How did this get on my lockscreen?

[AC Question]

Yesterday for the first time I got a strange new lock screen I don't remember installing.... When my phone (Nexus 6) is plugged in, and I wake it up, at first I get my regular stock lock screen. But, when I unlock it, this new strange lock screen appears in its place (which says at the top "0 Words typed today" and "1% beat global users.") When I tap the three-dot menu in the top right, I get a second screen (which says "Boost Charge" and gives me option to uncheck.)

Does anyone recognize this? I guess it's possible it's malware of some kind but I am generally pretty careful. It seems like typing stats, but I only have google keyboard, swiftkey and touchpal installed, and none of those seem to be causing this as far as I can tell.

I would like to avoid a factory reset if I can help it, but I don't like the idea of something I didn't choose being on my phone..... Any help as to how this got here?

 

[RumoredNow]

Sounds like a push from an App. Any recently installed word games?

Check the settings on those.


If you need additional help or have more questions or details to share, please join the site so you can reply in this thread...

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I'd also consider uninstalling TouchPal. Do you have any "RAM cleaner" apps like CleanMaster? If so, uninstall that as well. Apps like those are notorious for this kind of junk.

 

[TanMan1217]

I figured it out. It's a new feature of the TouchPal keyboard app. Open the app, hit the hamburger menu, select Settings. Select General Settings and scroll to the bottom where you'll see Boost Charge. Tap it and you'll get another screen where you can change the Boost Charge setting. If you uncheck it, it will disable the Boost Charge function and restore your old charge screen (and your old charging algorithm).

 

[Sassan Knight]

Thank you so much, I was going crazy trying to find this!!

 

[hoihoi8]

Thank you!!!!! F%&# that app. Replacing your lock screen with full screen ads is not OK.

 

[THX1141]

Go give them their one star review on Google Play.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.cootek.smartinputv5&token=MJgoTZHh

The thing that annoys me the most is that it appeared every time I unlocked my phone/tablet and there was no way to tell which app was causing it because they didn't own up to it. I'm guessing most users will be too confused to stop it.

 

[johnnyoneeye]

Awesome, I had the same issue, thanks for solving it. Usually, I'd uninstall an app immediately for such behaviour, but their swipe keyboard is so good...

 

[ChromeIndustry]

Thanks, I didn't lose my Swype functionality at all when I uninstalled, but the battery status/boost charge/advertisement lock screen is now gone. I do have the Swype app still installed though, and it's available as a stand-alone app for free.

 

[Canopus Archives]

The lockscreen showing statistics (that are often wrong) and ads can be disabled in General Settings of TouchPal under the name of Statistics.

What I don't understand is this new App Lock that seems to now be incorporated into TouchPal. I clicked a button on TouchPal and it activated locking 10 apps, but, I can still access them as I wasn't even asked to supply a password. What in the world is the point of that? I unchecked all the apps it was supposed to be locking and then disabled App Lock in the TouchPal settings as well. TouchPal is rapidly becoming bloatware

 

[kh88]

I don't have this app on my phone, but I'm getting the lock screen ad and it's driving me nuts! Is there another possibility?

 

[kh88]

OK I think I just fixed this myself. I'm still not sure where it came from - possibly photo collage app which I have now uninstalled. That app kept popping up as not working while the lock screen was on. While I was clicking around that, a screen popped up with a check box that said "charging lock screen turn on for faster charging". I un-checked that and uninstalled photo collage (I had also just started getting a notification that this app was slowing my phone) and now the ad seems to be gone.

 

[Javier P]

I don't have this app on my phone, but I'm getting the lock screen ad and it's driving me nuts! Is there another possibility?

Welcome to the forums! Yeah, there are several apps pushing ads on the lock screen, ES File Explorer, GO apps, DU, different games, etc. Take a look at this thread for more possibilities.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=640251
New Speed Charge/Battery Status Lock Screen with annoying ads "just appeared" on GN4

 

[Beautiful Dyzaster]

Yesterday for the first time I got a strange new lock screen I don't remember installing.... When my phone (Nexus 6) is plugged in, and I wake it up, at first I get my regular stock lock screen. But, when I unlock it, this new strange lock screen appears in its place (which says at the top "0 Words typed today" and "1% beat global users.") When I tap the three-dot menu in the top right, I get a second screen (which says "Boost Charge" and gives me option to uncheck.)

