The Official Cell Phone Junkies Thread - Part 2

This may be a dumb question but can you get a virus on an android phone? If so, how do I get rid of it?
 
It is possible. Have you installed any apps from any non-official sources like Amazon's app store or Google Play? If not, your chances of having one are very low. Google typically removes bad apps quickly and can also remotely kill them from your phone if you installed one.

If you think you have one, install an anti-virus app and scan your phone. Even if they don't detect anything, they have low detection rates (10-30%) so you may not be safe. The best course of action is to do a factory reset of your phone.

Since a bad app may be responsible, I would not recommend backing up apps. Just backup contacts and your texts and make sure everything you want to save like Pictures are on a microSD card (internal and/or external) which won't be deleted. If you have a removable microSD card, unmount it (Settings - Storage, there should be an Unmount SD card. DO NOT CLICK FORMAT! THIS WILL DELETE EVERYTHING ON IT) and physically remove it from your device (it's not necessary, just done to make sure nothing happens).

If your device does not have a removable SD card like the Nexus 4, I'm uncertain if there will be an option. I do not think a factor reset will delete its contents, my phone has both internal and external (i.e. removable) and both have never lost their content.

Before you begin, make sure it's fully or charge or at least 80%. Google "[your phone name] factory reset" for more specific instructions on how to do it. Find a YouTube video walkthrough if you can. This typically involves powering down your phone and then turning it back on by holding power and one or both of the volume buttons. Then you'll navigate a menu which will have directions on how to do it (with mine, I believe you press Vol Up to go through the items and Vol Down to select. Again, look up specifics for your phone.

It'll reset your phone, reboot, and then you'll go through the setup as if you just bought the phone with signing into your Google account and whatever other steps there are for your phone.
 
Wow, great answer :up: It started behaving odd just a day or two after I installed the SwiftKey app actually. It's nothing serious yet though, but I'll keep the factory reset in mind.
If I were to move stuff from internal storage to external, would there not be a chance that any potential virus will follow along and then re-infect the phone once the memory card is inserted again?
Also, is there a chance that android viruses can travel over to and affect my PC? (I highly doubt it but thought I might ask) Since I have this program called MotoCast which backups all my photos and videos to my pc.
 
Wow, great answer :up: It started behaving odd just a day or two after I installed the SwiftKey app actually. It's nothing serious yet though, but I'll keep the factory reset in mind.
What type of behavior have you experienced? Is it something like lag, unresponsiveness, or other apps shutting down? If that's the case, you may just need to install an app like Clean Master. It will clear your cache and get rid of leftover files from old apps. There's also Greenify which will shutdown apps after they've not been used for awhile, I use it on apps like Facebook and Instagram. Watchdog will also detect and notify any apps running in the background that use a lot of resources.

Have you ever updated the Android OS (from Gingerbread to ICS and/or to JB)? If you have and didn't factory reset afterwards, there will be leftovers from the previous OS version that will affect performance. This is probably the reason for any performance issues you've ever experienced.

If I were to move stuff from internal storage to external, would there not be a chance that any potential virus will follow along and then re-infect the phone once the memory card is inserted again?
I'm not 100% sure. Usually the problems are bad apps which are typically installed onto the phone memory (which gets wiped) unless you've moved them to your SD card. The files you will want to move to keep are usually pictures, documents, and backups. If you connect your phone to your PC, I think you can scan them with Malwarebytes Antimalware or an antivirus software.

Also, is there a chance that android viruses can travel over to and affect my PC? (I highly doubt it but thought I might ask) Since I have this program called MotoCast which backups all my photos and videos to my pc.
I believe it would be highly unlikely because they're different operating systems. A malware scan or antivirus software should catch it should it happen.
 
Well first off the Excel app lags a lot and sometimes stops responding, and whenever I try to watch any video recorded on the phone it lags and a lot of green pixels take up like half the screen. That's basically it but it never happened before.
Isn't it enough to just hold down the home button and close down the running apps in the list that pops up? Or are they still running in the background?
And no I never did that factory reset after updating the OS on it, I was told here to do it (maybe by you?) but I never got around to it. Perhaps that could solve it.
 
I'm considering the LG G2 and the Samsung Galaxy 4 from T-mobile.

I'll use the phone mostly for talking and web surfing.

Which one is better?
 
for those iphone users out there, just wondering what everyone thinks of ios7 so far?
 
I'm definitely leaning toward the S3. I just cannot justify so much more for the S4 when it's not that big of an improvement.

Yes sir. Exactly.

I don't deny the S4 is a very good phone, personally I would call it great if it was a smaller size. But is it worth $100 more than the S3? That answer is more subjective. And again because of my dislike of the size as well as the fact that I'd root it, I'm inclined to say "No" at least for myself.

Yep, the S3 is still a fantastic phone. Stock, it's still a good phone now. Rooted, it won't become a dinosaur for another two years at least.

I'm considering the LG G2 and the Samsung Galaxy 4 from T-mobile.

I'll use the phone mostly for talking and web surfing.

Which one is better?

I'd opt for the G2. That phone has monster processing speed. 2.26 GHz. In terms of raw power, it's top of the line at the moment.
 
I don't deny the S4 is a very good phone, personally I would call it great if it was a smaller size. But is it worth $100 more than the S3? That answer is more subjective. And again because of my dislike of the size as well as the fact that I'd root it, I'm inclined to say "No" at least for myself.

