One of the major problems with smartphones is the people continue to think of them as phones, and forget about what makes them smart. What makes them smart, of course, is a computer CPU inside of it. This computer, like all others, is vulnerable to viruses. You know that it’s important to have virus protection on your computer, and it is therefore important to choose one of the Android virus protection apps.
This need for virus protection is not a theory. There have been some very damaging viruses on the Android recently and in the past, this includes:
- HummingBad
- Metaphor
- QuadRooter
- Copycat
- SpamBot
And many, many more still. The best way to protect your Android smartphone is by installing one of these five virus protection apps, along with a powerful VPN for your encryption needs.
Five Android virus protection apps
McAfee Security and Power Booster
You can’t make a list of the best virus protection apps on any platform without including McAfee on it somewhere. They’re one of the most trusted names and antivirus, and they offer exceptional service at all levels. And by all levels, I mean that even their free version is still decent.
You can use features such as:
- Device Lock: You can lock your device remotely if you lose it.
- Remotely Wipe Data: You have the option of doing a complete factory reset, or only wipe select data when your phone is lost.
- Backup & Restore Data: Did you just do a remote wipe? You can restore it to a whole new phone with this feature.
- Locate, Track & Alarm: This allows you to turn on an alarm when your phone is lost, track it through GPS, and ultimately locate it through McAfee’s website.
Upgrading to the paid option, at $2.99/month or $29.99/year, adds on important features like backup services, and phone support for when you need help with something.
The silliest thing is the last part of the name, the ‘power booster’ part. It’s an absolutely useless feature, and I’m a little embarrassed for them for including it. You can just ignore it and it will make no difference.
Kaspersky Internet Security
Right after McAfee, Kaspersky is probably the second most well-known name in the world of antivirus. They have developed a very strong app for Android devices as well, and it includes a free version that is actually pretty decent. Some of the features you get with the free version include:
- Scanning for malware
- Scanning for viruses
- Protection for your calls, SMSs, and contacts
- Blocking unwanted phone calls
- Filtration of dangerous URLs
- Cloud protection
- Anti Theft features
The only major complaint with it it is that it is a rather large program. Those with older devices, such as my beloved Samsung Galaxy S2, or those who have a lot of apps on their smartphone, may have a small issue with fitting it on their device.
Avast Mobile Security
Avast is likely a name that you know from the PC world. They have recently started expanding into smartphones, and their Mobile Security app is the latest for Android. They have wasted no time in developing a high-quality Android virus protection app, with over 100 million installs already happening.
These 100 million installers have enjoyed some exceptional features:
- An Antivirus engine
- A useful call blocker
- A privacy adviser tool
- Firewall protection
- WiFi Scanner
- WiFi Speed Test
The features above are the free features of the app. Some of the cutting edge paid features include:
- App Locking: This allows you to lock apps, which is handy if you like to let your children use your phone. But it is also useful against intruders.
- Remove ads: This is a built in ad blocker, much like others we have talked about before.
- Avast Direct Support: This is a support form inside the app, allowing you to quickly contact their support team.
With the yearly subscription rate of just $8 per year, this may just be the best deal out of all 5.
AVG AntiVirus
This is a slightly less popular name from the PC world, but it has still amassed over 100 million installations. This may have something to do with the fact that they put FREE in caps lock in the title, as the full name of it is AntiVirus FREE (Virus Cleaner). Yes, this may just be the spammiest SEO-centric name in the entire virus protection app business.
That name does indeed mean that there is a free version of this virus protection app, and its features include:
- Real-time scanning of your apps, games, and files.
- Location tracking using Google maps.
- Closing down tasks that are considerably slowing your Android device.
- Anti Theft features and remote device data wiping.
- An encrypted vault for your private photos. Yes, those private photos.
Those who upgrade to the paid version will also enjoy:
- The ability to lock your sensitive apps with a passcode.
- Call and message blocking, the worst kind of spam.
It is also notable that AVG antivirus is one of the lighter options. If you want something very similar to Avast, but which will take up fewer system resources, this is the better choice. You can also upgrade to their Antivirus PRO Android Security, but that one is not free. It is $6 to download.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free
For anyone out there who is looking for the absolute simplest virus protection app for their Android smartphone, this is the one that you will choose. When I say simple, I mean simple. It only has two features:
- To scan and clean your Android device. This feature takes just moments to accomplish its task, and can eliminate the number of viruses that are on your device.
- Real-time antivirus protection. This feature keeps an eye on all of your apps as they are operating,It’s not meant for scanning them afterwards that’s what the first feature is for.
As you can probably guess, this was built as a lead up to a much larger suite of features which are paid for. Upgrading to that suite is where you get the real features, but for someone who wants something very basic this will be good enough. It’s not exceptional by any means, it’s adequate.
Choosing the best Android virus protection apps
We looked at five different apps above they’re all basically the same. Each one will have one unique selling point, and that we’ll likely be the determining factor on whether or not you choose to download it.
What one of these apps installed, along with a top-quality VPN provider like IPVanish with a great Android app, you will have protected yourself against the fast majority of threats out there. Begin protecting your android smartphone today, and it will last two years into the future. So long as you don’t drop it…