Can't get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

[Natalie Smith3]

Hi,

i just got a job, so was given a brand new samsung galaxy ace 3. i have had it for about 5 days, and downloaded several ads: instagram, snapchat, voxer, couple games, but nothing major or seemingly dodgy. however, i am getting these pop up ads, - they do not display in the status bar, but take over my whole screen, whether i am in a downloaded app, such as snapchat, or in a factory app such as the messaging app - sometimes it will just pop up on my home screen.

i have deleted all the games, but kept the other apps i use. i have downloaded AVG, avast mobile security, ad network detector, airpush detector and nothing has been able to detect these pop ups. i have a friend that works for my telco and he said it doesnt look as though there are any unusual processes that are running in the background that may have been left or installed by a dodgy app.

please help, i have no idea what is causing it and dont really want to have to go through the trouble of restoring the phone, since im just going to download the normal apps i use again anyway.

i have included some screenshots of the kind of ads i get.

 

[Manda jacobs]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

I have the same problem with my s4 is annoying me to the point I'm about to factory reset, which I really want to avoid.

 

[icebezzle2001]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

I had those EXACT ads on my Nexus 5. I just downloaded the AVG for android and ran the threat scan. It found the ad popup app automatically and gave me the option to uninstall it. Now my phone is clean. I would look into the AVG again, because it found the app on my phone when I ran the scan.

 

[mgrugnale]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

I have a Galaxy S4 and started having the same issue a few days ago. It turns out that I had downloaded an app from Samsung (of all places) to improve the voice on the Maps application. Samsung had it embedded in the app. I saw a post about an app called addons detector. and it was able to show me the history of my apps loaded. I was then able to determine when the problem started and what I needed to remove (and it worked). I'll only download apps from the Google Play store from here on in. Who would have thought you couldn't trust Samsung?

 

[icebezzle2001]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

If it is the same as the screen shots, which mine was, it was not imbedded in an app. It was basically spyware, but AVG removed it.

 

[Smokey Mc Pot]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

One of the apps you downloaded is infected with a Trojan.
My advice to you is to delete all the apps you downloaded into your phone except the Google apps and reboot the device.

Open (Settings/Application manager/Downloaded) and check the list of apps you have in there, that in case you have a stealth app installed on your phone. Something that I doubt but is worth checking.

Check if all is well and than finally install the apps again one at the time and in that way you will find the culprit app.

Good luck

MeanDroid

 

[Shahrokh Youssefi]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

I have the same problem on my s4, and I have avg antivirus free but it doesn't find anything!

 

[ffejjj]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

It's not a virus so your antivirus won't catch it.

For me it was a wallpaper. In the permissions I gave said wallpaper the permission to load adds and add shortcuts to my home screen. It took me a while to track it down but once I got rid of the wallpaper it stopped entirely.

Mind you in not saying it's a wallpaper causing your specific issue. In suggesting it may be an app permission you granted without realizing.

Good luck in your search

Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app

 

[superjake]

Hey. im new to this whole forums thing but my GS4 is having the exact same issues as you posted about, those screen shots are my phone exactly right now. i have tried everything but nothing is working to get rid of them..did AVG work for you if not what did? PLZ get back to me soon i want these ads out of my phone.

 

[nickyboyparks]

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..

 

[Raych Whitworth]

Hi,

i just got a job, so was given a brand new samsung galaxy ace 3. i have had it for about 5 days, and downloaded several ads: instagram, snapchat, voxer, couple games, but nothing major or seemingly dodgy. however, i am getting these pop up ads, - they do not display in the status bar, but take over my whole screen, whether i am in a downloaded app, such as snapchat, or in a factory app such as the messaging app - sometimes it will just pop up on my home screen.

i have deleted all the games, but kept the other apps i use. i have downloaded AVG, avast mobile security, ad network detector, airpush detector and nothing has been able to detect these pop ups. i have a friend that works for my telco and he said it doesnt look as though there are any unusual processes that are running in the background that may have been left or installed by a dodgy app.

please help, i have no idea what is causing it and dont really want to have to go through the trouble of restoring the phone, since im just going to download the normal apps i use again anyway.

i have included some screenshots of the kind of ads i get.

View attachment 104191View attachment 104192View attachment 104193

Ok this was annoying the crap outta me for ages!!! But I think I sussed it. Go to settings on ur device, then account and go into ur google account. Click the ads section and tick the box to stop google related apps. Worked for me. Good luck!!

 

[Karthikkeyan U]

Hi,

i have an GALAXY S5 i too has the same issue of full on screed pop up add.It was very annoying and frustrating.finally i installed avast antivirus and avg which detected many applications.finally i removed one app its a "torch light app" then the add popping got stopped.
AVG WILL SHOW THE APP AS THREATS DETECTED WHICH YOU SHOULD REMOVE.

 

[Aron Grahn]

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..

Yes. This solved my problem. This was on a tablet bought from ebay, and factory reset did not solve it. Antivirus found nothing. Every minute the screen was blocked by popups.thanks

 

[Alex Wagner2]

I had a similar problem, so I started to look at the permissions of the apps I'd downloaded over the last few months (not that many). One permission caught my eye "draw over other apps". It was in an app that wasn't from the Google Play Store. I've deleted it, hopefully that will fix my problem.

Alex

 

[Jennifer Smith12]

Ok this was annoying the crap outta me for ages!!! But I think I sussed it. Go to settings on ur device, then account and go into ur google account. Click the ads section and tick the box to stop google related apps. Worked for me. Good luck!!

Thankyou!!!

 

[joeboxer187]

I am having a similar problem. At times when I unlock my phone or open an app whether it be text or anything it pops up saying recommended app even if I already have it. It takes me to the play store as well. Next time it happens I'll screen shot it and post it

 

[LBabyRuth]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

I typed in AVG for Android and unsure if I found the same app to download as I didn't see the threat scan. And what I did run didn't find it same with avast and others I tried.

Mines says free gift for you it most often pops up if my screen goes back to lock or I've been idle for a while when I go to answer calls I often miss them as I have to get rid of it first takes about 20-30 seconds to load the ad and close....really frustrating started when our 12 year old out Instagram on my phone. Does pop up was free gift for you lazy swioe for months and now its another "free gift" suggestion.

 

[Helpinghand1]

Re: Cant get rid of pop-up ads that take over screen.

Possible Fix...
I'm not sure if it applies to your phone specifically but for my Samsung Galaxy S6 edge I had a similar problem when i downloaded something and uninstalled it, it still had a file attached to my phone's hardware. So what I did was I went to Settings > Storage > Miscellaneous files > ( and here I found the file that contained the ads, it might be different for you but the name might be quite obvious) mine was unityadsvideo. Just select it and delete it and the ads should go away. Hope you find this helpful!

 

[Abolfazl Sadeghian]

Thanks man your solution worked for me.

 

[PopeScooby]

THANK YOU!!!