Antivirus (lookout) worth it? Or battery eater? - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

Simple question really. I've been using lookout on my s3 since June 2012(ish) never saw a warning of any kind. Never blocked a web page that I'm aware of. Never warned me of malware. Scans everything I install from anywhere.
Curious if antivirus (like lookout) are worth it or just eat battery??
Sent using T999 with DarthStalker ROM

My opinion: worthless
Just be careful and watch what you download.
|When Emotion Goes Up, Logic Goes Down|
|Even If You Fall Face First You're Still Moving Forward|

I agree. The best Anti-Malware/AntiVirus is common sense.

Araltd said:
Simple question really. I've been using lookout on my s3 since June 2012(ish) never saw a warning of any kind. Never blocked a web page that I'm aware of. Never warned me of malware. Scans everything I install from anywhere.
Curious if antivirus (like lookout) are worth it or just eat battery??
Sent using T999 with DarthStalker ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using since my original droid more because of the locate feature. Granted there are other apps out there that do the same thing but lookout was one of the first so I'm just sticking with it. I've never considered it an anti-virus for web browsing though. There have been reports of it catching some things on play store but yeah idk lol.

I use it just like I do on my PC. My PC's malware blocks maybe 1 threat a year or less - I figure why not have Avast/etc in case something ever happens on Android ? I'm not seeing any difference in battery so it's just invisible to me.

It caused me drainage when I first got my phone...I removed it and never looked back. I do not always download on my phone so I never have to worry about virus and all that thing....but if you really need one try avast or advance system care for the mobiles.

btw just checked my batt stats, lookout isnt even showing up on my usage stats

Related

What Phone Security is necessary?

What kind of security is recommended to set up on phone? I.e virus scan, firewall etc.
Thanks.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I am currently testing Lookout Pro but I am new to smartphones so I would be interested in more experienced users responses.
Android is a modified Linux image. Linux needs antivirus like a fish needs a bicycle.
This is really a controversial issue, with most people seeing phone antivirus as not necessary. Personally I don't see the harm, Lookout is a good app that scans apps as well as locates your phone if it gets stolen. It's what I use.
Other than that just always use a secure wifi connection and only download apps you trust and you should be good to go!
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
I've been using lookout for almost a 2 months it drains my battery fast, but I still use it battery's not a problem though.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
It is *impossible* for an anti-virus to work on Android. If it did, then BY VERY DEFINITION, the anti-virus would actually be ***A VIRUS***. No installed application can access any data related to any other application unless either signed with the same private key (i.e., was produced by the same developer), or it is accessing information SPECIFICALLY SHARED by that other application.
Don't waste your limited brain capacity messing with antivirus nonsense. This concept only applies to MS WINDONKEYS, which has world renowned smoke and mirrors in place of ANY form of security.
A strong kernel is better than any kind of nonsense scanner.
dhkr123 said:
It is *impossible* for an anti-virus to work on Android. If it did, then BY VERY DEFINITION, the anti-virus would actually be ***A VIRUS***. No installed application can access any data related to any other application unless either signed with the same private key (i.e., was produced by the same developer), or it is accessing information SPECIFICALLY SHARED by that other application.
Don't waste your limited brain capacity messing with antivirus nonsense. This concept only applies to MS WINDONKEYS, which has world renowned smoke and mirrors in place of ANY form of security.
A strong kernel is better than any kind of nonsense scanner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I LOL'd.
10 characters
Been using cell phones for over 20 years, I have used just about every platform, I have yet to come across a virus on a cell phone, right now waste of money, memory phone resources etc.
Took you guys advice and removed the trial Lookout app from my phone, tks!
Quick question I only have been using lookout cause of the GPS tracking incase my phone got stolen anyone know any other apps that do just that without taking up a ton of resources and battery?
Ditto. Android's modified Linux. If anything, Antivirus is just gonna slow it down. Beside, it's awful hard for anything to gain root access (needed to actually infect the system) without ADB. Without this element, a factory reset would destroy any remnants of a virus if any such beast even exists for Android. I seriously doubt anyone has anything to worry about as far as this is concerned.
Most would-be thieves are stopped simply by potential consequences. They know there's a GPS chip in those phones. Theft of service? In a lot of states, automatic felony. If not, the value of the phone alone could push a felony. Who knows if you have GPS tracking software installed? The IMEI blacklist which is activated when you report your phone stolen, essentially rendering it useless? The fact that it's a federal crime simply to change the IMEI to get around the blacklisted number. So many things to think about. Cell phone theft just isn't that common anymore.
So the likelihood of your phone catching a virus? Slim/none. The likelihood of it getting stolen? Also slim. Unless some idiot really wants that phone, which'll shut off as soon as you report it stolen anyway.
I've been using Android since it came out on the G1. I say just enjoy it. Save your space for more useful (or fun) apps.

