How to Spot an App You Should not Trust
Most of us spend most of our time in apps of one type or another, and if you’re looking for a new one, there’s no shortage: you’ll find around 1.6 million of them in the iOS App Store alone. For example, which is enough to last for several lifetimes. Unfortunately, while most of these apps are perfectly harmless and helpful, not all of them are.
Almost 200 Android apps containing malware were released this month alone were sighted, which corresponds to about 30 million installations. While app stores from Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others offer comprehensive protection against malicious apps, they’re not infallible guardians, and you may be sourcing some of your apps from the broader web—especially on the desktop.
Apps you shouldn’t trust run the gamut from apps actively trying to access your bank accounts to apps that track your location a little more often than you’d like. However, there are ways to protect yourself – and we’ve listed some of the warning signs to look out for below.
This isn’t an exact science, and there’s no checklist you can use to determine if an app is definitely trustworthy or untrustworthy. However, there are pointers to watch out for. These can be enough to keep you away from an app you shouldn’t be bothered with and keep your devices well protected.