Does anyone recognize this? I guess it's possible it's malware of some kind but I am generally pretty careful. It seems like typing stats, but I only have google keyboard, swiftkey and touchpal installed, and none of those seem to be causing this as far as I can tell.

I would like to avoid a factory reset if I can help it, but I don't like the idea of something I didn't choose being on my phone..... Any help as to how this got here?

TouchPals new "great idea".. Well at least what seemed to have caused it on my s5

 

[Canopus Archives]

TouchPall keyboard has a good QWERTY layout and works, but, I'm getting very disturbed about their market practices. If you go to Google Play store and search for it you will see that latest versions are full of complaints about all the ads it's now pushing as popups and on the Lock Screen. You could have once disabled Lock Screen, but, the very latest versions disabling it doesn't work, it only looks like it worked.

The other problems are now it's become very much bloatware with functions no keyboard should have, growing privacy issues such as wanting access to all your contacts and passwords and constantly nagging you to back up every word you've typed to their cloud. It also seems to fill up its folder with hundreds of identical icons wich seem to be linked to every time an icon flashes on the keyboard.

I could go on, but, suffice to say I'm still looking for a good qwerty keyboard that was like TouchPal before it went bad and includes a spell check then it goes. I would use the native one on my phone, but, Android in their infinite wisdom didn't include the dictionary in it to spell check and to install that dictionary you need root access meaning you have to root your phone and so nullify any warranty on it. Maybe Google Keyboard after they've ironed out a few bugs and it proves itself to be secure and not sending everything you type to Google

 

[beelzebomb]

You can now turn this latest intrusive Touchpal **** off via 'settings' > 'look and feel' > 'lucky locker'

 

[Egolo]

I was able to fix it by removing a yellow flashlight app that came installed with my new phone.

I bought a new ZTE phone and after 2 days of using, this annoying screen began to appear. I knew I had not recently added a new app and I don't play games. I noticed that this screen had a preference for mentioning this app when swiping to the left. After I uninstalled this flashlight app the second screen disappeared. I imagine this is a time bomb that could be built into any app. I would recommend removing any app that you don't know or did not approve, one by one, and check, specially any app that came installed with the phone. If it is an essential app of your phone system you would not be able to remove it, so you would be safe from messing up your phone. If you can remove it, then you may not necessarily need it and you can always re-install it if it was not causing the problem and you want it back. I hope it helps you.

 

[madmartian]

The "Best Me Selfie" app just added this "feature". I consider hijacking the lockscreen to be malicious and reported it to Google as a malicious app. If everyone reports these hijacking apps they will have to stop doing their hijacking or Google will remove them.

 

[Ronald Pegha]

Yesterday for the first time I got a strange new lock screen I don't remember installing.... When my phone (Nexus 6) is plugged in, and I wake it up, at first I get my regular stock lock screen. But, when I unlock it, this new strange lock screen appears in its place (which says at the top "0 Words typed today" and "1% beat global users.") When I tap the three-dot menu in the top right, I get a second screen (which says "Boost Charge" and gives me option to uncheck.)

Does anyone recognize this? I guess it's possible it's malware of some kind but I am generally pretty careful. It seems like typing stats, but I only have google keyboard, swiftkey and touchpal installed, and none of those seem to be causing this as far as I can tell.

I would like to avoid a factory reset if I can help it, but I don't like the idea of something I didn't choose being on my phone..... Any help as to how this got here?

 

[Ronald Pegha]

Yesterday for the first time I got a strange new lock screen I don't remember installing.... When my phone (Nexus 6) is plugged in, and I wake it up, at first I get my regular stock lock screen. But, when I unlock it, this new strange lock screen appears in its place (which says at the top "0 Words typed today" and "1% beat global users.") When I tap the three-dot menu in the top right, I get a second screen (which says "Boost Charge" and gives me option to uncheck.)

Does anyone recognize this? I guess it's possible it's malware of some kind but I am generally pretty careful. It seems like typing stats, but I only have google keyboard, swiftkey and touchpal installed, and none of those seem to be causing this as far as I can tell.

I would like to avoid a factory reset if I can help it, but I don't like the idea of something I didn't choose being on my phone..... Any help as to how this got here?

i had this same problems with the flash keyboard as i had installed and again uninstalled it but the lock screen with ads kept poppinp up while charging or locked. So after some frustrating time i check flash keyboard on google play store and then uninstalled it frm there. Hence the problem was solved for me