Official Download
Never download an Android app from a website or third-party vendor. It might be good to get an antivirus app for free or at a discounted price, but many of these apps are hacked. Someone can easily add a virus into the app that you won’t know about until it’s too late. While some official apps from the Google Play store have had viruses, this is very rare.
File Scanning
There’s no sense in downloading a security app unless it has scanning capabilities. This allows you to preemptively see if a file is infected with malware. The app will typically add a scanning button that appears whenever you are about to download a file. It might also scan it automatically and warn you of danger if the file has viruses.
This is especially important if you commonly download files from your smartphone from third-party websites. For example, websites with free games and movies have a lot of viruses. This feature will also allow the app to scan your existing files to see if anything has been infected.
User Interface
You don’t want to download an antivirus app that has a confusing interface. The app might be the best at stopping viruses, but it won’t be very useful if you don’t know how to make it work. Some apps even hide features and tools beneath several menus, which can be annoying.
The perfect antivirus app is easy to use. You should be able to access all of the main tools within a few seconds and the available options should be easy to understand. It should also be easy to use with your thumb, meaning that it has big buttons and adequate spacing between each button.
Effectiveness
An antivirus app should be good at detecting and removing viruses, but you’d be surprised by how many apps fail to recognize common viruses. These apps work by checking for virus signatures. If some coding looks similar to a signature, then it will scan the file to see if it’s malicious. This means that the app must have many signatures to detect common viruses.
Many budget apps only have a few thousand signatures, but you should choose one that has at least several million. You should also ensure that a security committee tested the app. This will show you how effective the app is at finding and erasing viruses.
Understands Android Environment
The Android technological environment is fairly open. App developers can ask for many access rights, the phone loves using GPS data and many devices have NFC chips. The best Android antivirus app will understand how the Android OS works and what shortcomings it has in terms of security.
Most antivirus apps are just mirrors of desktop apps. They block common viruses and malicious access methods, but they don’t consider the Android system itself. This might be a little difficult, but there are security apps that think about these problems.
Backup Features
The app should be able to backup your data just in case a hacker is able to delete some or all of your files. It will be annoying, but you’ll be able to restore all of the lost files within a few minutes or hours. Android offers some backup features, but it’s best if the antivirus app also offers it.
Conclusion
Protecting your Android device with a downloadable app is easy. You just have to make sure that the app has all of the right features to keep hackers at bay. It’s also best to get an app that understands the Android OS and its specific security problems.
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