Samsung Notes APK broken by Racoon?

[Anubiska]

Hello!

Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 / SMT860
ROM: AOSP 13 GSI

After installing the Samsung Notes APK from Racoon, the app instantly crashes when opening.

com.samsung.device.jar has been placed in system/framework and com.samsung.device.xml in system/etc/permissions to ensure the apk installs correctly and is compatible.

APKMirror's version of Samsung Notes works, though.

I compared both apks and noticed that the APK Mirror version has a bunch of modifications.

I don't want to use APKMirror, could you help me find out what changes need to be made so I can install the official APK from Racoon?

Thanks! 🙏

[jpstotz]

For different devices you may be able to download different versions of Samsung Notes from Google Play Store.

The nice point on APKs is that if you have one APK from a source you trust and a second from an untrusted source you can verify the APK signature and if they both use the same signature you have a cryptographic proof that untrusted APK is also trusted. So instead of fiddling around with modifications of your GSI image to make it more Samsung I would simply use apksigner verify --verbose --print-certs (not jarsigner!) from Android SDK and compare the shown signer certificate and public key SHA-256 digest.

[Anubiska]

Thank you for the quick reply, you're awesome!

Yes, the results are the same on both, you are correct.

APKMirror Version Samsung Notes: com.samsung.android.app.notes_4.4.10.57-441057000_minAPI23(arm64-v8a,armeabi,armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com

Racoon Version Samsung Notes: com.samsung.android.app.notes-440724000.apk

Verified using v1 scheme (JAR signing): true
Verified using v2 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v2): true
Verified using v3 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v3): false
Verified using v4 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v4): false
Verified for SourceStamp: false
Number of signers: 1
Signer #1 certificate DN: [email protected], CN=Samsung Cert, OU=DMC, O=Samsung Corporation, L=Suwon City, ST=South Korea, C=KR
Signer #1 certificate SHA-256 digest: 34df0e7a9f1cf1892e45c056b4973cd81ccf148a4050d11aea4ac5a65f900a42
Signer #1 certificate SHA-1 digest: 9ca5170f381919dfe0446fcdab18b19a143b3163
Signer #1 certificate MD5 digest: d087e72912fba064cafa78dc34aea839
Signer #1 key algorithm: RSA
Signer #1 key size (bits): 2048
Signer #1 public key SHA-256 digest: 0470be656b9375d253fbb94c3a87dc7040e2f2760c19c4292eb62cc68e02de4a
Signer #1 public key SHA-1 digest: df1e4fd4fc2ebfc187f79309dfc6a4c662bda4d0
Signer #1 public key MD5 digest: 7c6371f33db3b4361504cb13beb6e818

But, when I extract both apks I can clearly see that almost every file in the APKMirror version is slightly bigger than the official Racoon downloaded version. Every text file, folder structure and even the AndroidManifest.xml is slightly or significantly bigger. The APK Mirror version also has some additional files that are missing in the official version. So I don't understand why the verity checks out, but I still don't want to use it.

Do you know why the APKMirror version works and what changes had to be made to achieve this? I would even be willing to pay for the answer, because if it's possible, I would rather just modify the official version downloaded by Racoon.

[Anubiska]

Another thing I would like to mention is these warnings, which include files that aren't protected by the signature.
These warnings appear with both versions.

WARNING: META-INF/com/android/build/gradle/app-metadata.properties not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.activity_activity-compose.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.activity_activity-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.activity_activity.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.annotation_annotation-experimental.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.appcompat_appcompat-resources.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.appcompat_appcompat.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.arch.core_core-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.asynclayoutinflater_asynclayoutinflater.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.autofill_autofill.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.biometric_biometric.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.browser_browser.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.cardview_cardview.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.animation_animation-core.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.animation_animation.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.foundation_foundation-layout.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.foundation_foundation.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.material_material-icons-core.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.material_material-ripple.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.material_material.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.runtime_runtime-saveable.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.runtime_runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui-geometry.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui-graphics.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui-text.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui-tooling-preview.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui-unit.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui-util.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.compose.ui_ui.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.coordinatorlayout_coordinatorlayout.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.core_core-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.core_core-splashscreen.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.core_core.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.cursoradapter_cursoradapter.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.customview_customview-poolingcontainer.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.customview_customview.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.databinding_viewbinding.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.datastore_datastore-preferences.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.datastore_datastore.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.documentfile_documentfile.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.drawerlayout_drawerlayout.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.dynamicanimation_dynamicanimation.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.emoji2_emoji2-views-helper.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.emoji2_emoji2.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.fragment_fragment-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.fragment_fragment.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.interpolator_interpolator.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.legacy_legacy-support-core-ui.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.legacy_legacy-support-core-utils.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.legacy_legacy-support-v4.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata-core-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata-core.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-livedata.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-process.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-runtime-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-service.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-viewmodel-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-viewmodel-savedstate.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.lifecycle_lifecycle-viewmodel.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.loader_loader.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.localbroadcastmanager_localbroadcastmanager.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.media_media.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-common-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-common.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-fragment-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-fragment.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-runtime-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.navigation_navigation-ui.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.paging_paging-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.palette_palette-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.palette_palette.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.preference_preference-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.preference_preference.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.print_print.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.profileinstaller_profileinstaller.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.recyclerview_recyclerview.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.room_room-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.room_room-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.savedstate_savedstate-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.savedstate_savedstate.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.slidingpanelayout_slidingpanelayout.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.sqlite_sqlite-framework.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.sqlite_sqlite.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.startup_startup-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.swiperefreshlayout_swiperefreshlayout.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.tracing_tracing.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.transition_transition.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.vectordrawable_vectordrawable-animated.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.vectordrawable_vectordrawable.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.versionedparcelable_versionedparcelable.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.viewpager2_viewpager2.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.viewpager_viewpager.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.window_window.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.work_work-runtime-ktx.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/androidx.work_work-runtime.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/com.google.android.material_material.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/kotlinx_coroutines_android.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/kotlinx_coroutines_core.version not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/native-image/io.sentry/sentry/native-image.properties not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/services/kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineExceptionHandler not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.
WARNING: META-INF/services/kotlinx.coroutines.internal.MainDispatcherFactory not protected by signature. Unauthorized modifications to this JAR entry will not be detected. Delete or move the entry outside of META-INF/.

