Where are these ads coming from?

[dougdraws]

Just bought an unlocked Galaxy S9 and signed up with Sprint. Lately though I've been getting these ads (small banners ones at the bottom of the screen and sometimes full screen ones).



How do I get rid of these? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

See if this guide helps: Full screen ads. How to find the culprit. - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

 

[ckfilmstar]

Have u installed any apps that would cause this?
Gaming apps etc?

 

[dougdraws]

I don't have any gaming apps.

See if this guide helps: Full screen ads. How to find the culprit. - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

I went through some of the steps on that guide. I've attached a screenshot of the apps that have currently been running the last hour or so.

 

[mustang7757]

Does it go away in safe mode ?

 

[dougdraws]

How-do-you-do safe mode? I haven't had an android phone and quite a while

 

[Javier P]

I went through some of the steps on that guide. I've attached a screenshot of the apps that have currently been running the last hour or so.

The culprit seems to be that Meijer app. You can even see the name in the screenshot with the ad.

 

[mustang7757]

Here's the instructions

https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/boot-your-galaxy-s9-s9-into-safe-mode-0183343/

At bottom of the screen it has to say safe mode and to exit just restart. If no more ads then it's a app.

 

[dougdraws]

Well that sucks. I use the Meijer app all the time for like sales and mperks and stuff.

Is there a way to still use the Meijer app and disable the ads?

 

[Javier P]

Well that sucks. I use the mire app all the time for like sales and mperks and stuff

That's one of the ways the "free" apps manage to get their money back. I'd recommend you to get in touch with them to show your displeasure and leave a bad review in the Play Store commenting about the intrusive ads.

 

[dougdraws]

Here's the instructions

https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/boot-your-galaxy-s9-s9-into-safe-mode-0183343/

At bottom of the screen it has to say safe mode and to exit just restart. If no more ads then it's a app.

Thanks for the link. I've booted into safe mode so we'll see what happens

That's one of the ways the "free" apps manage to get their money back. I'd recommend you to get in touch with them to show your displeasure and leave a bad review in the Play Store commenting about the intrusive ads.

That's really weird because the other people I live with have Galaxy phones and they use the same app and never get any of these ads.

 

[mustang7757]

That's really weird because the other people I live with have Galaxy phones and they use the same app on their phone and they never get any these ads.

Javier correct that the one causing

 

[ckfilmstar]

The culprit seems to be that Meijer app. You can even see the name in the screenshot with the ad.
View attachment 316539

Good catch

 

[dougdraws]

No calculator in safe mode. That's weird.

No add while in safe mode but as soon as I turned it off the add was back. It's weird because the other people in my house can use the Meijer app and they don't get any ads.

 

[mustang7757]

No add while in safe mode but as soon as I turned it off the add was back. It's weird because the other people in my house can use the Meijer app and they don't get any ads.

Its definitely strange others dont get the ads maybe a setting or something you can check in the app but at least you know what it is .

 

[dougdraws]

I don't think it's the Meijer app causing the ads. I just recently got this phone so it's my first android phone in a while (I was using iphones before). There was an icon set that I really liked back when I had my last android phone (Note 5), but they are not available on google play anymore. So I did some googling and I found them online. They were available as APK files and so I downloaded them and have been using them on this phone. I'm just wondering if those are the things causing these pop up ads.

 

[B. Diddy]

Those certainly could be culprits -- you always have to be cautious when downloading and installing apks from random sites. Which site did you download from?

 

[dougdraws]

https://m.apksum.com/app/belle-ui-donate/com.daeva112.donate.belleui

https://apkpure.com/belle-ui-icon-pack/com.daeva112.iconpack.belleui

 

[mustang7757]

https://m.apksum.com/app/belle-ui-donate/com.daeva112.donate.belleui

https://apkpure.com/belle-ui-icon-pack/com.daeva112.iconpack.belleui

I dont know how trust worth those sites apk files are I usually get from apkmirror but uninstall one by one the ones you install until ads go away

 

[Javier P]

I don't think it's the Meijer app causing the ads. I just recently got this phone so it's my first android phone in a while (I was using iphones before). There was an icon set that I really liked back when I had my last android phone (Note 5), but they are not available on google play anymore. So I did some googling and I found them online. They were available as APK files and so I downloaded them and have been using them on this phone. I'm just wondering if those are the things causing these pop up ads.

That Meijer app is the only non-preinstalled app included in your "Last Used" list in the Play Store and the screenshot is named after it. If you prefer you can run a few more test, including restarting your phone, waiting until the ads popup and then check that Play Store tab again. I'd say that you are going to find the same results.

Those full screen ads don't popup right after installing the app, they have some internal switch that is triggered after a certain amount of time, after the app gets updated or even after you get a system update. There's not a single rule.

If you want to be 100% sure I'd recommend you to kill that app with fire (see my guide for instructions) and then see if the ads come back or not. Or just keep the app and search for another culprit.

Tell us how it goes.