Android / Chrome popups

[DynahoeDave]

Hi, I can't figure out where to post this question -

I have a Galaxy S5, using Chrome for web browsing. Recently, it has been popping a new window with various web sites when I am browsing pages. Sites like dealroaster dot com and dailybrandstory dot com.

I have checked that the popup setting is turned off as well as the ad setting in chrome.

I tried the chrome clear cache, etc. Which successfully wiped all my remembered passwords and logins, so I had to re log into everything, but did nothing to stop these stupid random windows opening.

I have not loaded lots of apps, I can't think of any recently that coincided with the popups starting.

I have searched on the web, but not found much else about how to trace / figure out where they are coming from or how to stop them.

 

[Dannydet]

Install an ad blocker such as adguard from the play store, that's what I'm using with no issues

 

[puppykickr]

If you have developer's options active, when an ad pops up go into the dev settings and select Running Apps.

This should help you to figure out what app is doing it.

Common culprits?

cleaning apps, boosters, battery fixers, weather apps, and other junk like that.

 

[puppykickr]

There is also an app called Addons Detector that can help you figure out what apps can show ads, among other annoying things.

 

[Milo Willamson]

There is also one of my trusted Ghostery app that can clear it out too, also CCleaner does wonders too

 

[puppykickr]

There is also one of my trusted Ghostery app that can clear it out too, also CCleaner does wonders too

I used CCleaner when I first got into Android.
Liked it for the most part, except that when it got a few updates the UI changed for the worse and it also had ads included.
Then one update just completely broke it and I was done.

So I went on a long search for something else.

I tried tons of them.

Most had ads, which is counter productive.
Most also ran continuously in the background, also unproductive.

I finally found Systweak (Android System Cleaner) and although not perfect it serves my needs well.

Although it is best to use an older version if it will work on your device, as the newer versions have ads.

 

[Milo Willamson]

I used CCleaner when I first got into Android.
Liked it for the most part, except that when it got a few updates the UI changed for the worse and it also had ads included.
Then one update just completely broke it and I was done.

So I went on a long search for something else.

I tried tons of them.


Funny I just used the free version on my comp and cell just yesterday there was no ads, huh try to redownload the free version, it will really help you out, also have it for my tablet too. Also SD maid does help too. I know I said this oh sometime ago, about both variations of either cleaner, but does the work just right and have it really does the job just right.

Most had ads, which is counter productive.
Most also ran continuously in the background, also unproductive.

I finally found Systweak (Android System Cleaner) and although not perfect it serves my needs well.

Although it is best to use an older version if it will work on your device, as the newer versions have ads.

 

[puppykickr]

SD Maid also has ads.

Are you running an ad blocker, by chance?

Perhaps thst is why you don't see ads.

I use low end devices, so ad blockers are pretty much out of the question, as they run continuously. Also, there is always some sites that refuse to work unless you turn them off, and I get real tired of turning them off and back on again.

I have a few unique browsers that generally provide an ad free experience, along with a firewall that works well too.

 

[Milo Willamson]

SD Maid also has ads.

Are you running an ad blocker, by chance?

Perhaps thst is why you don't see ads.

I use low end devices, so ad blockers are pretty much out of the question, as they run continuously. Also, there is always some sites that refuse to work unless you turn them off, and I get real tired of turning them off and back on again.

I have a few unique browsers that generally provide an ad free experience, along with a firewall that works well too.

Not on my phone, even without the ADW launcher, no ads running either on Ccleaner or SD maid..

 

[puppykickr]

Not on my phone, even without the ADW launcher, no ads running either on Ccleaner or SD maid..

Did you pay for the ad-free versions of these apps?

Because I had ads on both CCleaner and SD Maid when I had them last.

If I remember right, SD Maid only had certain options available for free and the full operations were only available via payment.

So maybe not ads, but in-app purchases instead.

Either way, there were features that wouldn't work without payment, and I think that those were the functions that I needed most.

CCleaner, when I last had it, had small banner ads at the bottom or in the middle of the screen maybe it's different now, I don't know.

But there were other things about CCleaner that I didn't care for as well.

 

[Milo Willamson]

Did you pay for the ad-free versions of these apps?

Because I had ads on both CCleaner and SD Maid when I had them last.

If I remember right, SD Maid only had certain options available for free and the full operations were only available via payment.

So maybe not ads, but in-app purchases instead.

Either way, there were features that wouldn't work without payment, and I think that those were the functions that I needed most.

CCleaner, when I last had it, had small banner ads at the bottom or in the middle of the screen maybe it's different now, I don't know.

But there were other things about CCleaner that I didn't care for as well.

