# Advice and opinions on antivirus/malware detectors for android **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998 "2021-02-16T00:01:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/1 "2021-02-16T00:01:06Z")
let me start out with an apology if any of you got an unwanted text spam from me earlier this afternoon at about 348 pm mountain time. My phone has some sort of malware. Tried avast, didn’t find anything, just now finished a scan with malware bytes as I type this (not on my phone), nothing found. Any reccomendations for anything else I should try? I’m not sure where I got this malware from, my browsing habits haven’t changed. I’m pretty certain why though. A few months ago, google changed chromium to allow their ads to bypass any and all blockers and settings limiting ads. I’m pretty certain, if not 100%, this is why and how. Bonus question, any good android browsers that are NOT based on chromium that are worth a damn? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/2 "2021-02-16T00:49:03Z")
I use Dr. Capsule. It’s free and I’ve never had any issues with it. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/3 "2021-02-23T06:25:20Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Bonus question, any good android browsers that are NOT based on chromium that are worth a damn? I’d assume Microsoft Edge for Android is based on chromium, but it _does_ have a halfway-effective “content” (ad) blocker based on Adblock Plus. I use it on all platforms, so the integration is a plus. It looks like Brave does an android browser; I haven’t tried it, but they have a fair rep for privacy. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/4 "2021-02-27T17:21:25Z")
I actually used edge for a bit some months ago. It’s no better and yes, it too is based on chromium. perhaps I should have asked if there are any browsers that aren’t based on chromium. The point is maybe moot,. Im on iPhone now and the iOS version of safari, well everything really, is crap also. Sigh ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/5 "2021-02-28T01:18:11Z")
IceCatMobile runs on Android and runs Ublock Origin and similarly important plug-ins. ETA re. “everything is crap” on iOS… why use it then? Re. mobile operating systems, even with modern powerful low-power CPUs, one performance issue that always bothered me is when they don’t bother to use an OS with true real-time scheduling. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/6 "2021-02-28T11:14:36Z")
DuckDuckGo browser is quite good. Has built in ad and tracker blocking. It shows the sites trying to track me. Google for example, pops up when I scroll through threads here. There’s a fire 🔥 icon that closes all tabs and clears the cache. That icon is very satisfying. Works great on most sites. I still use Chrome to log into sites to shop or pay bills. I like seeing the 🔐 on the address bar before entering a cc or logging into paypal. DuckDuckGo grades the connection. Like a B+ means it’s encrypted and trackers are blocked. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/7 "2021-03-01T03:46:26Z")
Because I just bought an iPhone after trying to figure out how my Samsung pos s10 got compromised. Now, I ain’t all that informed on phone security, but there are some basics that one does, or should take. Samsung and google have deliberately hamstrung many of those things. I still don’t know how mu phone got compromised but I wont be going back to android. maybe the apple software system isn’t so bad after I learn my way around it. Ive never really owned or used apple stuff. Basically Im starting from scratch learning this ios stuff ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-opinions-on-antivirus-malware-detectors-for-android/932998/8 "2021-03-01T20:14:05Z")
Unless you are installing apps from outside sources (not approved by Google Play) it’s pretty uncommon to get malware on android. I’ve been on android for years and done unsafe things like the above as well as rooting and it’s never happened to me once. I think most of the malware protection apps for Android are snake oil. But this doesn’t mean that _something_ didn’t happen though, like your contact Iist being stolen or your Google Play account being hacked, etc. If your android somehow does get malware do a factory reset on your phone and change your passwords. Without your phone being rooted there is no malware I am aware of which can survive a factory reset.