Tim Slattery <
TimSlattery@utexas.edu> wrote:
My wife is having a problem on her Android phone that does not appear
on mine at all.
Start with a dark screen. She pushes the power button which brings up
the lock screen. She types in her password and the main screen
appears, but ...
So does an ad, apparently (I can't prove this) from the Play Store.
That's irritating enough, but frequently it's for Tik Tok and is very
LOUD and obnoxious. We would like to find out how to stop that from happening, We've looked at and tried many things, but to no avail.
As I said, these ads do not appear on my phone at all. We had to
replace hers a few weeks ago, and the problem appeared on the new
phone (which was the same model as the old one). It never happened on
the old phone.
You wife has a different set of apps on her phone than do you. One of
them is opening a full screen window with an add. Something she
installed is ad-ware. The app author will deny responsibility since
they're using Google's ad platform, but THEY are the one opening the
pipe to these fullscreen ads with unknown content and which could be
malicious. You'll have to see what she installed on her phone.
Android does not operate like Windows or Linux. On Android, when you
"close" an app, it remains running in the background. This is to
pretend the phone is faster at reloading an app, because it was never
unloaded. An app can be designated as "sticky". If the OS sees a
sticky app is unloaded, it will reload it. Some apps run as services.
Just because you closed an app's window does not mean it got unloaded.
<my rant on adware apps>
Adware apps are too often malware apps. The app authors do not regulate
the content of the ads they allow displayed within their apps.
- They don't force ads to appear only when their app has focus (is
visible). Their app could still be loaded in the background (Android
doesn't unload apps when users exit them) and puke out ads that
interfere with using the phone or other apps. It is not evident which backgrounded app puked an ad onto the screen.
- They don't require the ads to be non-malicious. Some ads present
icons which look very much like the Recent, Home, and Back buttons of
the phone. They want the user to confuse the ads icons with the phone's buttons.
- The ad may have an "X" or "Close" button, but often a script is
assigned to that element. Instead of closing the window, a script is
first executed. Just because an ad has an "X" or "Close" doesn't mean
that is what those objects will do when activated. Use the phone's Back
button instead.
- The app author will not enforce restriction on ads that they can be
presented only within the confines of that app's ad banner. Instead the
ads could be full screen or so large as to obviate any use of the app or
even of the phone until the ad is removed. The fullscreen ads interfere
with using the app, other apps, or of using the phone.
Adware app authors don't limit how ads are presented (within the app's
window or outside of it), where they can be presented (like only within
the confines of an ad banner), force the ads to contain more than just
copies of the phone's own navigation buttons, or what the "X", "Close",
or any other object in the ad can do. As such, adware apps have become malware. The ads aren't not just nuisances. They can interfere with
using the app, using the phone, or attempt to perform unwanted/malicious behaviors (the ads are not just text and images, but contain scripts).
Adware is not freeware. The cost is the nuisance and the danger of the
ads. Some users are willing to endure the nuisances to get the app for
free. Okay, but what users never agreed to happen is interference with
using the app or, worse, with their phone and have ads mislead the users
as to what actions the tap-able elements in the ad will do. The free
adware apps have become malware. App authors will absolve themselves of
any responsibility regarding the ads that THEY deliver through THEIR
app. They exempt themselves for the actions their apps perform because,
gee, it was someone else's content -- but it was delivered through THEIR
app! They didn't write the 3rd-party ad platform code they incorporated
into their app, but it was their app that piped the sometimes malicious
or interferring ads onto your phone.
Does anyone believe that a terrorist that carried a briefcase to leave
inside a cafe that later exploded is not responsible for the deaths and destruction they cause because, gee, they just carried the briefcase
while knowing of the harmful content but want to absolve themself of any responsibility because they just delivered the bomb and didn't make it?
Shy away from free apps. If you must have an adware app, check that
paying for it gives MORE than just riddance of ads. More features
should be provided when you pay.
</my rant>
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