There was ages ago, my friend who was in one of face book groups called Minekey, Caleb was his name, who gave me Ccleaner because of massive register errors. Majority part on my comp, it really cleans it out, and catches the missing links, with defragger - a real life friend of mine, recomended with me, he is an uber geek like myself anyways. So Ccleaner for my phone has no ads, and I know the SD made you have to pay in app purchases though. Ultimately I only use Ccleaner when I really need to on this comp, preferablity when I do turn into the night mostly..

 

[puppykickr]

There was ages ago, my friend who was in one of face book groups called Minekey, Caleb was his name, who gave me Ccleaner because of massive register errors. Majority part on my comp, it really cleans it out, and catches the missing links, with defragger - a real life friend of mine, recomended with me, he is an uber geek like myself anyways. So Ccleaner for my phone has no ads, and I know the SD made you have to pay in app purchases though. Ultimately I only use Ccleaner when I really need to on this comp, preferablity when I do turn into the night mostly..

The Android System Cleaner from Systweak is extremely thorough, so much so that I only need to use it once a week.

And I use my device pretty constantly, often going through 60+ GB of data a month.

It also has a duplicate locator, which I have found to be immensly useful.

I use a version that has no ads, but as I understand it the new version with the ads is more compliant with the most recent OS. There is a payment option to be rid of the ads, but as my version works fine on my OS (7.1.1 & 8.1.0) I see no reason to switch yet.

I did like CCleaner when I first got it, before it had ads.
But it was tricky to not have it do annoying things like cleaning out the download folder unless I remembered to uncheck it from the cleaning menu each time.

 

[Milo Willamson]

The Android System Cleaner from Systweak is extremely thorough, so much so that I only need to use it once a week.

And I use my device pretty constantly, often going through 60+ GB of data a month.

It also has a duplicate locator, which I have found to be immensly useful.

I use a version that has no ads, but as I understand it the new version with the ads is more compliant with the most recent OS. There is a payment option to be rid of the ads, but as my version works fine on my OS (7.1.1 & 8.1.0) I see no reason to switch yet.

I did like CCleaner when I first got it, before it had ads.
But it was tricky to not have it do annoying things like cleaning out the download folder unless I remembered to uncheck it from the cleaning menu each time.

It is really annoying when the cleaner used to give like "Your last clean was 24 hours ago." it got so distracting, I tend to clean my phone oh every once a while, same with my tablet too. But I can always go with system settings though. I am an uber geek sometimes.

 

[MoodyBlues]

a real life friend of mine, recomended with me, he is an uber geek like myself anyways.

Uber geeks don't need silly 'cleaners' and 'defragging' garbage--because we don't use windows!

You window$ people would do well to lose the mindset you're in from the horribly designed, garbage-filled 'operating system' you're used to, and start thinking like Linux users.

Android does not need any 'cleaner' apps. Period. It's Linux, not windows, therefore it handles things like disk management intelligently.

Those silly, unnecessary apps' developers know damn well--and are capitalizing on--how windows users are accustomed to thinking. Stop! There's not a single thing those apps can do that you can't do yourself with Android's built-in tools--if you're so inclined. Better to just let Android do its thing--which it does really well.

There's nothing wrong with occasionally deleting large cache files, or moving photos off your device, to free up space, but lose the windows mindset...

 

[Milo Willamson]

Uber geeks don't need silly 'cleaners' and 'defragging' garbage--because we don't use windows!

You window$ people would do well to lose the mindset you're in from the horribly designed, garbage-filled 'operating system' you're used to, and start thinking like Linux users.

Android does not need any 'cleaner' apps. Period. It's Linux, not windows, therefore it handles things like disk management intelligently.

Those silly, unnecessary apps' developers know damn well--and are capitalizing on--how windows users are accustomed to thinking. Stop! There's not a single thing those apps can do that you can't do yourself with Android's built-in tools--if you're so inclined. Better to just let Android do its thing--which it does really well.

There's nothing wrong with occasionally deleting large cache files, or moving photos off your device, to free up space, but lose the windows mindset...

Thanks.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Thanks.

You're welcome.

 

[puppykickr]

It is really annoying when the cleaner used to give like "Your last clean was 24 hours ago." it got so distracting, I tend to clean my phone oh every once a while, same with my tablet too. But I can always go with system settings though. I am an uber geek sometimes.

Yes.
I cannot tolerate an app with useless notifications.

App Notification: 'Did you know that you haven't used our app today?'

Me: Yes, you stupid pain in the a$$.
And thank you for reminding me to delete your turd of an app from my device.

That is why I recommended the apps that I did.
No annoying messages or ads of any sort.

Systweak has a default setting for 'auto clean' that should be turned off.
In the same location is the switch for notifications.

As the auto-clean is the only notification that the app provides, I leave the notification switch on.

This is do to Google occasionally overriding my settings and updating a slew of apps that I don't want updated.

This notification lets me know as soon as I open my device, as after the updates the auto clean reverts to its default setting.

