Google’s Android is a most-beloved operating system. But as soon as you want to install an app from the company’s Google Play, you risk the security of your smartphone. So we compiled a set of applications which warn you if your handset is in danger. Here are the three most important ones in no particular order.
1. Norton Antivirus & Security
We are going to start off our list with Norton Antivirus & Security app. You can get this tool both free of charge and for a price. Naturally, the Premium version for which you need to pay ($30 annually) offers many more features than the free one. The costly variant delivers the following: password protection, schedule management, the possibility to lock the phone you use, antivirus, SMS and calls blocking, SIM lock via remote and the ability to look for something online in a safe manner. The version for which you don’t have to pay money can detect threats at a rate of 65-90%, which isn’t that great.
2. Lookout Security & Antivirus
If you aren’t content with the Norton Antivirus & Security app you can try our next pick. It’s called Lookout Security & Antivirus. It also comes in two flavors: a free version and a premium one. The latter will cost you $3 every month or $30 per year (this can be installed on two smartphones running an Android operating system). As always, the variant for which you have to pay has many more – and better – features. But that’s not to say that the free Lookout Security & Antivirus is no good.
This version is able to schedule threats scanning, comes with the option of tracking all the phone activity, the possibility to set an alarm and backup the contact list (into the cloud and is able to restore the contacts to your handset), it has an antivirus function and a smartphone locate technology (should you lose or have your smartphone stolen from you). The premium version has these nice features: private web browsing, remote lock and so on. The detection rate for the Lookout Security & Antivirus? Over 90%.
3. Avast! Mobile Security
Which leaves us with the last security app on our Best of list. This one is known as Avast! Mobile Security. This time around you only get a free-of-charge tool. But rest assured that it’s in no way inferior to the two apps we discussed above. The number of features found on this particular app is impressive. The most famous ones are Anti-Theft, Virus Scanner, Web Shield, Privacy Advisor, Firewall, SMS and Call Filter and, finally, Application Manager. The first feature finds your Android smartphone even if it is stolen or lost. The second feature is able to to scan the applications that have just been installed before their first use along with the usual scan of the applications installed on both the SD card and the phone.
Web Shield can scan the webpage you want to visit and display a warning message should you use a Web page with security problems. The Privacy Advisor is a feature that finds out if an app you wish to get is infested or not. The Firewall can shut down the web access when you use your smartphone on unsafe locations, like unprotected WiFi networks; but this feature will only work if your phone is rooted. SMS and Call Filter is another way of saying that you can perform filtering on the incoming calls and messages from your phone’s Contacts list. Last but not least, the Application Manager allows you to uninstall apps you don’t want to see on your handset anymore because they take too much space and so on.