Google bans 43 Android apps that secretly kill battery life, delete them now

08 August 2023 , 06:06

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Android app warning (Image: GETTY)

Millions of Android users are being urged to check their devices and delete a batch of unscrupulous apps that could be munching through battery life and eating up mobile data even when the screen is switched off. The worrying discovery was made by the security team at McAfee with the cyber experts identifying a total of 43 apps that were capable of running adverts when a device wasn't being used.

It's a practice that is banned by Google and is a clear violation of the firm's Google Play Developer policy. However, that's not stopped some from giving it a go in a bid to cash in and generate ad clicks without the permission of users.

Most of the applications that were available on the Play Store have since been removed by Google but not before some 2.5 million users had installed them onto their devices.

McAfee says that among the targeted apps are TV/DMB Player, Music Downloader, News, and Calendar applications.

To try and help avoid detection, the adverts don't begin secretly popping up behind the blank screen until a few weeks after the initial installation which makes spotting the scam much harder.

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McAfee is now urging users to take care when downloading any new apps onto their phones and make sure they check what permissions the software wants before hitting the install button. It's also a good idea to check the performance of a device after new software is installed - if battery life suddenly takes a hit there could be something sinister going on.

Explaining more, McAfee said: "It is essential for users to exercise caution and carefully evaluate the necessity of granting permissions like power saving exclusion, or draw over other apps before allowing them. While these permissions might be required for certain legitimate functionalities for running in the background, it is important to consider the potential risks linked with them, such as enabling hidden behaviours or reducing the relevance of ads and contents displayed to users because the hidden Clicker behaviour."

It's thought the majority of users affected by this latest advert attack were based outside of the UK and USA but that doesn't mean your phone can't be affected in the future.

That's why you should always check apps before downloading them and make sure they have been created by a trusted developer.

You can find the full list of affected apps on McAfee's website.

Dave Snelling