[Q] Lookout or Kaspersky?

I know some of you might say these kind of apps are useless but just for the sake of argument (and to feel safe since I had a issue with my phone days ago) which one gives more security to your phone? and which one is less heavy on the cpu and battery,Lookout or Kaspersky?
I know u don't want people to tell you that these apps are useless but corrent me if I'm wrong but you can't actually get viruses on phones. (As in Linux due to there being no executable file extensions).
Sorry I don't actually have an answer to your question but I doubt many people use these apps.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
It's certainly possible to get a virus on Android (Linux too for that matter), in fact there's been a few cases lately. I have no idea whether or not the risks are high enough to justify installing anti-virus software right now but I did for peace of mind.
As to which is better that's up for debate. Personally I settled for Lookout as it fit the bill nicely and didn't slow down my phone, but try both and see which you prefer.
Im using lookout atm and it doesn't seem to drain battery too much, with the new kernel and latest radio Im getting 24 hrs battery life with normal usage
If your DHD is rooted, etc... then just be mindful of what you are installing outside of the Market.
The recent incident involving malware in the Market probably would not have been prevented by these apps anyway as it happened very quickly. Google identified the apps in question, pulled them, pushed the remote kill-switch and issued a fix to affected handsets.
If your DHD is not rooted then there would be no need to have either of those, or any of those type of app. You are protected by S-ON, that alone will undo any system changes when you reboot.
Back to your question. I'd pick Lookout, it was the first you mentioned therefore your (subconscious) preferred choice.
I use Lookout also. The features are nice, and they send me weekly emails of what I did with my phone, and it backs up everything, has phone locator, phone wipe, and tells me when the definition database has been updated. It's a nice alternative to the ever-not-working HTCsense.com.

[q] sprint tep app

Was wondering if anyone has installed the TEP app from sprint. Is it worth doing? Is it a good idea or bad? What do you guys think? Are you using it?
I uninstalled. Seems like the same features of Lookout.
Sent from my virgin EVO
Uninstalled. Used too much battery and seemed to really slow my phone down.
thanks guys. I think ima stay away from it
In my experience, it drains the battery a lot less than Lookout does. But this also begs the question, why would you install Lookout in the first place?
Ya know...I just thought to try it but it was pointless as well. I don't need to know where my stolen phone is or wipe it remotely cause there's nothin private in it to wipe. Lmao
Sent from my virgin EVO
use it but... umm are you guys running gps location tracker? honestly i have it disabled cuz i leave gps on all day anyways and if it were to be "lost" i realistically should be able to get to a pc and get its location or make it start beeping. just my two cents on it. I use it can't say i love it but it works

