Do I need an antivirus on Android?

Usually no. Play Protect already scans apps. Most extra security apps add ads and alarms

Do RAM booster apps work?

No. Google says a third-party app cannot improve memory, power, or thermal behaviour on Android

A free VPN with no named company is paid for some other way, often with your data. Prefer an audited VPN with a named owner

Is a phone cleaner app safe?

Some are. Skip ones that show scary threat counts or ads dressed as system warnings. Use storage settings or a file tool that lists each file

Be careful

Some apps make your phone worse.

Four kinds of app promise a faster, safer phone. Most can't deliver, and some do harm. Here's what to skip, why, and what to do instead, with the sources.

✕ Skip1 of 4

Antivirus and "phone security" apps

The promise: Your phone is at risk. Scan now.

Android already scans your apps with Google Play Protect, before you install and while you use them. Many security apps add little but ads and alarms.

Of 250 Android security apps tested, more than two thirds blocked less than 30% of common threats.AV-Comparatives, Android test, March 2019 · source

Instead: keep Play Protect on, install system updates, and get apps from stores you know.

Google: Use Google Play Protect

✕ Skip2 of 4

RAM boosters, task killers and CPU coolers

The promise: Boost 47%. Cool your CPU.

Android keeps apps in memory on purpose and closes them itself when it needs room. Killing them makes them start again from zero, which costs more battery, not less. Since Android 14 they can't close other apps at all.

It isn't possible for a 3rd-party application to improve the memory, power, or thermal behavior of an Android device.Google, Android 14 behaviour changes · source

Instead: restart the phone if it feels slow, and uninstall apps you don't use.

Also: Trend Micro, booster apps carrying ad-fraud malware (2020)

! Be careful3 of 4

Cleaners that show scary numbers

The promise: 2.3 GB of junk found. 12 threats.

Clearing caches frees space for a moment, then apps rebuild them. A good cleaner shows you each file before it deletes it. A bad one shows big red numbers, full-screen ads, and alerts dressed up as system warnings.

Cleaner and utility apps from one large publisher were caught running ad fraud on Google Play.Android Police, April 2019 · source

Instead: your phone's own storage settings, or a file tool that lists what it removes.

✕ Skip4 of 4

Free VPNs that hide who runs them

The promise: Free. Unlimited. Secure.

A VPN sees all your traffic. Running servers costs money, so a free VPN with no named company is paid for some other way, often with your data.

Two groups of free VPN apps, with more than 700 million downloads between them, used one built-in password shared by every user. Anyone who finds it can decrypt the traffic."Hidden Links", FOCI 2025 · source

Instead: an audited VPN with a named owner, or no VPN at all on networks you trust. Audited VPNs

Also: Tech Transparency Project (2025) · ICSI/IMC 2016

How to spot one. Any category.

If an app does two of these, close it and uninstall it.

Red warnings that look like they come from Android

A big number of "threats" or "junk" on first launch

Asks for Accessibility or device admin for no clear reason

Notifications every day telling you to "clean" or "boost"

No company name you can look up

"Free, unlimited" for something that costs money to run

We name behaviours

We describe what these apps do, not who makes them. We name an app only when a published source names it, and we link that source.

We re-check yearly

Each claim carries the date we read the source. Android changes; when a warning stops being true, we take it down.

Think we're wrong?

Makers can write to us. We fix facts within a week and say what changed. Contact