Is a virus scanner necessary for Android?

Virus scanners are used to protect devices like PCs or laptops from viruses and other malware. But is the use of a virus scanner also necessary for a smartphone or tablet running Android? You can get all the information about this in our article.

Android: In these cases, a virus scanner is necessary

According to the developers of Android, the installation of a virus scanner is not necessary. Nevertheless, there are a lot of apps on the market that are supposed to help you protect your Android smartphone from viruses and other malware. It is recommended to install a virus scanner especially if you regularly download apps as APK files, since they more often contain viruses that can cause damage to your smartphone. It also makes sense to use a virus scanner if you grant root access to the apps on your smartphone.

How to use the virus scanner integrated in Android

If you have an Android device with Android 4 or newer, it already has an integrated virus scanner with Google Play Protect. Google Play Protect is free and is automatically installed on your smartphone through an update. If your device has Play Protect, not only new apps are checked for malware before installation, but also the already installed apps.

1. You can find out whether Google Play Protect is active on your device via the Play Store.
2. For this, first open the Play Store, tap the icon with the three horizontal lines to open the menu and select the entry "Play Protect".
3. There you can view the current security status of your device, find an overview with all recently checked apps and can make further settings.