[jpstotz]

In my understanding APKMirror is an managed APK sharing site, so people can upload and download APKs and then some admins and/or an automated process decided if the uploaded APK is published. In addition they describe that cryptographic signatures are checked for apps they already have in their catalog, so accepting a new version is a bit similar to the update process Android performs when an update APK i installed.

In your warning output you unfortunately removed an important information: Those warnings are only relevant for APK v1 signatures (jarsigner signatures). That is one of the reasons Google introduced APKv2 and v3 signatures. Recent Android version (11+) do no longer consider APKv1 signatures as sufficient. I am not sure if they only check it in addition to an v2 /v3 signature or totally ignore it. So APKv1 is only for Android 6 and lower.

[Anubiska]

Ah I see, so the APKMirror version is just updated, but still authentic due to the signature. Thank you.
One last question if you don't mind.

Most of the apps downloaded by Racoon are split in multiple apks. Mostly there is a base apk and various config apks. But the same app on APKMirror is always available in a single apk.

On the raccoon website this is mentioned, saying that split apks can be reverse engineered and combined into a single apk. My question is how it is possible for APKMirror to do this while still having it signed?

Take the app Squid for example.

Latest version of Squid downloaded by Raccoon:

com.steadfastinnovation.android.projectpapyrus-3100400.apk
config.arm64_v8a-3100400.apk
config.en-3100400.apk
config.xxhdpi-3100400.apk

Latest version of Squid from APKMirror (same signature):

com.steadfastinnovation.android.projectpapyrus.3.10.4.0-GP-3100400_minAPI21(arm64-vBa.armeabi-v7a.x86.x86_64)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk

How is this possible?

I've been going crazy building AOSP while trying to include these split apks of Squid as a system app with
LOCAL_SRC_FILES for the base.apk and LOCAL_PACKAGE_SPLITS for the config apks in the Android.mk file. This fails of course. But the one single app from APKMirror gets built and works. It annoys me that this isn't possible with only trusted sources like Racoon.

[jpstotz]

Usually split APK files only have advantages for Google and the Android users (less used bandwidth, not wasting space on the phone for code, images, layouts... you will never use). Only app downloaders prefer all-in-one-APK files as they are easier to handle.

Technically you can combined multiple split APK files into one APK, but the created APK file will never be properly signed. So they have to get those APK files directly as they are.
I am not sure where those sites get the all-in-one APK files, may be third party app stores or very old [virtual] devices that do not support split APK files (AFAIR minimum Android version for split APKs was 5.0) or may be they simulate very old Google Play Services version.

[Anubiska]

Apologies for the off topic question, but since I have the APK masters here I thought I'd give it a shot.🙏

I need to get Samsung My Files working on my Samsung Tab S6 running AOSP 13.
I'm using Samsung Notes on it which requires the My Files file manager to browse for PDFs, but after installing the APK from APKMirror it just crashes immediately.

To make Notes work I had to copy some files from my stock Samsung firmware over to AOSP. com.samsung.device.jar to system/framework and com.samsung.device.xml to system/etc/permissions

I remember that Notes crashed instantly as well before I ported the files above. Is there a similar set of files that needs to be copied in order to allow MyFiles to work?

[jpstotz]

Sorry but I can not help you on that topic as I don't use Samsung devices. In the end my recommendation is to stay with your Samsung stock ROM or migrate to a generic non-Samsung specific notes app if you want to use custom ROMs.