Billions of Android users warned to delete ‘unnecessary app’ that puts phone at risk of invasion

ANDROID users have been warned about an app that could be trying to steal their information.

If you are a smartphone owner, then you probably have several apps downloaded onto your device.

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However, not all apps are friendly and some contain malicious malware that could harm your device.

Malware is a malicious file or code that can infect your phone or computer.

Sometimes these nefarious apps even steal your data to try to access your bank accounts or sell your location.

One such malicious app includes software that purports to be a “flashlight.”

FLASHLIGHT APPS

If you have a flashlight app downloaded on your device, you can go ahead and delete it.

First of all, your smartphone likely has its own flashlight built-in, rendering any flashlight apps redundant.

Second, these apps have been uncovered to be very dangerous by cybersecurity experts.

“Like many other third-party apps on Google Play, a number of these flashlight apps have proven themselves to be rather suspicious in their behavior,” Komando reports.

“In addition to requesting unusual permissions like location tracking, several were even found to contain malware that infects the users who install them,” the website added.

Nothing more needs to be said about third-party flashlight apps, except that you should remove them immediately.

And while you’re deleting your useless flashlight app, here are a few others you can remove from your device.

SCANNER APPS

Apps that scan documents for you are also a waste of space because your phone’s camera can do a perfectly fine job.

You can save time and money by using your camera. All you need to do is play around with your smartphone’s image editing features.

This can also save you money as most scanning apps are costly, charging a hefty one-time fee or even monthly fees.

FACEBOOK

If you use Facebook on your smartphone device, then chances are the app is tracking your location and using up a lot of your data.

That’s because the app connects to many third-party platforms and other services on your phone.

You may even benefit from deleting and re-downloading the app as a way to clear space on your device.

BLOATWARE APPS

Bloatware refers to apps that come pre-loaded onto your smartphone when you purchase them.

They can be handy, but oftentimes people end up never touching them.

As a result, they end up just taking up a lot of space on your device, but thankfully you can remove most of them.

For example, if you have an iPhone, you can remove FaceTime, Weather, Podcasts, and the iTunes Store.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk