Dangerous Android Apps You Must Not Have On Your Phone

Google play store is the home to numerous android apps. Most of them are quite useful and good but there are also several dangerous android apps on the store. There are always some apps for malicious purposes so it’s best to stay away from them. And so here’s a list of some of the most popular dangerous apps you must stay away from.

Also Read: China Bans TripAdvisor And 104 Other Apps From App Stores

How Are They Present On Google Play Store?

Google Play Store has a list of parameters that an app has to fulfill in order to be listed on the Google Play Store. But despite clearing these, a malicious app can easily make it to the app store. These apps may feel just like any other app, but inside their code, they may come with malicious code that can do things like stealing your data, share your location, install some useless bloatware and adware, and much more.

How Do I Know If An App May Malicious?

Knowing for sure if an app is malicious or not is really difficult. But there are several simple things a user can easily check and see to get an idea if the android app may be dangerous and harmful. After installing you must always check the permissions the app is asking you for.

Some apps ask for permissions that aren’t required for their actual purpose which can be considered as a serious red flag. Such apps should be always avoided and rather look and find safer alternatives. For example, a flashlight or emoji/ sticker app does not need to access your contacts and location. So if the app asks for phone and location permissions it means the app may have a malicious side of it as well.

Apps You Must Not Have:

1) CLEANit –

It is a very popular device cleaning, RAM boosting, and jank clearing app that has over 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store. But despite these many downloads, the app is very dangerous and malicious. Despite it being just a junk cleaner, it asks for many permissions that it does not require at all. These permissions include location and contact permission amongst many more. Moreover, the app also claims to do tasks such as RAM management by stopping background apps and clearing cache which actually makes the phone slower rather than quicker in most cases since the apps have to restart every time this is done.

2) Dolphin Browser – 

Third-Party browsers are one of the most downloaded and popular apps that also often come pre-installed on various devices. This browser is widely popular with over 50 million downloads on the Google play store. But this browser is subject to heavy scrutiny based on several security reports over the years. The browser was claimed to be tracking and storing even users incognito mode browsing sessions apart from even revealing the original IP address of the user despite using VPN. These make the browser extremely dangerous for any user using it.

3) Super Clean –

This is another cleaner app that claims to be cleaner but just like other apps in the category, it claims to optimize the phone performance, clean junk files, and boost memory but instead just makes the phone much laggier and slower. The app has over 26 million downloads on the play store.

4) UC Browser –

UC Browser needs no introduction as the highly popular browser from the Chinese tech giant, Alibaba is one of the most downloaded browsers in the world. The app has although banned recently when several Chinese apps were banned by the Government of India. But still, the app can be downloaded online through multiple sources. Several cybersecurity analysts have said repeatedly that the app does not adequately protect its data transmissions and because of this personal data is at risk of being intercepted by hackers and intelligence agencies. The encryption on the app is said to be very weak making it vulnerable to data breaches. All this makes this browser one of the most dangerous apps on the Google Play Store.

5) S.M.T.H (Send Me To Heaven) –

This app may be not dangerous data-wise or poses any kind of privacy threats, but this app is one of the most ‘dangerous’ apps for your phone. This is actually just a very cool game with no permissions as such being asked. But what the app asks users to do is the problem here. The app makes use of the phone’s built-in sensors to measure how high the phone is. And the game is basically just a competition of how high the user can throw the smartphone. So all you have to do is throw the phone high up in the air. There have been many cases over the years for users breaking their phones by playing this game.

6) RT News –

RT News is a news app funded by the Kremlin, Russia Today (RT) and is the official mouthpiece of the Russian government. The app provides news channels, blogs, and multiple mobile apps in English and is primarily made to target the western international audience. The app is considered to spread Russian propaganda and often comes under the radar of Intelligence Agencies such as the CIA, FBI, MI6, and many more for spreading fake news and spreading hatred amongst the public.

7) Virus Cleaner – Antivirus Free & Phone Cleaner –

This app is developed from Super Cleaner Studio and has over 14 million downloads on Google Play Store. The app claims to remove ads and make the phone cleaner and easy to use. The app says “efficient security master, phone junk cleaner, WIFI security, super speed booster, battery saver, CPU cooler and notification cleaner”. Most of these services cannot be practically be provided by the app.

8) SuperVPN Free VPN Client –

VPN apps have been getting very popular over the years as people value their privacy more and more nowadays. And this app is one of the most popular VPN apps in the world with over 100 million downloads. But despite this, many experts believe that this app includes critical vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to carry out MitM (Man-in-the-Middle) attacks, potentially stealing personal info, including credit card details, photos, and private chats.