android tips – PSafe Blog

Here Are the Pros and Cons of Find My Friends

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 22:00:51 +0000

Some people really love the Find My Friends app because the app can help you find your friends whether or not they contact you. You don’t need to wait around for your friend to text you back to see where they are or what they’re doing. But there are some downsides to this app because hackers and thieves can hack into your Find My Friends account and possibly locate you without your permission. Imagine, too, if your phone falls into the wrong hands. Try out the anti-theft feature in dfndr security before thieves have your phone in the event of loss or theft:

Pros of Find My Friends
This app makes it easy and fun to locate where your friends and family are. All you have to do is request for them to add you as a contact on the app, and once you accept, you will be given access to where they are.

There are also many privacy controls on the app that are very helpful. If there’s a moment where you don’t want certain friends to see where you’re located (maybe a surprise party or you’re on a date and don’t want to be bothered), you can mute those friends and they won’t be able to see you. The app is also great because it can help you keep your friends safe. If you’re concerned about a friend’s well being and haven’t heard from them in a while, you can simply use the app to see where they are.

Cons of Find My Friends
One downside to the app is that it does cost money to use. Find My Friends has a small, one-time fee of 99 cents. This fee may deter many people from downloading the app, so the app does have a smaller user base than other popular apps like Twitter and Facebook. Another negative aspect of Find my Friends is that you may get requests from people you don’t know and people you don’t want to have access to your location. This isn’t a big deal often, but it is a bit of a hassle to constantly reject strangers from accessing your location.

Finally, this app has a major downside because hackers can access the app, hack your personal information, and be able to locate you. Once the hackers have your location, they may have access to your address. Think about the pros and cons before downloading this app.

I Can’t Afford to Upgrade My Phone, What Can I Do?

PSafe Newsroom — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 19:44:26 +0000

If you’re hoping to upgrade your phone but dang, your budget is tight, there are still ways to improve your phone’s performance without breaking the bank. With the right app, you can increase your phone’s speed and reduce lag time on a budget. There’s a lot that dfndr performance can do for your device, which we’ll talk about below. But, meanwhile, download it:

Delete Old Files
One of the main ways that devices slow down over time is when you download too many apps, take too many pictures and videos, or save tons of files. There’s an easy way to get rid of old files and clean out your device’s storage capacity — dfndr performance has a handy quick cleaner feature.

The feature helps to remove junk files from your phone, while also cleaning the cache, any temporary files, and other stored data that’s hogging up phone space. By clearing up internal space and on your SD card, your phone will run faster.

Ditch Those Duplicate Photos
We often take multiple pictures of the same object (including ourselves) on a quest for the perfect picture. However, many of us fail to delete those duplicate photos once we’ve posted the image on social media and promptly forget about it. The duplicate photos feature identifies repeated photos on your device and offers you the choice of which ones to delete and which ones to keep. (But remember, the aim is to get rid of pics, so try to keep only 1 copy!)

Use One App at a Time
A common problem that Android users have is there are multiple apps running in the background, which stresses the RAM memory and slows down a device. dfndr performance’s speed boost feature can identify which apps are running at once and close them to speed up your phone. This can also help reduce the amount of lockups and crashes when out and about using your device.

Hate Notifications? We Do Too
We have all dealt with too many notifications popping up on our smartphones. Control which notifications are sent to your “do not disturb” list and have the ability to view and clean junk notifications with one touch with notification cleaner. Activating this will unbog your phone and keep it clutter free. Pretty nifty, right?

With these tips, we hope you’re convinced that a performance app like dfndr is exactly what your budget needs to keep that ol’phone happy.

Here Are a Smartphone Thief’s 3 Dirty Secrets

PSafe Newsroom — Fri, 11 May 2018 00:00:41 +0000

If you’re worried about keeping your phone from being stolen, check out the most common ways a smartphone thief will act below. One cautionary measure to take is by activating the anti-theft feature of dfndr security. This feature can track your phone if it got stolen and allows you to lock it down and stop thieves from accessing your apps or media files. Try it now:

Grabbing It Right Out of Your Hands

The preferred method for many smartphone thieves is to quickly yank the phone from a victim’s grasp. Although this may sound like a crazy idea that would never work, it’s surprisingly effective. Many people have a loose grasp on their phone and aren’t protecting it because they don’t assume someone will take it right from their hand. This also is typically done at concerts and festivals. Phone thieves will run through a crowd during a song and steal and phones that are raised above the victim’s head to record the band. So many people film or record songs during a concert so they make easy targets for phone thieves. These criminals will go through the crowd and steal phones without much of a consequence because the crowd is so tightly packed that it’s almost impossible for the victim to find them or chase after them. Keep a close eye on your phone at a music festival or event.

