How To Uninstall Hidden Spy Phone App On Android
Android devices are not as secure as iPhones and there’s no one denying that. However, still people like to buy these devices because they provide more value for money as they are affordable and customizable.
What I mean to say is that there are more chances of getting spyware on Android than on an iPhone. But don’t worry, even if your Android phone is infected by spyware it’s not the end of the world for the Android user. You can remove the spy app from your Android phone and ensure your privacy is intact. In this article, I am going to show you how to uninstall hidden spy phone apps on Android so keep reading.
How Dangerous Is Spyware On Android?
There is a lot of hidden spyware available for Android as shared by SpyDrill on their blog. These spy apps once installed on your Android phone give unauthorized access to your phone to the other person. This means they can remotely check all the activities that you do on your Android phone including reading your text, recording phone calls, and accessing your phone’s camera and microphone.
The biggest danger of an Android spy app is that they are hidden and hence can’t be detected, consequently can’t be uninstalled. But don’t worry, keep reading the article as I will show you how to unhide spy phone apps on Android and get rid of them.
How To Know Your Android Phone Has Spyware?
Although Android spy apps are hidden and hard to detect with the naked eye, they do give some signs which can be decoded to tell if your cell phone is bugged or not. Following are some signs that tell your Android phone has spyware.
1. Your phone has suddenly started to work really slowly. The spy app may not be seen on your phone but they work in the background and hence your phone will get slower than usual.
2. The phone gets discharged quickly. If there’s a spy app installed on your phone, it will consume your phone battery and hence it will discharge quickly even when you are not using it.
3. Phone heating for no obvious reason. If your phone gets heated up even when you are not doing heavy tasks such as playing video games or watching videos then it means there’s spyware installed on your device which is using the system resources.
4. Higher data consumption. Spyware needs to connect to the internet in order to sync the data collected from your device to its server. If your data consumption has increased steeply in recent times then it means that there can be spyware on your device.
How To Uninstall Hidden Spy Phone App On Android
In order to remove spyware from your Android phone you have to first detect it. For that, you can go to the Accessibility settings of your device and there you need to see what apps have gained accessibility permission on your phone. For that, you can follow the below steps.
Go to Settings> Accessibility on your Android phone.
Under Accessibility, tap on Installed Apps there you will find the app that has accessibility permission on your device.
Spyware is installed with fake generic names such as Play Service, Update Service, etc. Look for such suspicious apps and turn off accessibility for them.
If you don’t turn off accessibility you won’t be able to uninstall the app even if you know what name it is hidden under.
Now since you have turned off accessibility and you know the fake name of the spy app. You can now simply go to the Apps section and look for that app. Once you find the app tap on it and select uninstall.
If you are unsure whether it is a spy app or not look for all the permissions it has on your device. Spyware secretly takes all the permissions on your phone. If the app you are about to uninstall has all the permissions then you can remove it without any doubt because it has to be spyware.
Other Ways To Remove Spyware From Android
1. Anti-Spy Apps
Anti-spy or anti-malware apps such as Avast, BiteDefender can help you remove spyware from Android devices. All you have to do is install any of these apps on your device and then scan your phone for hidden spyware. These apps do not just find hidden spy apps but also help you remove them from your device.
2. Software Update
Updating your Android phone to the latest security patch or software update is an ideal way to keep spyware away from your device. You mostly get a security patch on a monthly basis and an OS update yearly. Make sure you keep updating your phone to fight against spyware.
3. Factory Reset
If nothing else works for you then you can try to reset your phone to the factory settings. A factory reset will remove all the apps installed on your device including spy apps. However, it’s an extreme step since you will lose all your data and settings on your device. Before resetting your phone make sure you keep a backup of all your important data so that after resetting your phone you don’t lose any of it.
Final Verdict
If you are an Android user then you are at a higher risk of being monitored through a spy app than an iPhone user. However, that does not mean you should stop using Android phones. You just need to be more alert and aware and constantly look for spyware signs on your device so that you can detect them on your device in time.
As a precaution, you can keep an antivirus app installed on your phone and also keep your phone’s software up to date. To uninstall a spy app from your device you must first know the fake name with which it is installed and then turn off its accessibility permissions. After that, you can easily uninstall it from your phone from the Apps settings.
