Question Weird clock that dosen't show on screenshots, phone hacked ?

[itachi254]

Hello,

On my phone i saw a logo of a ticking clock on top right of my screen that would randomly appear and would disapear within a minute. It was like something was loading. I tried to take a screenshot of that clock a few times but the screenshot would show everything on my screen except that clock.

Also i've noticed that sometimes my phone were overheating or the lighting on my phone would go down for a moment even though i'd set the luminosity to the max.

So i bought a new phone but i was wondering if my phone was hacked as i sometime visit some suspicious website and dowload music videos or if it was just my phone that was getting old...(galaxy note 10) i also dropped it a few time and the screen was damaged.

The clock looked a bit like that one :

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It's certainly possible you might have inadvertently installed some unwanted app with hidden "features" like that clock. The fact that you visit shady websites raises that risk as well. If you have a brand new phone and you're no longer seeing this, then you should be fine -- just change your browsing habits to avoid shady sites. Remember, "free" music/movie downloads usually aren't free, since they carry a risk of embedded malware (and besides, it's also piracy -- don't do it).

 

[itachi254]

Welcome to Android Central! It's certainly possible you might have inadvertently installed some unwanted app with hidden "features" like that clock. The fact that you visit shady websites raises that risk as well. If you have a brand new phone and you're no longer seeing this, then you should be fine -- just change your browsing habits to avoid shady sites. Remember, "free" music/movie downloads usually aren't free, since they carry a risk of embedded malware (and besides, it's also piracy -- don't do it).

Thank you. And if i factory reset the phone, would those malware apps be gone ?

 

[B. Diddy]

A factory reset should get rid of unwanted apps, but I wouldn't restore the phone from a backup, in case that restores an unwanted app. Just set it up as if it were brand new. You can always manually install your usual apps from the Play Store.