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Help Annoying pop up ads.

R

Rivkahs

Newbie
Hi All,

I have a Droid Maxx 2 Android version 7.1.1 my carrier is Safelink Wireless (subsidiary of TracFone). It was an old phone of my mom's that she got from Verizon.

A few days to a week ago pop up ads started happening. Didn't matter what app I was in, or if I was on my homescreen they pop up everywhere and like every 15 seconds or so.

I have googled answers and tried everything:

  1. I deleted all recent apps and restarted my phone
  2. I downloaded every single anti-malware/adware/virus/spyware/you-name-it-ware app available in the play store and none of them could find the issue.
  3. I even went the drastic route and did a full factory reset.
But the little effers are still there. What else can I do at this point?! I'm fairly tech savvy but I'm terminally ill and one of my symptoms is severe memory loss so I don't remember all that I used to when it comes to techie stuff so please give me advice maybe it's something simple that I forgot to try?! Who knows!

Thanks in advance!
 
Rivkahs said:
  1. I even went the drastic route and did a full factory reset.
Click to expand...

Did the ads appear immediately after the factory reset, or after you reinstalled apps and had been using it?

Because if it's the former, it could be more serious. Is the phone rooted? Have you tried starting it on safe mode?
 
You're going to hate me for this but I honestly don't remember? It was three days ago that I did the factory reset so it's gone from my memory now. :-/

I vaguely remember from my techie days about rooted and unrooted. But I don't remember specifically. Can you briefly explain what that means?
 
Rivkahs said:
You're going to hate me for this but I honestly don't remember? It was three days ago that I did the factory reset so it's gone from my memory now. :-/

I vaguely remember from my techie days about rooted and unrooted. But I don't remember specifically. Can you briefly explain what that means?
Click to expand...

So it could be some app that's been installed since the factory reset?

Root is basically gaining access to modify the phone's firmware, the Android OS. Which on a Droid with Android 7.x I believe would need to be deliberately done. So I assume it isn't rooted.
 
today said:
Search "safe mode" in the forums and try safe mode to see if the ads persist.
Click to expand...
it's been about three or four minutes and no ads. thry were showing up every 15 seconds or so. This must mean its an app. Which is disconcertingg because I have so many and a lot of them are critical too help me communicate with the world around me because I'm Deaf...
 
mikedt said:
So it could be some app that's been installed since the factory reset?

Root is basically gaining access to modify the phone's firmware. Which on a Droid with Android 7.x I believe would need to be deliberately done.
Click to expand...

ok now I remember rooting. I did it years ago to an android device in order to get the latest Android versions because I'm a tech junkie. But now I'm old (32) lol and don't care as much about the latest software or devices I just need one that meets my needs. And alot of the apps I use are for accessibility purposes because I'm Deaf.
 
Rivkahs said:
it's been about three or four minutes and no ads. thry were showing up every 15 seconds or so. This must mean its an app. Which is disconcertingg because I have so many and a lot of them are critical too help me communicate with the world around me because I'm Deaf...
Click to expand...

Sounds like you may need to go through them one by one. Disable or uninstall until you find the culprit. Do any of them come from Chinese publishers? Were any installed from outside of Google Play, i.e. installed from whatever untrusted sources.
 
mikedt said:
Sounds like you may need to go through them one by one. Disable or uninstall until you find the culprit. Do any of them come from Chinese publishers? Were any installed from outside of Google Play, i.e. installed from whatever untrusted sources.
Click to expand...

They were all from Google Play and none were Chinese that I'm aware of. I'll start uninstalling them one by one and see what happens
 
I don't want to jinx myself but I haven't had an ad in several minutes... and they usually are every 15 seconds or so...
 
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