Everyone could get very unlucky and have a hard time getting it off their phone. You might have thought that you could not get viruses because they are made for computers, but they will run on your phone or tablet just like they were running on your computer. You must have a look at antivirus software, but you need to be much smarter about how you use them. You have to use your wits and need to be certain that you have found something that works.
Table of Contents
1. Do not get just any antivirus app
You cannot just take the first Android antivirus app that you have chosen. This means that you could actually introduce more viruses to your phone because you will actually get these viruses from fake antivirus companies. You have to do your research online, and then need to know what you can do to make the right choice. Choose the one which has the ability to remove Android adware as well as other malicious objects.
2. What should the app do?
You have to remember that all apps work differently, and they all have their own list of viruses that they will eliminate for you. You could get something that will just eliminate anything it finds on a large scan of your phone, but you might lose important large files that get mistaken for viruses. That also means that you have to remember that the app should give you an option to clean the phone and pick out things that are not viruses.
3. Removing Viruses
You should check out the viruses that all these apps remove because they are all different. You could get an app that only removes the most common viruses, or you could choose something that actually removes all the worst viruses. They put all the viruses that they combat in the update script for their app. You could read a pretty long list of these viruses, and should choose the app that actually has the most power.
You also need to look and see how these apps do their job because they are all different. You might run across some things that you did not know about, and that app might be the one to choose because you realize that app can actually clean your phone.
4. Quarantine
You need an app that will actually quarantine your phone and hold back any viruses that it detects. This is important because you get an instant look at the things that might have found their way onto your phone. It is true that it might take a long time for you to get rid of the virus, but you need to know that it is there. You cannot wait for your daily scan to find out that a virus has been on there all day, and you need the checkbox for alerts so that you can see the quarantine list.
5. Paid apps
The paid apps that you find online are not always better than free apps. You could run across a paid app that does not tell that you have to pay until the last second, or you could get an app that will only do so much until you pay. You should pay for anything until you know for a fact that the app works. To do this you need to go to the reviews because that is the only way that you can learn anything about how they do their work.
6. Checking reviews
The reviews that you find of these apps tell you what they do, and you often get a realtime look at what the app can do. The people who are leaving poor reviews give you an idea of what was wrong, and people who leave positive reviews are showing you that you can get an app that does just what it says.
7. Value
This is the point at which you have to decide if the app gives you value, and you might think that using the apps that are paid is just not worth it. You will probably just take your chances with the free apps, and that will be just fine for most people. However, you also need to look at free trials of the apps that are paid. You could get the free trial long enough to get the virus off your phone before canceling your subscription.
8. Speed
You need to get an app that will move fairly fast. You do not want to see your phone or tablet shut down for hours at a time while a virus or two is removed. This might not be worth it to you, and you need to know that the app works fast. You should consult with their customer service team if you think there are problems with how fast the antivirus app works, and you also need to be certain that you have checked yourself so that you can report it in the future.
9. Wiping Your Phone
There is an argument against having the Android antivirus app on your phone at all. You could actually ignore antivirus apps because they are not going to do anything for you except wipe your phone and cause more problems. You should never get an app that will actually quite your phone to get you cleaned up. There are apps that will actually do a full reset of your phone, and you do not want that.
10. Just delete the app for the virus
You might have gone through this whole process thinking that you have to have an app to do the job for you. You have to remember that you can just go into your phone and delete the app that the virus has put on your Android phone. Androids allow you so much more access than Apple phones, and you could completely ignore most of this just by deleting the app. If you have any other concerns, you might need to go into your file manager and get rid of the files that the virus put on your phone.