Apps downloading by themselves..

[Neal Smith]

Anyone having problems with apps downloading all by themselves?I work nights and plug my phone in around 7 and wake up in the afternoon and I have apps(usually games)downloaded on my phone and I can't figure out what is doing it..driving me nuts!

 

[B. Diddy]

Are these updates to games you've installed, or games that you never installed in the first place? If the former, then open the Google Play Store app, swipe in from the left and tap Settings, then make sure Auto-Update Apps is not turned on.

If the latter, then maybe there's some malware installed. What apps are downloading?

 

[Neal Smith]

They are mostly games not apps that are updating.Is there something anyone would suggest I can install to find out if it's malware and get rid of it?

 

[donc13]

They are mostly games not apps that are updating.Is there something anyone would suggest I can install to find out if it's malware and get rid of it?

Games are apps. The question is, were they on the phone already and just being updated... or were they brand new apps you've never seen before?

And...what app is downloading them? Are the notifications from Google Play or Amazon App Store?

Sent from my Note 3 via Tapatalk

 

[Neal Smith]

Sorry..They were not on phone already(not being updated)Brand new apps.Downloading from Google play

 

[B. Diddy]

Have you ever downloaded those apps on any other device associated with your Google account? If so, they could be auto-restoring. But if you've never installed them before, then I suspect some kind of malware or adware that you might have tapped inadvertently. What happens when you uninstall those apps? Do they reinstall on their own?

 

[Neal Smith]

No they don't reinstall..and it happens about the same time every day.I just installed an anti malware and it told me I had malware on so I had it remove the malware..don't know if this will resolve the issue..

 

[B. Diddy]

Which antimalware app did you install, and which piece of malware did it say that it detected?

 

[Neal Smith]

It's called Malwarebytes anti-malware it said it detected PUP.Adware.Airpush..so far no more apps..I don't know if that did it or not.Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[Neal Smith]

Ok..well it's doing it again

 

[anon8380037]

Do you have Unknown Sources un-ticked, and Verify Apps set in Security?

Do you have other games you chose to install in the past, and these new games are by the same or related developer.
Otherwise try uninstalling suspect apps one at a time until it stops.

Also suggest uninstalling Malwarebytes and installing Lookout and see if that can find something more. I have had Lookout on 2 phones, and Malwarebytes on my pc, though I recently removed Lookout to check for any battery improvement.

 

[Neal Smith]

Yes to unknown sources and verify both checked but havnt uninstalled suspect apps yet.I do have lookout installed but It has not detected anything

 

[Neal Smith]

Its strange to me because it happens about the same time every day( around 5:30).I can sit and watch it download and lookout will scan the app and tell me its ok.If I long press on the app to get app info it brings me to the Google play store.

 

[retsaw]

You can push install apps to your phone from the Google play website on your computer. Maybe you have malware on your computer that is doing this. If your computer isn't on around the time this is happening it may be your login credentials have been stolen by some malware, so after ensuring there isn't any malware on your computers, perhaps it would be worthwhile changing the password on your Google account and maybe turning on two factor authentication.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Neal Smith]

Ok thank you for your help just finished doing what you suggested hopefully it will work.

 

[anon8380037]

I push installed half my apps that way as it's easier to browse.
Hadn't thought of that - yet!

Hope you can solve it from there.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Neal Smith]

This might have solved the problem,three days now and its not doing it anymore.Thank You everyone for the help.

You can push install apps to your phone from the Google play website on your computer. Maybe you have malware on your computer that is doing this. If your computer isn't on around the time this is happening it may be your login credentials have been stolen by some malware, so after ensuring there isn't any malware on your computers, perhaps it would be worthwhile changing the password on your Google account and maybe turning on two factor authentication.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[anon8380037]

Interesting. Well done retsaw.
Thanks for the feedback.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk Pro

 

[ultron 58941]

Anyone having problems with apps downloading all by themselves?I work nights and plug my phone in around 7 and wake up in the afternoon and I have apps(usually games)downloaded on my phone and I can't figure out what is doing it..driving me nuts!

Okay so go to settings turn off unknown sources which is in security section.