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Unwanted APKs: how do I get rid of them?

T

toureasy

Lurker
On my wife's Samsung S4, we keep getting APKs that we don't want. I delete at least three or four every day. The first parts of the file names are:

-TTPOD
-wandoujia
-ninegame

We block installation, and I delete the files regularly, but they still show up.

Any ideas on how to keep them from showing up?
 
Welcome to the forum :)

Something is downloading them in the background. The question is, what?

One possibility is websites. Some websites have been known to automatically download apps when you visit them. If so, and you can identify which sites, the answer is obvious (though a browser which let's you spoof the device id so that it doesn't appear as an android phone might also work).

The other possibility is that you've installed an app which is downloading this stuff in the background, in which case identifying which app and removing it would be the answer. Anything installed shortly (say up to 2 weeks) before this started might be a suspect. Apps installed from sites other than the Play Store or Amazon App Store are more likely to be the culprits, but we shouldn't rule anything out in advance. There are apps, like AddOns Detector, Lookout Ad Network Detector, Airpush Detector, which can be used to scan your apps for things using particularly aggressive marketing techniques ("push notifications/advertising", most of which have been banned from the Play Store but still occasionally turn up on people's phones). I don't recall downloading other apps being a feature of that stuff, but it might be worth a look anyway.

If it is an app then a factory reset would of course remove it, but it's a hassle setting up again (with the risk that you just reinstall it), so best if you can work out what the culprit is. You could try disabling anything you have suspicions about and see whether it stops (then re-enable gradually until you find the one that caused it).

If you have the option to install apps from "unknown sources" unticked then you should be safe, since without that the system wouldn't let you install them even if you accidentally clicked to do so. But that doesn't stop the downloads, and you'd have to re-enable that if you do install apps from sources other than the Play Store.

As for what these things are:

* wandoujia is a Chinese search engine/app store.
* TTPOD seems to be a Chinese music player
* there are apps called "nine game", but it's also the name of a warez site (offering paid apps for free). Sites like that are best avoided for your own safety, since quite apart from the morality of ripping off the app developer cracked apps often have malware inserted into them.
 
1-it might be a clue to know what directory the files show up in, and internal or external sd, and if external what version android. Then again if something like"downloads"on internal, doesn't narrow it down.

2-Is there by chance any backup/sync behavior you have associated with that directory. Some sync setups will restore deleted files to match the master remote directory (foldersync can be setup this way)....

....More likely, malware as suggested above. Especially if you have installed from shady sources.
 
toureasy said:
On my wife's Samsung S4, we keep getting APKs that we don't want. I delete at least three or four every day. The first parts of the file names are:

-TTPOD
-wandoujia
-ninegame

We block installation, and I delete the files regularly, but they still show up.

Any ideas on how to keep them from showing up?
Click to expand...

After deleting the files, create empty folders with the same names as the files.

This should confuse the mystery installer...
 
steiny180 said:
After deleting the files, create empty folders with the same names as the files.

This should confuse the mystery installer...
Click to expand...
I created one empty folder with the name of one of the files. The next day, there was one app—with a different name—that was asking for installation permission.

Since then, though, nothing! Some of the unwanted APKs are showing up in the file listings, but we haven't seen a request for installation permission. It's now been nearly two weeks, so I'm ready to pronounce it as cured!

Thanks for the suggestion!
 
I have to agree with Blackflag on this I would be more interested in what is downloading the apps. Addon detector is free and very effective for finding this kind of thing out.
 
Haven't got Mobogenie installed have you? I'm pretty sure that can be pushing unsolicited APKs into a phone.

"Those terrible Chinese at it again."
 
Mobogenie is also an app that distributes itself by getting websites to auto-download it when you visit them. When first called out for it they claimed it was a one-off due to an over-enthusiastic marketing partner, but it kept on happening anyway so personally I don't believe them.

So yeah, I'd avoid that one on principle: an app that uses shady techniques to distribute itself isn't one I'd trust.
 
One more reason to only use "somewhat" official services for downloading apps. Third party market apps are almost always going to be filled with junk..

If you have not downloaded one of these, ignore this rant then. lol
But seriously, rather then just stop the installation of the APK, stop the program that's downloading it, because eventually that will cost you.

I have heard cases where third party markets used a background process to slow down a user's internet, then through hijacked targeted ads, showed the user ads while playing games for ways to fix it using apps from their service.

They get money for that crap so it's in their best interest to get you to do it.
 
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