Got my S4 for 99$ :woot:
 
for those iphone users out there, just wondering what everyone thinks of ios7 so far?
I preferred the look of iOS6 but Im loving it, especially that you can now do more with your phone when its locked. The control center is great
 
The problem w/ ios7 is that it doesn't seem like a finalized os. There are little lags and hiccups in animations here and there. You can clearly see that on any Ipad with ios7. The new look imo is brilliant. Some icons like the stocks icon just dont make sense (imo the black icons should be grey) but i love the translucency everywhere. Hopefully they can polish it up a bit within the next few updates.
 
The problem w/ ios7 is that it doesn't seem like a finalized os. There are little lags and hiccups in animations here and there. You can clearly see that on any Ipad with ios7. The new look imo is brilliant. Some icons like the stocks icon just dont make sense (imo the black icons should be grey) but i love the translucency everywhere. Hopefully they can polish it up a bit within the next few updates.
which device are you using it on? Im on a new Iphone 5s and don't notice any lag. Its pretty fast and responsive
 
It's a 5s as well. I guess i wouldn't call it lag as much as just straight up slow. The animations everywhere, and apple added A LOT more to ios7 are just laggy/slow. I've read up on this and im not alone that Apple appears to have extended these animation runtimes for too long. They could speed it up a bit and i would looooove it. I also notice hiccups pulling down the search bar from time to time. And i see it a lot more on my Ipad (which is the latest model mind you) and its far worse. The best experience for ios7 right now is on the 5s, the worst is on the Ipad. And even then the experience should feel faster, especially for a phone that's touted as twice as fast as the 5, when side by side you could hardly tell a difference. Easy software fix through updates, but i would've thought with them being Apple, they would've had a bit more polished.
 
What did you upgrade from? Maybe Im not noticing it bc I just upgraded from a 4S and its significantly faster especially when loading up apps. I held both phones side by side and 5s seemed to beat it by a few seconds almost every time. My 4S also would crash a lot but I haven't run into that yet with my 5SS
 
Appearently the LG G2 has ”buried” software features and no microSD card slot.

Are these minor inconveniences or major ones?
 
Well first off the Excel app lags a lot and sometimes stops responding, and whenever I try to watch any video recorded on the phone it lags and a lot of green pixels take up like half the screen. That's basically it but it never happened before.
What phone do you have? The video problem may just be an issue with all of them.

Isn't it enough to just hold down the home button and close down the running apps in the list that pops up? Or are they still running in the background?
Honestly, I've never looked up whether holding home and closing apps does anything since I just assumed there were better ways. Greenify is actually more for conserving battery life, it hibernates apps, it won't kill them. Clean Master will clear out the cache. So if you clear it, images have to reload when you go back to Facebook or Instagram.

And no I never did that factory reset after updating the OS on it, I was told here to do it (maybe by you?) but I never got around to it. Perhaps that could solve it.
Then I'd definitely recommend a factory reset. The phone will take a little while to get back to operating smoothly.

Appearently the LG G2 has ”buried” software features and no microSD card slot.

Are these minor inconveniences or major ones?

The buried software sounds like it requires you to press a lot of buttons to use some of its features. You might be able to get around this by installing a new launcher like Nova or Apex and setting up gestures.

The lack of microSD card slot is a huge issue for me since I store my phone backups there. That way if something happens to the phone, I can just take it out and restore them on a new one. It's up to you if you think that's a big deal.

Go to a store and play around with the S4 and G2 and see which you like more. The S3 and Galaxy Nexus both got great reviews, but I never liked them when I used them in the store, unlike the Razr M which is an "inferior" phone.
 
Last edited:
Thanks!

I'm leaning towards the S4 right now unless I save over 75 bucks going with the S3 or the LG G2.
 
I preferred the look of iOS6 but Im loving it, especially that you can now do more with your phone when its locked. The control center is great

i took love the control center, it's very handy

i have the iphone 5 but i've not had any major hiccups with the new ios yet. i didn't like the look of it at first but it's definitely growing on me
 
What phone do you have? The video problem may just be an issue with all of them.


Honestly, I've never looked up whether holding home and closing apps does anything since I just assumed there were better ways. Greenify is actually more for conserving battery life, it hibernates apps, it won't kill them. Clean Master will clear out the cache. So if you clear it, images have to reload when you go back to Facebook or Instagram.


Then I'd definitely recommend a factory reset. The phone will take a little while to get back to operating smoothly.

I have a Motorola Razr Maxx.
I will look into those apps and also keep that factory reset in mind.
 
Posting this from my brand new shiny Galaxy S4 :woot:

Dat phone, dat screen, those features :hrt:
 
I have a Motorola Razr Maxx.
I will look into those apps and also keep that factory reset in mind.

Since you haven't done a factory reset, I think that will help a lot, especially if you had GB and now have JB.

Here's instructions on Verizon's site. I recommend doing it the alternate method with having the phone off first. I recall reading that it is better at clearing everything.
 
When did you go Apple, CC?
 
has anyone gotten the iPhone 5s, or 5c docks?, I was wondering if the 7th Gen Nano will fit in there?
 
So I love my Lumia, but the Nokia acquisition has me ridden with nostalgia for a Symbian handset. I've been eyeing the N8, E7, and E6 as potential devices. I just want to try one, but if I do it will be difficult to sell it if I don't become smitten with it.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Staff online

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
200,509
Messages
21,742,894
Members
45,573
Latest member
vortep88
Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"