These 17 apps for Android drain the battery of your smartphone quickly: The list

Some developers have used several tricks on their Android apps to introduce invasive banner ads avoiding all the malware detection systems employed by Google.

These apps bombard advertising users even when they are not used and in the foreground on the device, and to identify them was Bitdefender, which last Tuesday published a public note on the official website. Find it here.

There are 17 apps discovered by Bitdefender to have used the system to invade users’ terminals, for a total of 550 thousand installations on Android. The tactics used to lower the possibility of being discovered by Google’s security systems or by more attentive users are decidedly interesting: the apps wait about 48 hours from the first installation to hide their presence on the device and wait another 4 hours before playing the first one’s banners, which are launched at regular time intervals.

The malicious code is also divided into multiple files, according to Bitdefender, within apps that at first glance seem legitimate since they accomplish exactly what is specified in the descriptions on the Google Play Store.

Among the apps discovered by the security company, there is also a racing simulator with in-app purchases to obtain additional functions: the game works perfectly, but at the same time reproduces banners that not only drain the battery of the device but sometimes hinder the same gameplay.

Furthermore, every time the user unlocks an infected smartphone, there is a possibility that a banner will be reproduced, with such randomness that it is difficult to discover a coherent pattern. In other words, the user cannot predict when the system will play the next banner: ” Users see different in-game games when they hit some keys, and even when they are not in the app. The frequency with which the banners appear on the screen while in the game depends on a random value. In half the cases, there is a possibility that when using the game features, the banner appears “, reads the note released by security experts.

Below is the list of the 17 apps discovered by Bitdefender. Google is aware of the problem and has already started to remove them from the Google Play Store, at the time of writing some apps are still available for download:

• Car Racing 2019
• 4K Wallpaper (Background 4K Full HD)
• Backgrounds 4K HD
• QR Code Reader & Barcode Scanner Pro
• File Manager Pro – Manager SD Card/Explorer
• VMOWO City: Speed Racing 3D
• Barcode Scanner
• Screen Stream Mirroring
• QR Code – Scan & Read a Barcode
• Period Tracker – Cycle Ovulation Women’s
• QR & Barcode Scan Reader
• Wallpapers 4K, Backgrounds HD
• Transfer Data Smart
• Explorer File Manager
• Today Weather Radar
• Mobnet.io: Big Fish Frenzy
• Clock LED

The apps have not been classified as ” malware, “since – technically – the hidden functions are limited to the mere reproduction of advertising banners. They cause substantial drainage of the battery, and in the future, they could introduce harmful activities through a simple software update. Better to stay away and uninstall them from your devices.