There’s no need for an Android antivirus

Yes it’s true, you mai say goodbye to antivirus on your smartphone.

The idea of antivirus protection on Android devices came like an inertia from Windows systems, where antivirus protection is almost always needed.

What’s the thing with Android antivirus software?

For a long time now, there weren’t actually any Android viruses, or better said “malware”. Since there were no actual dangers, it would be useless to keep an active antivirus protection. However major antivirus vendors could not simply ignore the Android ecosystem, which became the largest mobile operating system in the world.

If at first, antivirus software was pretty much useless on Android, they came up with various eye-candy maintenance features such as freeing up RAM, clearing cache, etc.

There are currently a number of active Android threats, and it seems that all antivirus vendors are ready to burst out a loud “Told you!”. However, there’s a difference when compared to windows, as antivirus software is still not so useful here. Android is endangered by way more complex threats, and viruses are nowhere to be found.

Can we keep an antivirus-free Android?

Unlike Windows, Android users are not directly granted administrator access, thus apps and services cannot install out of the blue. To gain administrator access on Android devices, you need to root the device first.

There’s no 100% protection

The thing is, no matter how sophisticated, there’s no such thing as a bulletproof operating system. For the average user, default Android protection is good enough. You just need to keep an eye open on what you’re downloading or installing on your Android device.

How to protect against malware?

1. Don’t unlock the Bootloader just for fun
2. Don’t root the device unless you know what you’re doing
3. Don’t install shady ROMs
4. Don’t ignore OS warnings
5. Do not activate “install APKs from unknown sources”
6. Do not install cracked apps

The most annoying stuff.

The easiest way to get infect is through your web browser, which can be used to slither malware into your phone. There are annoying pop-up ads which can’t get you infected quickly.

What’s the default protection from android?

1. Apps are often scanned in Playstore and on the device
2. When malware is detected, it is automatically eliminated from your phone
3. Warnings about downloading dangerous executables
4. The phone doesn’t offer ROOT access by default
5. By default, the phone does not allow for unknown APKs to be installed.