[AC Question]

I clicked on a video to watch porn and my phone was acting slow. something popped up and said i would get a virus, I figured that was the virus itself. I closed out of the apps and shut down my WiFi and turned off my phone. When i turned my phone back on after two hours, it seemed to be working fine until I turned on my WiFi on and opened an app. My screen froze and so i tried to turn my phone off again. Now, my phone is practically useless. I can turn my screen on and off but its stuck on the lock-screen-- my phone doesn't give me the option to put in my passcode so it's stuck and wont turn off. I decided that I would do a factory reset from my computer but my phone is so messed up, my laptop can't even detect any significant details from my iPhone allowing me to reset it. What should I do?

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Which phone? I'd suggest booting into Recovery Mode and wiping the cache partition, but I need to know the model first. And yes, Apple products are also susceptible to viruses, but it tends to be less likely, since their app ecosystem is very strictly overseen by Apple themselves (the so-called "walled garden"). Viruses on Android can be easily avoided, though, by following some common sense guidelines:

1. Avoid shady websites that deal with things like porn, gambling, and "free" (aka pirated) apps/music/movies.

2. Never ever tap on a link that appears in a popup while browsing, especially if they're warning you that your phone is infected -- they're just trying to scare you into installing some bogus "antivirus" app that is probably malicious itself.

3. Only install apps from well-established app sources like Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore. Read a bunch of app reviews before installing an app to look for any complaints about adware or suspected malware.

4. Turn on Google's "Verify Apps" function. This allows Google to periodically scan your phone's apps to look for malware. It's usually in your Google Settings app, under Security (although it might also be in the main System Settings, in Settings>Security).

5. Turn off "Unknown Sources" in Settings>Security. This prevents any app that wasn't obtained from Google Play Store from being installed (which could include malicious apps that are inadvertently downloaded).