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Feature
» Secure your phone


Antivirus head-to-head


With so many antivirus apps available on Google Play, which one should you use?


»Available for Phone and tablet
» Requires Android 2.

PriceFree


Avast Mobile
Security

»Available for Phone and tablet
» Requires Android: 2.

PriceFree


McAfee Antivirus
& Security

»Available for Phone and tablet
» Requires Android: 2.

PriceFree


Kaspersky
Security For Mobile

Choose to scan
certain parts of
your device and
even set up an
automatic scan
to appear at
specifi ed times. Scans are
thorough, but cause some
slowdown on your device while
in progress.

Although users
can specify to
scan certain
fi les, they can
instead monitor
the exact fi les
currently being scanned through
the panel at the bottom of the
app. Scans are thorough
and complete.

There are
several privacy
features to use
here. The Lock
Apps option is
fantastic for
blocking access to personal
apps, while you can also scan for
any apps that have tried
accessing your sensitive data.

Scanning in
Kaspersky is
surprisingly
basic and
there’s little in
terms of
customisation here. Scans are
remarkably fast, which does
make us worry that they aren’t
as thorough as we’d like.

Through a
secondary app
that links with
Kaspersky, users
can choose to
upload their
entire phone contents in one go,
or through individual files. It
performs a quick virus scan of
each file before uploading.

Without doubt
the defining
feature that
makes
Kaspersky a
solid choice in
this respect is that it contains a
SIM Watch feature. This is an
excellent way of tracking your
stolen SIM card’s location.

Most of
Kaspersky’s
privacy features
come in the
form of call and
text blockers.
Users can quickly move
contacts and numbers between
their Allowed and Blocked
contacts lists.

For some
strange
reason,
backing up
your fi les takes
a lot longer in
McAfee compared to the
competition. Being able to
backup your call logs is a nice
addition, however.

The Find Device
feature is an
invaluable tool
here, if a little
complicated to
set up. Pay
close attention to the
CaptureCam feature that will
take a picture of the thief in
action – caught red-handed!

To get the full
benefi ts of
Avast’s backup
system, users
will need to pay
out for the
premium version. However, the
backing-up process to Google
Drive is made simple through
the app.

Avast has a
minimal
selection of
options when it
comes to
safeguarding
your privacy. The Privacy
Advisor feature is useful for
identifying problematic apps,
but little else.

Through Avast’s
unique SMS
Control feature,
it’s possible for
a user to text
code words to a
lost mobile in order to get it to
perform specifi c actions. Make
sure to note down those code
words, though!

It’s the detail that McAfee goes into that makes it stand out. As well as
providing a solid virus scan system, it’s by far the best choice for adding
extra privacy features to block unwanted access on your device. Make
sure to use it alongside the desktop client to get the most out of it.

And the
winner is...

MCAFEE


ANTI-THEFT


PRIVACY


BACKUP


ANTIVIRUS

Free download pdf