 

[puppykickr]

Uber geeks don't need silly 'cleaners' and 'defragging' garbage--because we don't use windows!

You window$ people would do well to lose the mindset you're in from the horribly designed, garbage-filled 'operating system' you're used to, and start thinking like Linux users.

Android does not need any 'cleaner' apps. Period. It's Linux, not windows, therefore it handles things like disk management intelligently.

Those silly, unnecessary apps' developers know damn well--and are capitalizing on--how windows users are accustomed to thinking. Stop! There's not a single thing those apps can do that you can't do yourself with Android's built-in tools--if you're so inclined. Better to just let Android do its thing--which it does really well.

There's nothing wrong with occasionally deleting large cache files, or moving photos off your device, to free up space, but lose the windows mindset...

What you speak is true, especially for the newer android OS.

But the older ones were actually terrible at their job, often a device would get up to 3GB of junk accumulated in a short while.

Although the vast majority of cleaner apps are junk- in the same category as defraggers, battery boosters, memory expanders, etc. Systweak seems to be the best option for a few reasons.

First, the version I use has no ads. If this one is compatible with the user's OS, then that is a great plus.

Second, android OS 8+ does not have a built in cache cleaner, and generally will not allow third party apps to clean app caches either. This makes for a very tedious task of doing it manually- app by app. Pretty ridiculous compared to my 7.1.1 with the built in function.

Third, the cleaner app I use also has a duplicate finder. I realize that this may not interest some, but it has been a great help for me.

Fourth, and finally, the 'Game Launcher' function is useful on devices with low RAM. It will shut down unnecessary running apps while launching a desired app.
I find that I can use this feature to speed up the launch of larger apps (not just games) on a device that might normally freeze up when attempting to do so while other apps are running.

All of these features inside of an app of less than 30MB are pretty impressive.

I am aware of the OCD effect of cleaner apps and the like.

That is why I only clean my device once a week.

Sometimes I find that there is almost 1GB of crap to get rid of.

This is pretty strange if my OS is supposed to be doing its job- There is only 2GB RAM total and I leave about 2½-3GB of memory open.
So after about a week or so my device will fill up to the point where it begins to crash at inopportune times, and in extreme cases gives me a 'memory useage' warning.

Now, if I was to use only the built in cache cleaner, this issue is fixed, for sure.
But it also deletes all my logins to all the sites I frequent.
This is very annoying.

The cleaner app that I use does not do this.
So between that and the other reasons I mentioned above, I use that one cleaner app because the OS is not really doing what it should.

Oh, and my 8.1.1?
No built in cache cleaner at all, on a 1GB device.

So I would need to go through each app individually and clear the cache one by one.
That is not an entertaining way to spend quite a while.

So I use the same app on that device as well.

 

[MoodyBlues]

What you speak is true, especially for the newer android OS.

But the older ones were actually terrible at there job, often a device would get up to 3GB of junk accumulated in a short while.

Although the vast majority of cleaner apps are junk- in the same category as defraggers, battery boosters, memory expanders, etc. Systweak seems to be the best option for a few reasons.

First, the version I use has no ads. If this one is compatible with the user's OS, then that is a great plus.

Second, android OS 8+ does not have a built in cache cleaner, and generally will not allow third party apps to clean app caches either. This makes for a very tedious task of doing it manually- app by app. Pretty ridiculous compared to my 7.1.1 with the built in function.

Third, the cleaner app I use also has a duplicate finder. I realize that this may not interest some, but it has been a great help for me.

Fourth, and finally, the 'Game Launcher' function is useful on devices with low RAM. It will shut down unnecessary running apps while launching a desired app.
I find that I can use this feature to speed up the launch of larger apps (not just games) on a device that might normally freeze up when attempting to do so while other apps are running.

All of these features inside of an app of less than 30MB are pretty impressive.

I am aware of the OCD effect of cleaner apps and the like.

That is why I only clean my device once a week.

Sometimes I find that there is almost 1GB of crap to get rid of.

This is pretty strange if my OS is supposed to be doing its job- There is only 2GB RAM total and I leave about 2½-3GB of memory open.
So after about a week or so my device will fill up to the point where it begins to crash at inopportune times, and in extreme cases gives me a 'memory useage' warning.

Now, if I was to use only the built in cache cleaner, this issue is fixed, for sure.
But it also deletes all my logins to all the sites I frequent.
This is very annoying.

The cleaner app that I use does not do this.
So between that and the other reasons I mentioned above, I use that one cleaner app because the OS is not really doing what it should.

Oh, and my 8.1.1?
No built in cache cleaner at all, on a 1GB device.

So I would need to go through each app individually and clear the cache one by one.
That is not an entertaining way to spend quite a while.

So I use the same app on that device as well.

Really, if that's what works for you, so be it.

