These days viruses and online threats are a common occurrence. You are lucky if all an infected program does is throw a bunch of pop ups to your computer or your phone. There are more extreme viruses out there that can ruin your device almost instantly, or at the very least remove all saved information, contacts and media. So the question becomes: which apps are infected with viruses. There are ways to know if an app is a virus or not, at the very least cautionary points of interest to clue you in to a potential virus.
Ways To Know If An App Is A Virus or Not
Stick To The Market
Generally speaking, you can trust most of what you might find in the official Google Play store for Android phones or App Store for Apple devices. It is when you start to get third party apps from elsewhere on the internet that the possibility of infection becomes much higher. This of course does not go for every single app in the marketplace you might come across, but it is very likely there are little to no viruses that can be found on apps available for download in these official stores.
Research The App
Provided that the internet is so filled with information, there is little reason that you cannot expect to get the real story behind new and little known apps. There are websites dedicated to learning about apps out there, and guiding you to the best options for what kind of application that you’re looking for.
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Read Reviews
In the marketplaces for both Android and Apple devices, there are customer reviews for nearly every single app they sell or offer for free download. From these reviews, you can get a feel for what you might be dealing with. Not only will a review tell you if something is fishy about an application, it can also give you practical reviews if the app’s functionality. You might find a download isn’t worth your time, and therefore not worth the risk.
When In Doubt
If you are still in doubt after considering all of the above named factors, then you might try a new option entirely. When you consider why you want a specific application, you should know that there are numerous options for the same popular concept online. If you want access to the latest news, weather, streaming video or any number of things, there are likely several apps to do the same thing. So what this means is, if you aren’t sure about one, check out some of the others through the above mentioned avenues to see if they seem less suspect.
There are little specific signs that indicate if an app is a virus or not. However, through the above named methods of investigation, you should be able to tell whether or not something appears to be legit. While every single app in the marketplaces will likely have bad reviews mixed in with the good, pay close attention to what people are writing to determine if their distaste of the application is actually even warranted.
Author Bio
Courtney Garmison writes about technology, consumer protection & the importance of criminal background checks.
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