Skip to main content

Avoiding Junk Phone Apps

In previous articles we’ve talked about keeping your computer safe from malware and from excess apps and files that can slow down your performance. What we haven’t talked much about before is the best way to protect your phone. The truth is that while your phone is safer from malware than your PC in many ways, you still need to be careful about what you download, and be aware of what certain apps are doing with your data.

Malware

Now, you may be thinking, “can my phone really get a virus?” The answer is “yes, but…” While there are legitimate malware threats out there that can infect your phone, there aren’t many programs that really infect your phone the way malware infects your computer. This is especially true for iPhones, since Apple’s “walled garden” development philosophy heavily restricts the access third party apps have to the device’s basic functions.

So, in other words, malware for phones does exist, but most of the time the threats to your phone are going to come from apps that misuse your data or that interfere with your user experience in some unpleasant way (usually by causing ads to pop up on your phone or trying to trick you into downloading other apps).

Pay Attention to Permissions

The first thing you need to look out for if you want to protect yourself from junk apps on your phone is apps that request permissions that don’t seem to have anything to do with their function. Why does that Solitaire app need access to location services? What does a flashlight app need with your contact list? A lot of these apps will ask for access to information stored in your phone that has nothing to do with the app’s purpose. Now, to be fair, the fact that an app asks for access to information it doesn’t need isn’t necessarily an indication that something nefarious is going on, or that the app’s developer is stealing and selling your data. But whether they’re misusing your data or not, it’s generally best not to give an app permission to access anything that isn’t directly relevant to its function.

Speaking of flashlight apps, you should probably just avoid them entirely. These days both iOS and Android have built-in ways to turn on the LEDs on your camera, so flashlight apps are entirely redundant, and while many of them are probably innocent, why risk the chance that one will misuse its access to your system?

Beware of System Cleaner Apps

Another kind of app you should probably avoid is the kind that claims to clean up your system and improve your phone’s performance. A lot of these apps promise to clean up cached data left behind by deleted apps or to improve your RAM usage by closing apps that are running in the background, all in the name of improving your phone’s performance and battery life. The truth is, though, that these apps aren’t actually doing you any good. When they’re running they use system resources just like any other app, just to do things that you don’t need an app for. You can clear out leftover data from old apps on your Android phone in just a couple taps in Settings, and both iOS and Android do a fine job of managing RAM usage without any help from a third party app.

To make matters worse, a lot of these apps display ads when you’re using them, which means they’re not just using your phone’s battery and other system resources, they might also be using up your cellular data. Some of them can even get pretty invasive with their ads, and some try and convince you to download other apps that can be similarly invasive.

So, to sum up, your phone’s operating system generally does a pretty good job of keeping itself optimized, and it does it without using extra system resources or impeding your user experience with ads like many optimizer apps do, so your best bet is to just avoid this kind of app.

At Phone Medics Plus, we don’t just want to be here for you when your phone breaks. We want to make sure you have the best experience with your phone you can. If you’re having problems with your phone, you can call us, schedule an appointment online, or just bring it to us at 91 E. Merritt Island Causeway and we’ll help you get it taken care of.
Labels:
Location: 91 E Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island, FL 32952, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Managing Android Data Usage

If you’ve spent much time as a smartphone owner, you know the feeling of using up your cell phone plan’s monthly data allowance before the month is over. It’s especially frustrating if you aren’t even sure exactly how it happened. Fortunately, at Phone Medics Plus, we’ve got some ways you can take control of your phone’s data usage and keep from going over your limit. In our last post we talked about some of the ways to do that on your iPhone . Today we’re going to talk about how to manage your Android device. Data Limits Android has a fantastically helpful feature for managing your data usage built right in. If you go into Settings, then tap Data Usage, Billing Cycle, and Data Limit and Billing Cycle, you’ll see a series of options to help keep you from going over your monthly allotment of data. You can put in the details of your cell phone plan - how much data you’re allowed per month, and when your billing cycle renews - and see how much data you’ve used in the current cycle. Y...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Backup Your Computer's Data

At Phone Medics Plus, we aren’t just committed to fixing your phone or PC when something goes wrong, we also want to give you the tools to keep your devices running well, and to help you minimize the inconvenience when something does go wrong. That’s why we’re going to spend our next few blog posts talking to you about how to keep your data backed up. Today we’ll cover backing up the data on your computer. In our next couple of posts, we’ll discuss backup options for the data on your iOS and Android device. Data Loss: Not If, But When The unfortunate reality of life in the electronic age is that it isn’t a question of if you’re going to suffer a data loss on your PC or mobile phone, it’s when. Data loss happens to all of us sooner or later - a hard drive fails, important files accidentally get deleted, a laptop gets misplaced or stolen or damaged, and suddenly all the family photos, important documents, and other data on your device are gone. If you don’t have backups, the l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Things To Do Before Selling Your Computer

There comes a time in the life of every PC when you find that you want or need to move on. Whether your computer needs a repair that’s too costly, or it’s getting older and outdated, or a shiny new model just catches your eye, eventually you’ll find yourself with a computer that needs a new home. At Phone Medics Plus , we want to give you the tools and knowledge you need to make the transition to your new PC as smooth and painless as possible. That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to the things you need to do before selling your computer. Backup Your Stuff The first thing you need to do before selling your computer is backup your stuff. There are a few different methods for doing this, but for the purposes of selling a computer, the best and simplest way to backup your data is to simply transfer it to an external hard drive. Make sure you have a drive large enough to store the files you want to save, plug it into your computer, then you can just copy the files and folders you ...
Post a Comment
Read more