All I can say is that--as a Linux user coming to Android--it never occurred to me to look for, or use, any cleaning/defragging/etc. apps. That's because [as I've said ad nauseam ] Linux users don't deal with any of that crap.

So in my decade of using Android, I've neither used nor needed anything but its built-in tools--just like on Android's big brother, Linux proper.

Just like my computers, I almost never reboot any of my Android devices. Linux was built, and is intended, to run 24/7, and that's what all of my *nix devices do. That includes all my DVRs, all my desktops and laptops, two Android phones and one Android tablet. I have one desktop that, had it not been for occasional power outages, would be at 14 years uptime now. That's normal for Linux.

 

[Milo Willamson]

Really, if that's what works for you, so be it.

All I can say is that--as a Linux user coming to Android--it never occurred to me to look for, or use, any cleaning/defragging/etc. apps. That's because [as I've said ad nauseam ] Linux users don't deal with any of that crap.

So in my decade of using Android, I've neither used nor needed anything but its built-in tools--just like on Android's big brother, Linux proper.

Just like my computers, I almost never reboot any of my Android devices. Linux was built, and is intended, to run 24/7, and that's what all of my *nix devices do. That includes all my DVRs, all my desktops and laptops, two Android phones and one Android tablet. I have one desktop that, had it not been for occasional power outages, would be at 14 years uptime now. That's normal for Linux.

Do you worry about your android phone getting so much warm due to the app usages? Had my Moto for three years, and I worry about cooling down the process of each app though.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Do you worry about your android phone getting so much warm due to the app usages? Had my Moto for three years, and I worry about cooling down the process of each app though.

No, really I've never had any overheating issues with my Z². Does yours do anything/show anything indicating that it's too hot? How many apps are you running, and what types of apps are they?

I typically have 5-15 apps running, including one or two browsers, one or two file managers, my gallery app, plus various banking and credit card apps. I don't play games on it--I prefer playing games on my tablet or, better yet, my nice big laptop!

 

[Milo Willamson]

No, really I've never had any overheating issues with my Z². Does yours do anything/show anything indicating that it's too hot? How many apps are you running, and what types of apps are they?

I typically have 5-15 apps running, including one or two browsers, one or two file managers, my gallery app, plus various banking and credit card apps. I don't play games on it--I prefer playing games on my tablet or, better yet, my nice big laptop!

I do not usually worry about it, I have like a few apps running, like email, and every once a while a video game, but those do not usually burn it though, I am worrying about it can get over heated throughout just the small wake time with the game on, so I decided after the last game, "The White Door", not to worry about it burning feeling in my head, funny thing it never did, so I am wondering if it automatically cooled down itself.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I do not usually worry about it, I have like a few apps running, like email, and every once a while a video game, but those do not usually burn it though, I am worrying about it can get over heated throughout just the small wake time with the game on, so I decided after the last game, "The White Door", not to worry about it burning feeling in my head, funny thing it never did, so I am wondering if it automatically cooled down itself.

It should NOT be overheating from such light use. It sounds more like something you're worried about than something that's actually happening.

On my 'all day in bed' days, I use my phone, only, and have never even felt it get warm. Yours shouldn't either.

Hey, Milo, take a look at my latest post in the ADW thread! I've been tinkering with its icons again.

 

[Milo Willamson]

It should NOT be overheating from such light use. It sounds more like something you're worried about than something that's actually happening.

On my 'all day in bed' days, I use my phone, only, and have never even felt it get warm. Yours shouldn't either.

Hey, Milo, take a look at my latest post in the ADW thread! I've been tinkering with its icons again.

Strange must of been something chewing it, I have like around maybe at least eleven or tweleve, like switching back and forth type of email apps consintantly and still, the only thing is Walkdroid. Maybe I should download another walking app.

 

[DynahoeDave]

There is also an app called Addons Detector that can help you figure out what apps can show ads, among other annoying things.

With all the crazy going on, I lost track of this thread. Plus the annoying windows opening went away, - then came back, then went away = = several times. Today they are back with a vengeance, so I have to do something. I installed Addons detector, and let it scan. I have no idea what any of it means. I don't have loads of apps, other than what was on the phone when I bought it. Probably added less than 10. No facebook or similar apps. I am getting a google play store window opening at random times, suggesting an app. [the app changes occasionally] I get a youtube window opening that wants me to view whatever it's pointed to.

There is another thing that happens off and on also - Normally, when I swipe the screen to turn on the device, it goes right to whatever I left open last. But sometimes, I get a screen with an image, and "good morning" or "good evening" that I have to clear first. The settings don't have a disable or anything, just a dismiss or mute for now, so it eventually comes back.

I just need to know how to find out what is opening these windows so I can remove it. I'm not trying to mess around with the OS, just get whatever has taken over removed.

Thank you,
Dave