Stock T-Mobile S3 Starting to Run Bad

I'm about 3 months in and its already running terribly. Totally stock. I mean I can't be the only person that had these issues Haha. This is my 4th Android phone since the G1. I've rooted and tried tons of custom ROMs on all of them except this one so far. Every time whether its stock or a ROM I get to the couple week or couple month point (never more than 3 months) and boom... lag, freezing, reboots, more lag, more freezing.
Do I just suck at owning an Android phone? The only thing I can think of that I might be doing "wrong" is having lots of apps/games installed but what good is a smartphone if you can't have a lot of apps/games installed?
I have 3 active widgets. A live wallpaper but I've tried getting rid of it and things are no better. A 64gb SD card that's mostly empty. 1-2gb internal storage free at any given time (I try to go through and delete games I'm never gonna play at least once in a while).
Battery life is abysmal. Like i said tons of freezing. Sometimes getting from my home screen to the dialer can take like a solid 10 seconds. Chrome freezes up constantly where nothing will happen for like 10-15 seconds. And today I just started getting random reboots.
Any thoughts or suggestions. I'm gonna try that carbon app to backup my game save data soon so I can bother myself with a restore but its gonna be a real pain and I just really hope it makes a difference.
Thanks for your thoughts
Dave
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Sounds like you got a lemon. I'd do a warranty exchange.
Probably this belongs in q&a unless you were just ranting
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
A lemon huh? Do phones start working amazing then work horrible if theyre lemons? I might really consider it. Since I'm in Vegas I might as well wait and see if I can get the upcoming LTE version.
I suppose it was mostly a rant. I can move it when I get home (out on the phone now).
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I commiserate. I really do. But, with the 2 in my possession I've kept for a long time there just aren't issues like that.
The g1 was first smartphone, too.
If I recall buying a new battery and doing tune ups (new software/apps), clearing the cache, etc. helped back then. And probably would, now.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Since it's working fine for a time, I'm going to say it's a software issue. Do you have Lookout (the security app)? It's either a poorly coded app or a malicious one. Can we see some of those battery stats?
have you tried removing the games from your phone?
I don't have lookout. Should I check it out?
And like I said, removing my games kinda defeats the purpose of having this big awesome smartphone. Although I do delete games on a regular basis...
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Did you update from ICS to JB without wiping? My wife's s3 (bone stock) had the same stuff going on after updating. It was all resolved with a factory reset.
It could also be other things.. Such as a rogue app eating up your ram.
Removing the games isn't supposed to be permanent. Just to help troubleshoot. Still haven't seen your battery stats. And yes, get Lookout, it's free.
Not sure which info you need to see regarding battery but heres a screenshot. Gonna check out lookout now. Also keep in mind leg/freezing is definitely more the issue than battery. Battery is terrible lately but I can live with that since I have chargers in every room, car, work, and one of those recharger packs haha
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I think it's likely that the two are part of the same problem. Get Lookout and run a scan. Also, pick up the free version of GSam Battery Monitor and see if that can provide any clues.
If you aren't using Maps, disable it. Likes to eat battery when it shouldn't even be running. I use Titanium Backup to make an enable/disable widget for Maps and Google Play Music. GPS will work fine without Maps. Don't need it.
Also, do a battery pull. If the battery isn't seated properly, it can cause atrocious life. Didn't think that could happen... until I saw it happen.
So the main lookout app found no issues but the lookout ad detector found 4 collect location information and 11 collect network information apps. I'm gonna go through them tomorrow. Some from a quick look are big games I play daily which obviously I dont want to remove but I'm sure that some I can.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Aerowinder said:
I think it's likely that the two are part of the same problem. Get Lookout and run a scan. Also, pick up the free version of GSam Battery Monitor and see if that can provide any clues.
If you aren't using Maps, disable it. Likes to eat battery when it shouldn't even be running. I use Titanium Backup to make an enable/disable widget for Maps and Google Play Music. GPS will work fine without Maps. Don't need it.
Also, do a battery pull. If the battery isn't seated properly, it can cause atrocious life. Didn't think that could happen... until I saw it happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do tend to use maps almost every day so not sure if I should disable it. Then again it does seem to run CONSTANTLY which i always found kinda ridiculous. Also I use play music every day but not the widget.
Had to do a battery pull earlier today when the device just shut off out of nowhere.
After looking at these ad network apps I'll check out that gsam battery monitor. Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Idk you might be having too many apps and games lol idk.. Like others have said factory reset, also you may have a lot of apps that demand notifications that could greatly affect battery life such as Facebook etcc.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I agree. Might be a bad app. Save your data and do a factory reset like it was mentioned. Should clear issues right up. If not then take the next step and exchange it if possible.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 using neighbors wifi
Besides the apps and games do you get a lot of pic messages and text from many people? Did you leave the auto delete after so many pic messages and text on or did you turn it off?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
No such issues on my phone, and a cheap $25-$30 hyperion battery will solve your battery woes.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Quick update. Woke up this morning and my phone was just off. Turned it back on, went to the bathroom, came back, it was off again. Got it back on and its running slow as hell but its on at least. This shutting off / rebooting stuff is new this week. Its terrible.
I guess im gonna try out carbon to back up my game data and see what I can do. It just really sucks if it turns out the issue is that a 16gb smart phone can't really store a lot of games. What a waste. Might as well carry an iPod touch and a flip phone Haha.
BTW I do get tons of text but I try to go in and clear those out every so often too. I never let my internal storage get below 1gb, 2 if I can help it.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
polarbearmc said:
Quick update. Woke up this morning and my phone was just off. Turned it back on, went to the bathroom, came back, it was off again. Got it back on and its running slow as hell but its on at least. This shutting off / rebooting stuff is new this week. Its terrible.
I guess im gonna try out carbon to back up my game data and see what I can do. It just really sucks if it turns out the issue is that a 16gb smart phone can't really store a lot of games. What a waste. Might as well carry an iPod touch and a flip phone Haha.
BTW I do get tons of text but I try to go in and clear those out every so often too. I never let my internal storage get below 1gb, 2 if I can help it.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wtf dude ? just return it...
Matrix_19 said:
wtf dude ? just return it...
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they better not charge me $150 or whatever the deductible is after only 4 months. bah...

[Q] WTF is up with the ads on the boostcharge lock screen page?

