Help When I deactivate an app instead of deinstalling it can I then witch of the ads of that app?

[Biffos]

When I deactivate an app instead of deinstalling it can I then witch of the ads of that app?

 

[Hadron]

What exactly do you mean by "deactivate"? Do you mean an app-specific feature (signing-out of a service or something), or "disable"?

Disabling is only an option for system apps, which you cannot uninstall. This removes all updates and prevents the app from running or updating, so any ads it might produce will also be stopped.

If you mean something else by "deactivate" then it would depend on what exactly this means.

 

[Biffos]

Deactivating the entire app (not only a featrue or something else), yes, disabling it. I want some apps not to rund anymore completely. Like an disabled add on in Firefox, I would say, that one can activate and deavtivate / enable and disable.

Disabling is only an option for system apps

I would have thought vice versa, the apps installed by the user could be disabled. So actually it would not make any sense, I guess.

 

[Hadron]

I'm using the word "disabling" in the precise sense in which the android operating system uses it, rather than as a general term.

If you go into Settings > Apps (may be called App Manager on a Samsung) and look at an app you installed you will find buttons for "force stop" and "uninstall". Force stop does what it says: it stops the app, but it doesn't prevent it starting again.

You cannot uninstall a pre-installed (system) app because it's part of the ROM, so if you look at a pre-installed app the options are "force stop" and "disable". Disable does what I said previously, and is there as an alternative to uninstalling for apps which cannot be uninstalled. If the manufacturer considers an app to be essential the "disable" button will be greyed-out (I have know pure bloatware be treated as "essential" by some manufacturers).

That's the way the operating system is. Of course an individual app may have settings which effectively disable it, but there is no system mechanism for "disabling" a user-installed app other than by uninstalling it.

As for ads, if you don't run the app you should not be getting ads. Any app that is showing ads when you are not running it should be uninstalled and reported.

 

[Biffos]

If you go into Settings > Apps (may be called App Manager on a Samsung) and look at an app you installed you will find buttons for "force stop" and "uninstall". Force stop does what it says: it stops the app, but it doesn't prevent it starting again.

Yes, I have found that.

Alright, I understand.

As for ads, if you don't run the app you should not be getting ads. Any app that is showing ads when you are not running it should be uninstalled and reported..

Well, at least there was no App running I didn't use for a long time from which I know it does not show ads (at least up to now). And the ads were shown on the...do not know the name...starting page...so to say the counterpart of the Win desktop. The (known) programs running in the background.

 

[Hadron]

So the first thing I'd ask is what apps did you install or update prior to this starting. Any the same day would be suspect, but some adware apps have been known to wait a week or so before they start spamming. And I include "update" as well as "install" because apps have been known to be innocent at first and then change behaviour after an update.

Another thing I'd check is look at the permissions of apps and see which have the permission to draw over other apps. Because that is what this is doing: your desktop is provided by an app called a "launcher", and so an ad appearing over it is a case of one app drawing over the other (unless it's the launcher itself that's responsible).

 

[Biffos]

But the launcher, I guess, would not sow ads, wouldn't it?

Another thing I'd check is look at the permissions of apps and see which have the permission to draw over other apps.

So that means, I myself, would have given that App that permission, not very smart, well. What is this kind of permission called, how could I find it?

But, as I have learned, there is no way to show the last installed Apps.

 

[Hadron]

But the launcher, I guess, would not sow ads, wouldn't it?

You'd hope not, but you've not told us what device you have so we can't be absolutely sure: every manufacturer uses a different launcher, often their own, and if you have some unbranded Chinese device it's far from impossible.

I'm guessing that you've not installed a replacement launcher from the Play Store: again, most are fine but there are a couple of companies I'd not put it past.

So that means, I myself, would have given that App that permission, not very smart, well. What is this kind of permission called, how could I find it?.

No, the app will request the permissions the developer says it needs from the OS. For some of them recent versions of Android will ask you to agree to granting it, but not all. And older apps (i.e. built for an older API level) will not ask, you need to check when/before installing.

