit card.

Without this app, we would not be able to use the NFC feature on our device. So we can say in the end, SKMSAgentService supports the communication between NFC and eSE chips or NFC and the applications.

What are the advantages of SKMS agent service?

We have already discussed the utility of the app in the previous sections and you now know that it is used for NFC and eSE services. But along with these features, the app also supports data protection while transferring information via eSE. This should remove the question from your mind whether the app is useful on your phone or not. We will be discussing the utility of the app in the next sections.

What are the disadvantages of SKMS agent service?

Now we have talked a lot about the advantages of the app, but what about the disadvantages of the app? Now the main problem which many people will have issues with is the high battery usage by the app which you don’t have any control over. This will affect the battery life of your phone a lot and will get worse over time. You must have noticed that when you see the battery usage, android OS will be consuming more power than you expected. This is due to the fact that there are a number of different apps like skms that use more power.

Along with the first issue, the app also uses a lot more RAM than you would expect it to. More RAM usage means that your phone will start to hang and it will feel slower and laggy. However, the app alone is not responsible for using most of the space consumption, other apps along with it are responsible.

So the downsides are not much when compared to the upsides, and you can reduce battery and RAM consumption by simply keeping the NFC feature off from the top menu.

More info on SKMS

You can skip this section if you are not interested in knowing more about the SKMS and its layers. But if you decide to stick with it, we will be seeing the basic functionality of SKMS.

Now SKMS in general is used as a synonym for “collection comprising databases & tools” or repository which provides IT services. The repository we are talking about here is responsible for presenting, collating, updating, analyzing, collecting, and more when sharing information with other companies. Now there are a number of layers which is included in the SKMS:

• Data and Information Layer: It is responsible for the collection and conversion of raw data into useful info.
• Information Integration Layer: It is responsible for processing and integrating the info from the data layer.
• Knowledge Processing Layer: It is responsible for breaking down the info from the information layer and preparing it for application in particular areas.
• Presentation Layer: It is the last layer and is responsible for assigning services to clients.

What permission does it need?

There’s only one permission that the app needs and it is Storage if you want to check yourself. Follow the steps mentioned below to see the permission:

1. Open your smartphone and go to Settings.
2. Now look for Apps and then tap on it, once opened click on the three dots at the top of the screen.
3. A menu will open, tap on “Show system apps” and more apps should be visible in the list.
4. Search for SKMSAgentService and tap on it once you find it.
5. Now tap on Permissions and check if it has Storage permission or not.

From here you can see if that app has Storage permission, if not then you should give it the permission.

NOTE: If the app has any other permission then you can remove them since the app does not need them.

There are other apps such as com.wssyncmldm and com.Tmobile.pr.adapt along with SKMS which need permissions to perform their functions. Some apps require more than one permission, you must have noticed it when using any app which asks you for multiple permissions.

Can I remove SKMS Agent Service?

In a nutshell, YES, but you should not remove it since it is an internal app and is required if you want to keep using the NFC feature on your smartphone. You use NFC in your daily life without even realizing such things as transport, access control, ticketing, payments, etc. The application is thus very important for the android OS and removing it can cause inconveniences in the future.

This is why it is best to not remove the SKMSAgentService, and even if you want to remove it then the task is not easy.

If you feel like the app is some kind of virus or trojan, then rest assured as the app is completely legitimate. The app comes preinstalled along with the Android OS and can be found in almost every Samsung phone. Some people claim that it is bloatware or even a virus-like OMACP, which is not true at all. The app does not steal any of your information or private data. Hence, we should not remove the app even if we feel like it’s occupying useful space. But if you still feel strongly about removing the app then we will be seeing how you can do it in the next section.

How can I delete SKMS Agent Service?

We need to carefully remove the app without losing any of the critical information in the process. The proper way will only remove the files which are related to the SKMS app and will not affect other important files. Follow the steps mentioned below to remove the SKMSAgentService:

1. Open your smartphone and go to the Playstore.
2. Here search and install “App Remover”, it’s not important to download any specific app, you can download any which you want.
3. Once installed, open the app and it will automatically show you all the apps on your device.
4. Now select skmsagentservice from the list and tap the uninstall button.
5. Tap “yes” when asked for confirmation, now the app should be uninstalled and you will not see it anymore in the list.

If this is not working for you or you are not able to see the app the first time in the app, then move to the alternative method for removing the app.

Alternative method

We can remove skmsagentservice in an alternative way with the help of ADB “Android Debug Bridge”, this will allow us to create a UNIX shell to remove the app. If the previous method is not working for you then we should try this. Follow the steps mentioned below to remove the app:

1. Start your phone and open Settings -> System -> About phone.
2. Now tap on the “build number” about 10 times, you will see this message “You are 9 clicks away from being a developer”. Do this until you see the message “You are now a developer”.
3. Go to Settings -> Developer Options -> USB debugging, if you are not able to find it then search developer options in the search bar.
4. Download ADB on your Windows desktop and open the zip file.
5. Extract the zip file and open the folder, click SHIFT + double click on black space, and click “open the PowerShell window here”.
6. Once the PowerShell opens, enter “ADB services”, use a USB cable, and connect the phone with the desktop.
7. Type “ADB shell pm uninstall -com.skms.Android.agent” on your device and wait for the skmsagentservice app to be uninstalled.

Now the app should be uninstalled and you will no longer be able to see it in the settings. But if the app is still not removed then there is no other way of removing it without deleting other critical files.

Summary

In the article, we learned about the SKMS along with what are the uses of skms agent service. This is a very critical app if you want to use the NFC feature on your device, this is why we do not recommend users to remove the app under any circumstances. You may not use the NFC feature directly but indirectly like making payments like Samsung pay or connecting your Bluetooth devices with a simple touch.

There is a lot of utility with the NFC chips, you may not feel like using them today but later you may be tempted to use them. Later you will have no choice but to reset your entire device since you can not download the app independently. Along with all the advantages, there are no downsides to having the app on your phone since it does not occupy much space nor use any of your data in any way.

But if you still feel like removing the app then follow the guide and DO NOT remove the app directly as it can cause a number of problems that you will not be able to fix without resetting your device.