Help with ads on android please - new user

[chappers34]

Hi, I'm completely new to the android OS. I bought a generic tablet which claims to have android 4.2.2 on it, for my young son to play games on.

He's been playing hay day but full screen adverts keep appearing, notably Guinness and wowcher ads. They interrupt the game randomly but sometimes the same one will play over and over after only about 20 seconds since the previous one. Sometimes after closing the ad the hay day game actually reloads as if it was shut down.

Is this an advert served by the OS itself or something the game is doing? Either way, can it be stopped? Having 5 full screen ads play one after the other with only seconds in between makes the game unplayable.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Rukbat]

It's either viruses or adware that he's getting from the websites he's going to. Install AdWare, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and any good antivirus - Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus, AVG AntiVirus Security - FREE, Avira Antivirus Security, etc.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Ads like that are not part of normal Android. But manufacturers have a fair bit of freedom to modify the Android OS, so it's possible that the company that made your generic tablet decided to brute force ads on it's users to make up for the low cost of the tablet. What kind of tablet is it?

Many free games do have ads, but I don't see any complaints on the Play Store about ads being a problem with this one. Did you download Hay Day from the Play Store, or get it from somewhere else?

t's also possible something else you downloaded is forcing the ads, even if you're not actively using that other app.

I'd suggest a couple of things. Stop Hay Day, and reboot. See if the ads come up when you're not doing anything with the tablet, or when you're using any other apps. If so, it's not Hay Day. If the ads only pop up in Hay Day, that would seem to be the problem app. The Play Store listing has links to the company's web site and an email address: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...?id=com.supercell.hayday&hl=en&token=hIM8X7GR

If the ads appear in other apps, I'd start by uninstalling any other apps you've downloaded, and reboot. If that eliminates the problem, it was one of those apps. You could install them one at a time, and see when the ads come back, to identify which program (it could be more than one app throwing ads, too.)

If deleting the apps doesn't get rid of it, I would look for the factory reset option in settings, and start over with a clean setup: no apps at all. If the ads still pop up, I'm afraid the manufacturer gave you a raw deal. If not, start over by installing just Hay Day, from the Play Store, and see what happens.

 

[chappers34]

Thanks for replying. I tried a couple of adware apps but they found nothing. I contacted hay day makers who said they'll look into the issue after I send screenshots of the ads, which I've done.

I installed the same game on my iphone and there are no ads at all. I kept having to restart the message I was writing via the help and support option in the hay day game because the ads kept appearing and then the game would restart and it'd lose what I'd written.

The tablet is second hand and completely unbranded. In settings - about, it just says Q90. No manufacturer. My son is 4 and doesn't use the browser. There were only three game apps on the tablet that my neighbour installed for his young daughter before giving me the tablet. I've uninstalled everything it'll allow me to but there's no difference. I installed Adblock plus too but no difference. I really don't think its a hay day thing because it'll show something like the Guinness ad 4 times in a row with about 10 secs of gameplay in between and most times the game has to restart.

If the manufacturer has modified the OS to show these ads during app usage, can I remove and install android again but a clean version? I'm assuming its like a PC where you can format and reinstall an OS?

Haven't tried factory reset yet but I will do if I can find that option.

I don't find android easy to use, it seems very different to windows and iOS. So if you could please walk me through things, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[chappers34]

Just installed AVG and as soon as I opened the app for the first time, a full screen ad played.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Did running AVG find anything causing the ads?