one line answer, “because people get money when they do it.”“
but since this is an article, I (am an android user myself) will take you to the root of the problem and suggest some ways around it, and yes, you can call me santa because, at some point, this is exactly what you wanted, out of frustration.
alright, first let’s break down a situation, you chose an android device over an iphone to save money, and it was all fun and games until one day, you decided to visit an unauthorized site (can’t name it, this is an article for the whole family) and a bunch of weird popups appeared on your screen and some weird app just started walking comfortably inside your phone and you’re confused… I mean you didn’t plan or want that to happen. happen.
but back to our original question,
“Why do apps keep installing themselves?”
Well, it turns out that for every minute you spend online, every app you install, every ad you see, someone is making money. It doesn’t matter if you are using any social media or surfing the internet, reading articles or just using “those sites” for research purposes. you don’t pay for all of that directly, but they earn money every time you use them.
So some developers write little scripts on their websites that make your phone install certain apps or .apk files or other things by itself, as soon as you visit those sites. Of course, you can uninstall/remove them later, but this will surely irritate you.
“But isn’t that illegal or something?”
no, this is just an irritating way to make money since it (usually) doesn’t deal damage. however, some sites may insert viruses, malware, or Trojans onto your devices, so you should update your antivirus.
But how to prevent that?
since you know why rome fell, let me suggest some ways to prevent that from happening. and of course they are extremely simple and free, because I’m a broke idiot.
Method #1: Block installation of apps from unknown sources
enable unknown sources will allow the download and installation of applications from any website over the internet. You can disable this feature, which will prevent apps from downloading themselves.
follow the steps mentioned below and learn how to disable unknown sources on android devices:
- first open settings > security on your android device.
- now in the security section, uncheck the unknown sources option which says “allow installation of apps from unknown sources”.
- then simply touch the accept button to confirm the changes.
disabling unknown sources on android phone or tablet will stop installing apps from sources other than play store.
Method #2: Remove PUAs
This is the most important solution that will help you prevent apps from downloading by themselves on android phones and tablets.
Many adware and spam applications stick to famous applications that are safe and are downloaded by users. applications are installed as updates and the user thinks that these updates are for the genuine application that he has installed.
If you know of any apps that show similar behavior, you should remove all those unwanted apps and then disable automatic app updates on your android devices.
Method #3: Turn off automatic updates
If you want to completely prevent unwanted apps from automatically downloading on android devices, you should also disable auto-updates in google play store. Here’s how to disable automatic app updates on android devices:
- at first, open the play store app on your android device and then tap the menu icon.
- then you need to tap settings > auto-update apps option.
- now select “don’t auto-update apps” option to disable auto-update apps on your android device.
once you’ve disabled automatic app updates in the google play store, you can manually allow updates to install whenever you want. this way, nothing will be updated without your permission.
method #4: revert to stock rom
Are you using a custom rom on your android smartphone? If yes, then this is also a good reason why you are experiencing the problem that random apps keep installing on your android device automatically.
You need to recover the default stock rom that was available for your android smartphone as it should fix the app auto download issue. installing stock rom on your android device will restrict the installation of third party apps that we usually see with custom roms.
method #5: sign out and change the password of the google account
It is also possible that your google account has been compromised, leading to the problem that random apps keep installing themselves in the background without your knowledge.
As a safe practice, please log out of the google account on your android devices and then change the password.
Here’s how to sign out of google account on android smartphone and tablet:
- first open settings and then touch accounts or users & accounts option.
- then touch the google account and select the gmail account you want to sign out from.
- on the next screen touch the menu icon 3 dots and then select the delete account option.
- if the confirmation box appears, tap the delete account button to sign out.
Once you have signed out of the google account on your android device, please change your password and sign in again. As all old sessions will be cleared, it should stop installing random apps on your android device.
Method #6: Restrict Background Data
restricting background data is also one of the most useful ways to prevent unwanted automatic downloads of apps on android. all malicious apps consume background data/wifi connection to download apps automatically or upload your valuable data, logs and passwords to hackers in the form of image.
But if you restrict background data usage on your android phone, malicious apps will not be able to silently download or upload to your phone in the background. Here’s how to restrict background data on android devices:
- firstly open settings and then tap data usage option.
- now select each app one by one and turn on the option “restrict app background data “.
- then simply tap the accept button to confirm the changes.
Once you have restricted background data, it will prevent auto-downloading of unwanted apps on your android smartphone and allow only those apps which you have allowed from settings manually.
method #7: disable automatic restore
Factory reset on android is also a good option to consider if apps are automatically installed on android devices. Factory reset will delete all the files and settings you have on your android smartphone or tablet, so make sure you have a backup of your android device.
But before you factory reset your phone, make sure that the automatic restore option is not enabled. Here’s how to disable auto restore on android devices:
- at first open settings on your android smartphone or tablet.
- now scroll down and tap backup & reset option.
- then touch the back up my data option and then toggle the switch to disable data backup.
- if the box appears confirmation, touch the accept option to continue.
now you can factory reset your android device. and since auto restore is disabled, it would prevent all unwanted apps from resetting after factory reset. therefore, all the bad apps that were previously present will not be restored to your device.
So, here are some ways to restrict apps or sites from downloading things you don’t want on your phone.
……alternatively, you can buy an iphone.