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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