These 29 apps are RUINING your Android battery life – delete them now
ANDROID users are being warned about 29 malicious apps that have been downloaded by millions.
Most of the apps are photo editors with 'Blur' in their title and if you have any on your phone you're advised to delete them.
This warning comes from security researchers at .
The experts found malware in the 29 apps.
Although they have now been removed from the Google Play Store, the apps are thought to have been downloaded around 3.5million times.
This means some Android users could still have them on their device.
The apps to delete
Here's a list of all the apps you're advised to delete and their package names...
Auto Picture Cut - com.auto.picture.cut.background.eraser.tool
Color Call Flash - com.color.call.flash.tools
Square Photo Blur - com.jack.square.photo.blur.image, com.joan.super.photo.blur.tool
Square Blur Photo - com.jobfun.square.photo.blur.image, com.jones.square.photo.blur.image
Magic Call Flash - com.magic.call.flash.tools, com.mandi.super.photo.blur.tool
Easy Blur - com.mary.super.photo.blur.tool
Image Blur - com.mclain.photo.blur.editor.background, com.michael.super.photo.blur.tool
Auto Photo Blur - com.paige.photo.blur.background
Photo Blur - com.scorp.photo.blur.background
Photo Blur Master - com.scott.scorp.photo.blur.background, com.smart.call.screen.tools
Super Call Screen - com.super.call.screen.tools, test.com.flash.call.flashcall.cool
Square Blur Master - com.robert.square.photo.blur.image
Square Blur - com.craig.square.photo.blur.image
Smart Blur Photo - com.james.smart.blur.photo.editor.tool
Smart Photo Blur - com.james.smart.photo.blur.editor.tool
Super Call Flash - com.super.call.screen.toolz
Smart Call Flash - com.smart.call.flash.tools
Blur Photo Editor - com.sixgod.photo.editor.blur.image.tool
Blur Image - com.fancy.photo.editor.blur.image.tool, com.aab.photo.blur.editor.background, com.angel.photo.blur.background, com.auto.image.editor.background.eraser.tool, com.auto.photo.editor.background.eraser.tool
The apps are being labelled as malicious because they do things like bombard users with adverts and don't actually provide their proposed function.
Some of them were also said to be hard to delete because their launch icons would suddenly vanish.
Advert heavy apps are known to eat away at your phone battery life.
White Ops researchers spotted the problem when threat hunting and found the apps creating "suspiciously high volumes of ad traffic”.
All the app developers have similar names, which raised further suspicions that they're being created by the same group of cybercriminals.
The researchers noted: "The developer name for Square Photo Blur —'Thomas Mary'— is almost certainly bogus.
"All of the apps in this investigation feature developers whose 'names' are common English language names smashed together, seemingly at random."
The apps had poor reviews on the Google Play Store and many of them highlighted how they bombarded users with adverts.
All the apps were said to have well hidden malware, enabling them to fool Google and appear legitimate.
To protect yourself, only downloads apps from trusted sources and make sure you read the reviews and what the app wants to access on your device.
You can also download trust Android antivirus apps that can help to protect you further.
In other news, an Alexa 'snooping-blocker' that jams the microphone of your Echo smart speaker has been developed.
Netflix lovers are being warned about a new email scam claiming to offer a year's free subscription to the service.
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Have you come across any bad Android apps recently? Let us know in the comments...
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