Fullscreen pop up ads when closing Hangouts

**ultracool** · 05-28-2014, 03:53 PM

So i have been using a Galaxy S5 for about a month now... I noticed i was getting fullscreen pop ups and i though it was some downloaded apps and i removed them. But I am still getting them and i noticed it was only when I backout completely out of hangouts messaging app. If i press home or switch to another app I dont see the add. It has a grey background and the letter "i" on bottom left corner where i can press and it displays "ads by google".

I have scanned with Lookout, App brain and some other popular ad detector tools and nothing pops up so my guess is some setting on the phone that i might be opting out of something. Or maybe i turned off bloatware that is causing me this. My wife has the same phone and uses hangouts and its not getting the pop ups.

Used this guide to remove those that I understand i dont need. I removed MOST of those.

AT&T Samsung Galaxy S5 DeBloating - xda-developers

Any idea what exactly is causing me this pop up issue with hangouts? Searched all around and found some people with similar fullscreen pop ups but did not specify if it was hangouts nor did they ever say what solved their problem... Really need some help on this. Pretty sure its something stock on the phone.

**ultracool** · 05-29-2014, 10:38 AM

Bump... No one else getting these pop up ads and know of how to get rid of them?

**jschu22** · 05-29-2014, 10:47 AM

I suspect that it is not something stock and its part of something you downloaded. Have you gotten rid of any 3rd party apps? Maybe a removal and reinstall of Hangouts will fix it?

Posted via Android Central App

**ultracool** · 06-02-2014, 02:59 PM

Yeah... i suspect so too because I am now getting it everything I use the "back" key to close other apps like gallery or so. Not sure which one to start with... Only apps I could think off are Games and monitoring apps. I had most of the apps on my older S3 and they never gave me pop ups...These are the only ones i could consider that are causing the ads:

Castle Clash
AppLock
Applock Theme 7
GSam Battery Monitor
SoundHound

I had most before, if not all of them, on my S3 and never had any pop ups... Its very strange because its randomly and only when i use the back key to close the app.

The reason i think its something factory is because my wifes is not getting the pop ups BUT she did not turn off bloatware like i did. I am thinking that since i disabled i lot of the bloatware, they have it setup so that it then spams me with ads...Its very strange because NO ad detecting app detects the culprit of these fullscreen ads. Here is a screen shot of the adds. They always come with the same gray background/X on top corner and "i" on bottom, it just changes the content.

Fullscreen pop up ads when closing Hangouts-screenshot_2014-05-22-17-52-45.jpg

**trickym81** · 06-02-2014, 03:50 PM

I've disabled/uninstalled a bunch of the included apps/bloatware and I've never once seen a screen that looks anything like that.

**ultracool** · 06-02-2014, 04:56 PM

Yeah... well i uninstalled Gsam battery monitor just to see if thats the culprit... Used Addons Detector to see which aps were using advertisement and GSam came up positive. If i still get it, then ill give Applock a check and uninstall it. Very annoying to detect thou.

**AZgl1500** · 06-02-2014, 07:34 PM

I installed GSAM and saw a popup.

Uninstalled it right away.

**ultracool** · 06-02-2014, 07:45 PM

Strange... i never had pop ups on my S3....

**proctorc** · 06-02-2014, 08:22 PM

I have not seen this issue with my Sprint S5.

**ultracool** · 06-03-2014, 08:22 PM

Still getting the same pop ups after uninstalling GSam and Applock Theme 7. I went on an unsinstalled AK Notepad because that was actually transferred via Samsung Smart switch, its not really available for S5. Hopefully that guy is the culprit, if not, im going to uninstall Applock next. But definitely not GSam nor the Theme. So no idea why GSam gave you spam.

**ultracool** · 06-04-2014, 04:23 PM

Still getting pop ups... Went on and uninstalled AppLock now... Really not much left... Still think its something factory or some ad service i opted out... :/

**ultracool** · 06-09-2014, 11:32 AM

Well I am sad to report that it seems like it was Applock... strange because i had it for quite sometime (over 3-4 months) on my S3 and i never had gotten pop ups or ads at all... And its kind of hard to replace an app as nice as this one. Maybe ill try to install again later to see if using the "annonymous usage" reports doesnt throw me off as bad.

Updated: Applock now has a little account center thing now where you decide how your licensing is going to be with the following options: Premium paid, Premium with Ads (Default) or Basic no ads. Its kind of tricky to get to the account center which is why i never saw this (not via settings, you have to tap the top "ACCOUNT CENTER" text that blinks with other scrolling texts)... But seems like prior installations had the default to Basic instead of Premium with Ads which is why i never had pop ups on my other devices. Just though i clarify for other users.

**teristark** · 06-09-2014, 05:45 PM

I got the same size ads when I installed Beach Live Wallpaper and Aquarium Live wallpaper. I deleted them as fast as I installed them.

**polosprt009** · 07-26-2014, 11:33 AM

Any update on what caused these full screen ads to appear and did you ever get the problem fixed? I too am having the same issue, but where I go, nobody has a fix. Here's a link to my similar query if anyone wants to follow to see if a fix is given.

**Nicholas Parks** · 08-02-2014, 11:48 PM

I found a solution. When the ads pop up. Hit your home button for few seconds to view resent apps if using 4.2 android or whatever technique to see recent apps.
You should see the ads along with recently used apps and the ads are generated by " network service" . go into settings-apps-all apps-scroll to network service and disable or deactivate. It will work. I had the same problem.
I believe it's malware but haven't investigated further why it happen. I will email Google on the issue..

Posted via Android Central App

**polosprt009** · 08-03-2014, 12:27 AM

I'm glad to hear you found a fix to the issue. Unfortunately these instructions didn't work for me. In fact I've currently got this popped up on my phone as we speak -.-

It popped up while using the app Whitagram, an app which allows you to use wide angle photos in Instagram. Is this app potentially the source of these ads? It would be a damn shame because I use this app quite regularly but come to think of it, these ad popups started around the time of installing this app. But the ads show up while using various other apps also. Wish there was a simple way to disable these ads from coming up.

It also must be said, I've clicked the bottom left portion of the ad which led me to Google settings. There I turned off advertisements yet the popups still keep occurring...

Originally Posted by Nicholas Parks

I found a solution. When the ads pop up. Hit your home button for few seconds to view resent apps if using 4.2 android or whatever technique to see recent apps.
You should see the ads along with recently used apps and the ads are generated by " network service" . go into settings-apps-all apps-scroll to network service and disable or deactivate. It will work. I had the same problem.
I believe it's malware but haven't investigated further why it happen. I will email Google on the issue..

Posted via Android Central App