2019 Android Apps To Delete Right Away: Deceptive TV Remote And More

GettyImages-692810834 — With adware, idle home page screens will be a thing of the past as it bombards you with ads. Picture: A man holds the Nokia smartphone model 6 during a press conference of Finnish mobile phone maker HMD Global in Helsinki, on June 6, 2017. AFP/Getty Images/EMMI KORHONEN

Google has removed 85 apps from the Google Play Store after finding out that they were pushing adware to many Android users. Upon installing these dangerous apps in your phone, they would install another file under your nose and cause problems for you and your smartphone. Here are the apps that you need to delete right now to start your 2019 right.

According to TrendMicro, Google axed these apps as they’ll secretly install adware in your phone and cause you to see fullscreen ads on your phone even when not browsing the internet. These ads will show up uncontrollably and are intensely invasive in sending the ads. Currently, these apps had a record total of over 9 million downloads worldwide.

One of these apps is the Easy Universal TV Remote app, which would technically allow you to use your smartphone as a TV remote. Before you get any ideas about checking it out, though, be warned that it can ruin your phone with its hidden adware install. However, many users reported that the app would experience an error when opened and vanish when they try to check it out again.

While Google did completely wipe all of these 85 fake apps out of the Play Store, you’ll still have to remove them from your phone yourself. However, the malicious and fake apps can hide themselves in the menu, and the fullscreen apps can impede you when you try to find them in your Application Manager to uninstall them. Even when hidden and seemingly out of your phone, they will keep on bombarding your phone screen with ads and even slow down your phone's responsiveness in the long run.

Aside from this TV remote app, TrendMicro noted that many apps from various developers are actually just masking themselves as different apps but actually the same scam app all along. One good tell to know if you’ve unknowingly installed them is having the loading circle appear in your home screen and ads show up after unlocking your phone. To know more about which apps cause these problems, Trendmicro has prepared a complete list to help you identify which ones to uninstall. Check them out below.