Take a look at this.
http://i.imgur.com/ydNoXSa.jpg
It's ridiculous. It's such an inappropriate place for Asus to advertise to me. Does anyone know how to disable this page without disabling the Boostcharge tools?
Does AdAway remove those ads? I haven't tried, had to replace my ZenFone and haven't rooted it just yet.
is this ASUS apps? what is the name of the APPS?
MashedBrotato said:
Take a look at this.
http://i.imgur.com/ydNoXSa.jpg
It's ridiculous. It's such an inappropriate place for Asus to advertise to me. Does anyone know how to disable this page without disabling the Boostcharge tools?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not seen this before... am I missing something? what is boostcharge tools? ;
It's part of the Clean Master app that came preinstalled. I'm not sure if it's bogus or not, but it claims that it regulates the charge cycle so that you don't overcharge your battery. If that's true, I don't want to disable it, since that's a nice feature, but I certainly don't want these godawful ads every time I unlock my phone while it's charging.
This looks like something pushed from an app you've downloaded.
Sammaul said:
This looks like something pushed from an app you've downloaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://itechuout.blogspot.com/2015/04/cm-lock-screen.html
There's another screenshot of it. It's not something else that's being pushed there. I assure you I'm not naive enough to download anything that would give me crap like that.
Cleanmaster is little better than adware...one of the first things I did was uninstall it. It hurts your battery life as well. Use the ram cleaning tool asus provides instead. Also...ASUS should know better than do force that crapware on us, however if it is the only way they are making money on the phone....
Sammaul said:
Cleanmaster is little better than adware...one of the first things I did was uninstall it. It hurts your battery life as well. Use the ram cleaning tool asus provides instead. Also...ASUS should know better than do force that crapware on us, however if it is the only way they are making money on the phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the charge manager do anything? It claims that it boostcharges to 80%, then normal to 100%, then trickle charges to keep the phone charged without overdoing it. Is that all a load of BS? I'm really hoping it is, cause this is awful.
MashedBrotato said:
http://itechuout.blogspot.com/2015/04/cm-lock-screen.html
There's another screenshot of it. It's not something else that's being pushed there. I assure you I'm not naive enough to download anything that would give me crap like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I realized after you mentioned Cleanmaster....as I said above it was one of the first things I removed. It does more to kill your battery now than help.
Sammaul said:
Cleanmaster is little better than adware...one of the first things I did was uninstall it. It hurts your battery life as well. Use the ram cleaning tool asus provides instead. Also...ASUS should know better than do force that crapware on us, however if it is the only way they are making money on the phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I uninstalled it too... figured it was crap ; this kinda reinforces that initial thought haha
MashedBrotato said:
Does the charge manager do anything? It claims that it boostcharges to 80%, then normal to 100%, then trickle charges to keep the phone charged without overdoing it. Is that all a load of BS? I'm really hoping it is, cause this is awful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that in the Cleanmaster app?
Sammaul said:
Is that in the Cleanmaster app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is.
MashedBrotato said:
It is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just get rid of it. I doubt it does anything that is worth constant ads pushed on your lockscreen regardless. If you have the 64 gig version you have a quick charger anyway.
MashedBrotato said:
Does the charge manager do anything? It claims that it boostcharges to 80%, then normal to 100%, then trickle charges to keep the phone charged without overdoing it. Is that all a load of BS? I'm really hoping it is, cause this is awful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what the charger does by itself. Basically you're letting them show you ads in exchange for showing you what the charger is doing. Feel free to uninstall Cleanmaster and freeze the app, it won't harm your battery health at all. You can still use Asus' RAM clearer with Cleanmaster frozen.
MashedBrotato said:
Does the charge manager do anything? It claims that it boostcharges to 80%, then normal to 100%, then trickle charges to keep the phone charged without overdoing it. Is that all a load of BS? I'm really hoping it is, cause this is awful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rydare said:
That's exactly what the charger does by itself. Basically you're letting them show you ads in exchange for showing you what the charger is doing. Feel free to uninstall Cleanmaster and freeze the app, it won't harm your battery health at all. You can still use Asus' RAM clearer with Cleanmaster frozen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As he said. This is done by every charger on every damn phone. Nothing the app can do. Stupid scareware tactics. They could even get sued for such claims.. if someone bothered to file a lawsuit that is
cleanmaster just can be useful to clean junk..other than that, its a crapware..i removed it since the first day i bought my zf2..
Just swipe the ad to the left and it will close. Ads haven't shown up after I've done that.
It appears all the Chinese care about anymore is loading their phones with junk, ads, spyware, malware anymore. It's sickening. My Lenovo K3 note even came with Trojans on it, according to malwarebytes.
Can anyone help, I am getting a similar issue on my Galaxy Note 4 and it is killing my phone!!! It looks a bit different to this 1 (I don't know how to post a picture on here?)
My phone is now Really slow, all the time! Unlocking the phone is also a torture as I have to swipe away this charging/lock/add screen then get my security screen and enter it before my screen times out and goes black. As my phone is slow u can imagine this is a torture!
I have tried to find the app and can't find it anywhere. I know all the apps that show up in app manafer and it's none of them. Unless it is hidden within an app or somewhere in my OS now? I have tried multiple anti-virus/malware apps and none of them find a problem.
How to I find it and get rid of it? Please help!
Thanks
D

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