The permission to draw over other apps (or "display over other apps" as it appears on my phone) is not one of the ones that the OS will ask you to confirm anyway.

The simplest way to check this one, as it's an unusual permission, is to go into Settings > Apps then poke around for "advanced" settings, "special app access" or similar (again, depends on android version and whether the manufacturer has fiddled with the menus). Quite a lot of apps need this legitimately, but it might narrow the search.

In general you can view any app listing in the Settings > Apps, or in the Play Store, to find its full list of permissions (it may just show you a shortened list by default, so you need to go deeper into the option, possibly including that little 3 dot menu when you are looking at the shortened list, to see the lot - it depends on what OS version and manufacturer your device is). There are also apps that can scan your phones' apps' permissions and provide a summary: many security apps can do this (I won't call them "anti-virus" as that's not an accurate description), and I have one called Addons Detector, which I installed when a particularly aggressive form of adware (since banned) was fashionable, which can be used to view all apps with a given permission. But the particular permission I mentioned is a special case, and the best way to find it is through the system menu.

But, as I have learned, there is no way to show the last installed Apps.

Go into the Play Store app > "My Apps" and just above the list of apps there's a sort order toggle. Select "last updated" and you're good.

 

[Biffos]

Ah sorry: Sony Xperia X F5121. I couldn't find the signature here, otherwise I had added it to it.

Android 8.0.0 is installed.

Yes, no replaecement launcher.

In Apps, "special access" or somehting like that it says, 3 Apps have unrestricted access, but I cannot find them, I have unlimited acces there by Google Play Services, that is the only one shown with unlimited access.

Go into the Play Store app > "My Apps" and just above the list of apps there's a sort order toggle. Select "last updated" and you're good.

Ah, I thought that sorting shows the last updated only, not the last installed. But it shows on top WhatsApp, Aimp and programs which I already have since a very long time.

So the best would be I installed Addons Detector on my phone, I assume.

 

[Hadron]

On my Pixel 2 (Android 9, but I think it was the same in 8) if I tap on "Special App Access" I get a list of different types of special access (if I don't tap on Special App Access it just tells me how many can use unrestricted data). Tapping on "Display over other apps" in that list shows me the apps that have that particular acess.

As I say, it has many legitimate uses, so there are quite a few. But far fewer than I have apps installed in total.

 

[Biffos]

Ah yes, found it, 13 Apps (e.g. "Google", Facebook, WeChat, "AVG Protection" "AirDroid", "Android Accesseblity Suite, "Notizbuch" - may be the last one is suspicious, I assume the last or one of the last I installed) with "Display over other apps" access. And these Apps only are able to just show an ad over the desktop and other programs. So I simply would deinstall one after the other of the more unknown ones like "Notizbuch".

 

[MoodyBlues]

look at an app you installed you will find buttons for "force stop" and "uninstall".

Let's put an asterisk by this.

I found, to my dismay, that Über--which I installed from the Play Store--only has 'disable' and not 'uninstall' in its options.

So it's possible for user-installed apps to have 'disable' instead of 'uninstall' in their settings, but overwhelmingly this only happens with 'system' apps.

 

[Hadron]

Wow, I've not heard of that and didn't think it's possible!
It's not just that it's made itself a device administrator? Though I thought that just blocked uninstalling until you'd removed the setting rather than allowing disabling.

 

[Hadron]

"Notizbuch" is German for "Notebook" - a plausible name, but the sort of thing I'd expect to recognise if I'd installed it.

I can't guarantee that it's one of those, but I'd think logically that that permission would be needed to place full-screen ads other than when the app is running itself.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Wow, I've not heard of that and didn't think it's possible!

You and me both!

It's not just that it's made itself a device administrator?

No. I checked.

I'm gobsmacked!

