Help Samsung s3 acting weird

[mrmons]

My phone is starting to act really weird lately. Often (several times a day), when the phone is just laying on my desk, the screen gets locked up, some random apps flash up and gets shut down, and almost every time the S Voice voice control comes up (like the home button is pressed twice), and also often the application "app" will pop ut and the phone remains unlocked. It can keep switching between apps and homescreen very fast for a few seconds before it stops. This is really annoying, and I get a feeling someone is controlling my phone.

Also, while I'm at it.... The last weeks I have gotten many tiny app shortcuts on my home screen (often 5-6 at a time), which keep reappearing even if I delete them. They are just random commercial apps, and they annoy me a lot.

Experiences or suggestions?


Thanks

 

[funkylogik]

Hey pal
The lil shortcuts on your screen sound like a "free" app is putting them there (spam) so try the Ad Network Detector app, run it and itl tell you which apps have which level of adware on your phone :thumbup:
I dont know if thats related to the s-voice problem but id recommend everyone gets rid of any app that puts ads, notification ads, bookmarks on your phone.. theyre scum imo.
If you dont ever use s-voice, id disable it
P.s, if this persists after trying the rest, definately factory reset the phone incase theres malware there. (Have you downloaded any apps from outside of Play Store?)

 

[mrmons]

I installed the detector app, and it found the app making the shortcuts, thanks

The problem with S Voice has happened rapidly tonight, at least 5 times since I posted this thread. I deactivated S Voice, but it still happens. Only now, the phone just locks itself up and shows the home page, and the buttons at the bottom flash on and off every few seconds. When I lock the screen, it turns back on after a minute or two. Any ideas?

 

[funkylogik]

No idea man. Have you ever factory reset the phone? Did you disable s-voice in phone settings, Applications?

 

[mrmons]

I think I found out whats causing the problem. I noticed a tiny steering wheel flashing on and off on top of my screen when the problem occurs, and when I pulled down the notification tab I saw "Driving mode" getting activated and deactivated several times fast.

Any ideas how to make my phone stop activating and deactivating driving mode ?

 

[Funnyusername]

Your phone sounds all kinds of funky. I would recommend a factory reset. If this does not solve the problem, take the phone in and demand a replacement. It sounds like software issues.

 

[iauich]

Hi, I had a similar problem with my S3, random apps showing up on screen and then S voice pops up.. I was a little scared with resetting my phone since there are lots of stuff on it. (sure I could have taken back up before, but its just lot of work for me) Then I disabled the S voice, and luckily, my phone started working just fine. Thanks guys for suggestions..