Apps are a fantastic thing. They allow you to do almost anything you want to do without having to leave your home. However, there is a downside to apps. Apps are installed on your smartphone without your knowledge and consent. It’s a common problem that many people encounter.
If you are wondering why apps are automatically installing on your device, then keep reading. In this article, I am going to tell you why apps are automatically installing on your phone and how to remove them.
Table of Contents
What Is An App?
An App is a software application that can be used for different purposes like games, social networking etc.
You can download the app from Google Play Store or Apple store depending upon whether it’s an Android device or iOS-based mobile phones, respectively. Once downloaded, they get stored inside the memory of your phone.
There are thousands of free as well as paid applications available in both stores.
Why Apps Automatically Install
There are several reasons for which apps can be auto-installed on your mobile phones. Some of the most popular ones include:
App Updates
If you have not updated any app recently, it will install itself when you open the app store or try to download another one from Google Play Store.
This happens because some apps update themselves every time they get the new version. So, whenever you launch these apps, they check whether their latest versions are available.
If yes, they start downloading and updating themselves. You don’t need to worry about this as long as you regularly update all your apps.
New Features
Sometimes developers add new features to existing apps. These new features may come with bugs. When such bugs occur, the developer releases an update so that users can fix those issues.
But sometimes, even after releasing an update, the bug persists. That’s where the automatic app downloads come into play.
The app stores detect that something has gone wrong and ask you to install the update manually.
Security Threats
Here are times when hackers attack certain apps. For example, they might change the code of an app so that it does more harm than good. Such changes could lead to malware infections.
To protect yourself against such attacks, the app stores scan apps before allowing them to be downloaded. As soon as they find out that an app contains malicious codes, they block its access.
System Upgrades
Your Android OS gets upgraded periodically. Whenever the system receives an upgrade notification, it downloads and installs the required files.
Once done, it starts working smoothly again. Unfortunately, during the process, it also installs other apps along with it.
Device Manufacturer
Manufacturers often provide preloaded apps to enhance user experience
Most manufacturers offer freebies like games, music players, etc. While doing so, they usually make sure that the apps work well together. And since they know what works best for each model, they bundle different apps together.
Third-Party Applications
Many third parties develop apps that help you perform various tasks efficiently. For instance, if you use Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc., the chances are high that they came bundled with your phone by default.
Other Reasons
Apart from the above-mentioned reasons, there are plenty of others too.
How To Stop Apps From Automatically Installing In My Phone?
If you want to stop apps from being installed automatically, then follow the steps below:
1# Disable Auto-Updates
You can stop unwanted apps from automatic app updates by disabling the auto-update feature in the Google Play Store.
- Open Google Play Store
- Tap on the three horizontal lines in the upper left
- Tap the “Settings” icon.
- Tap the Auto-update apps
- Select ‘Don’t auto-update apps’.
2# Disable App Install From Unknown Sources
Google Play Store is a place to download apps. It is a good place because it does not have malware. But other sites on the internet do have malware, and they can make your phone’s files corrupt.
On your phone, you can download apps. These apps need to come from sites that are trusted. To make sure you do not get a bad apps installation, follow the steps below:
- Open the “Settings”option
- Click on “Security”under the settings tab.
- Open device administration
- Turn off the unknown sources
3# Log Out From Google Account
You can avoid having your account hacked by doing this. If someone else has your password, they can access your account and do things with it. To prevent that, you should keep an eye on your phone when other people use it and make sure that they don’t download any apps without asking you first.
If you have a problem with your account or device, log out of your Google account on all devices and change the password. This will keep your google account safe, and you will only know the credentials.
4# Block Malicious Apps
Don’t use apps from sources that are not trusted. The apps can carry harmful files with them that will affect your computer and the data in it. To see if there is a program like this, you can use an antivirus program. If you have antivirus, it will also stop your phone from installing new apps automatically.
There are many apps on the internet. We would recommend that you only use the most trusted app. All apps are not good at detecting all types of threats. So make sure you choose wisely.
5# Restrict Background Data
Apps are using your data to download in the background. They get permission from you when they are installed. Some apps ask for permissions like downloading in the background, while others just ask for your camera, location, and microphone.
You can still control the permission you gave. You can stop them from using data in the background, which means they will only use it when using it. Follow these steps to restrict background data usage.
- Tap on “Settings” Menu
- Tap the “data usage” icon
- Select the apps you want to restrict from using data in the background
- select “Restrict Background Data.”
5# Factory Data Reset
If you have tried all the other methods and still cannot get your phone to stop installing apps, then a factory reset will help. This will delete all of the data on your phone and make it as you got it when it was new.
Before performing the factory reset, back up your data. You will lose all of it when you do the factory reset. The settings will change too and any apps that were automatically installed may not work anymore. Follow the steps below:
- Go to the “Settings” Menu
- Select “General Management.”
- Click on “Reset”
- Choose the “Factory Data Reset” option
How Can I Delete An App That Has Been Downloaded To My Phone?
You can delete apps from your phone without the use of a computer. To do this, go to Settings on your phone and scroll down until you see an option that says “manage apps” or “installed apps”.
From there, tap on it and then tap on the app that you want to uninstall. It will show options for what you want to do with the apps, so choose “uninstall,” and then you’re done!
Why Is My Samsung Phone Downloading Apps By Itself
There could be several reasons why your Samsung phone might have started auto-installing apps. Here are some possible causes:
- Your phone might have had its security software updated recently. To install the latest version of the security software, Samsung phones must check whether the software needs updating before actually doing so. Once the update begins, your phone will try to connect to servers worldwide to verify that the software is indeed out of date. As part of this verification process, your phone may start searching for available apps to install.
- Another possibility is that your Samsung phone did not receive enough storage space during setup. Apps require more space than most users realize, especially those who download lots of music files and videos. For example, many popular games take between 1 GB and 2GB of space per app installation. Even though your phone only came with 16 GB of internal memory, you should always leave at least 5 – 10% of that amount empty just in case you decide to add additional applications later.
Is There Anyway I Can Prevent My Android Device From Auto-Updating Apps?
Yes. The only way to prevent this is by turning off the option in your android smartphone settings. You can find it under; Apps>App Settings> Auto-Update apps.
Tips For When You Download A New App
If you download a new app, here are some tips for how to use it:
- When apps are downloading, it’s best to download them over a WiFi connection to don’t eat up your data.
- Don’t forget to uninstall apps when they’re not in use or if an app is no longer needed. This will free up space on the phone and ensure that there aren’t any unnecessary apps running in the background, which can slow down the device’s performance!
- Don’t forget to rate apps on the App Store or Play Store when you download them so that other people can know what apps are worth downloading!
- Installing apps from the App Store or Play Store, not downloading apps as attachments, and being careful when you download apps are all ways to avoid having these problems!
- Having apps automatically installed on your phone can cause slow performance and battery draining, so be careful!
- Suppose apps are automatically installing due to updates. In that case, apps that were previously installed in your phone may need updates or new versions of their apps and they will still need notifications and permissions to work correctly.
- You can block apps from running with an app blocker
- You can also turn off apps that you don’t want to update not automatically to install themselves on your phone constantly.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you understand why apps automatically install on your phone and how to stop them. If it’s an app that is causing problems, try deleting or uninstalling it.
You can also go into settings and turn off automatic updates for any of your other apps if they are no longer wanted or needed on your device.
It may also be beneficial to limit the number of new downloads by checking out reviews before installing anything from an unknown developer onto your phone. Happy downloading!