 

[Hadron]

Hmm, just gritted my teeth and installed Uber (not a fan of their business practices), and had no problem removing it:



I know this is a dumb thing to ask you, and I apologise in advance, but you are certain it wasn't pre-installed? Any app that's been updated through the Play Store will tell you that that's where it was installed from, so apart from those I've disabled (Google, Chrome, GMail, Play Music, Play Movies, ARCore - is there a pattern here?) all of my pre-installed apps also show as coming from the Play Store.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Hmm, just gritted my teeth and installed Uber (not a fan of their business practices), and had no problem removing it:

I'm not a fan either--which is why I went to uninstall it...and couldn't. Interesting that you had no problem, which is how it should be.

I know this is a dumb thing to ask you, and I apologise in advance, but you are certain it wasn't pre-installed?

If you were [most] anyone else, I'd be offended!

But, yes, I'm 100% sure it wasn't pre-installed. I installed it for a specific reason, then immediately afterward went to uninstall it...and was rudely shown that I couldn't.

Any app that's been updated through the Play Store will tell you that that's where it was installed from, so apart from those I've disabled (Google, Chrome, GMail, Play Music, Play Movies, ARCore - is there a pattern here?) all of my pre-installed apps also show as coming from the Play Store.

Right. But not in this case.

I actually thought about factory resetting the phone to get rid of it, but really don't want to go through all that again. It's been just over a month since I got this phone, and tweaked the hell out of it. Even with good backups and everything, I'm just not in the mood right now to do that.

 

[Hadron]

That is why I asked tentatively: it seemed really unlikely, but I had to eliminate the possibility .

Yeah, very odd. And of course we don't know how it's done it, so can't be certain that a reset would fix it.

I never set it up: I ran it to the point where it asked for my information (almost immediately) and then stopped. It may be that it would have done something later. We need an Uber user to find out whether this is normal with this app.

 

[RASelkirk]

And then there's Android Auto. This program is so insidious that it "appears" to correctly uninstall yet it's always there, loaded, and ready to run whenever you plug your phone into your car's USB jack. Plug in to charge phone and it pops up like freakin' magic. If I could find the so-called "developer" of this malware, I'd prolly go directly to jail and not pass go.

Russ

 

[MoodyBlues]

it "appears" to correctly uninstall yet it's always there, loaded, and ready to run

When you say it "appears" to correctly uninstall, what exactly do you mean?

 

[Dannydet]

Android Auto.
If you uninstall it, and use a USB cable in your car, it will magically pop up on your screen again, as if it respawns....
Go ahead and try it for yourself and see.
It's totally Google malware if you ask me.

 

[RASelkirk]

When you say it "appears" to correctly uninstall, what exactly do you mean?

Go to the apps list, select the app, then select uninstall. It's the only way I know of with a non-rooted phone.

Android Auto.
If you uninstall it, and use a USB cable in your car, it will magically pop up on your screen again, as if it respawns....
Go ahead and try it for yourself and see.
It's totally Google malware if you ask me.

Yes sir! This is exactly what I'm experiencing. AFAIK, you cannot get rid of this CRAPWARE without a factory reset.

Russ

 

[kate]

I found, to my dismay, that Über--which I installed from the Play Store--only has 'disable' and not 'uninstall' in its options.

If your launcher supports uninstalling from the home screen, is that option there for Uber?

Have you tried using ADB to uninstall it?

adb uninstall <package.name>

 

[MoodyBlues]

Go ahead and try it for yourself and see.

I can't now, but I'll take your word for it.

Wow, that's bullshit!

 

[MoodyBlues]

Go to the apps list, select the app, then select uninstall. It's the only way I know of with a non-rooted phone.

Yes sir! This is exactly what I'm experiencing. AFAIK, you cannot get rid of this CRAPWARE without a factory reset.

I'm gobsmacked!

If your launcher supports uninstalling from the home screen, is that option there for Uber?

Yes, it does, but, no, not for Ūber.

Have you tried using ADB to uninstall it?

adb uninstall <package.name>

Good grief, I've neither used nor even thought about ADB in years! So, no, I haven't tried that. But since the phone's not rooted (which I don't do any more), would that even work?