They’re Looking for Certain Models

You might think that a smartphone thief will grab any phone, but there’s actually phones that they prefer to steal. These phones are more valuable and will get them more money when they sell it. A phone thief will not want to waste their time and risk getting caught just to steal a phone that isn’t valuable. Some of the most valuable phone models that smartphone thieves are looking to steal are the HTC M8, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and Samsung Galaxy S6.

They Look for Victims That Aren’t Paying Attention

The majority of smartphone thieves have done this before and know who to look for. The criminals are looking for victims that are distracted or busy, and aren’t paying much attention to their phone. Be sure to keep track of where your phone is even if you have a lot going on. Never leave your phone sitting on a ledge away from your or outside of your sight.

Don’t Lose Your Phone, Use These Tips and Tricks

PSafe Newsroom — Thu, 10 May 2018 23:00:12 +0000

If you’ve ever momentarily misplaced your phone, you can relate to that feeling of panic in trying to find it. Due to the amount of personal information we have on our devices, the potential loss seems detrimental – videos, photos, and messages could all possibly be gone forever. However, take a deep breath, and a few minutes to prepare your device for the worst. Here are a few tips to mitigate losing or misplacing your phone.

Start with a Powerful Software Offense
dfndr security’s anti-theft feature is a godsend if your phone is suddenly gone. In addition to providing you with the ability to locate your device on a map, you can sound an alarm to track it nearby, or even remotely wipe your device through your Google account. It’s smart to enable the feature as soon as possible, ideally before your phone is gone. Why not do so now?

Safely Store Your Phone
While this might be an obvious recommendation, the truth is we sometimes forget our phones hold precious data and become careless about safe storage. During those rare times you aren’t holding onto your phone, be sure to stash it somewhere secure. If you have a backpack or handbag, place the device inside and zipper it shut. If you choose to store your device in a pocket, make sure it’s entirely inside the pocket and that it won’t slide out. Athletic shorts are a great example of pants that seem to lose smartphones as part of their natural function.

Stay Aware of Your Surroundings
We live in a fast-paced digital world, which can cause us to become stuck in our devices. Whether you’re walking down the street or sitting on a subway train, it’s imperative to remain cautious about your surroundings. Thieves will commonly target individuals who appear unaware and ‘lost in their screens.’ By the time you realize what’s happening, a thief has already grabbed your smartphone and bolted away.

Add a Password
If you ensure that your device is password protected, a possible theft might be avoided. Some thieves carefully watch individuals to see who is genuinely present but also who has an unsecured device. More advanced thieves may not care if your device has a passcode, but still, having one setup can deter the type of thief looking to make a quick buck off a stolen phone.

Any or all of these insider tricks can help you be more conscious of your belongings and still enjoy the benefits of your digital world. Let’s be honest, there are so many!

If Your Smartphone Could Fry an Egg, Learn How to Cool it Down

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 22:00:00 +0000

You wake up in the morning and pull your smartphone off the night table, immediately checking the news, weather, and all your social media platforms. Throughout the day, you use your phone so much it barely retains a charge by the evening. Sounding familiar? Smartphones have become our daily workhorses, but if you feel like dropping it because the heat is too much, it’s time to look at how to cool down your device.

Not only can a hot device be miserable day to day, but the extreme heat produced could shorten the life of the battery, processor, and other internal components. Let’s look at a few ways your phone might be overheating and how you can improve the situation, so both you and your smartphone can get on with life.

Fancy Ginormous Cases
While some of us love to adorn our phones in leather for its prestige or solid cases for ultimate protection, your choice of a case could actually be stressing out your phone. Materials like leather don’t breath and allow in airflow, while a lighter silicone or rubber case does.

Reconsider the case for your phone and make a switch. We all want a beautiful and protective case, but if your phone is suffocating, it’s likely overheating in the process.

Intense Chatting, Playing or Watching
The advent of the wireless internet is probably one of the best inventions since avocado toast, but it has been and continues to be a power-magnet. If you find yourself engaging in heavy online activity such as streaming video content or scrolling through Instagram for a few hours, there’s a good chance your device will heat up from the work of the chip.

Are you an intense gamer? While our devices have become experts at reproducing previous generation console quality, their form factors were never designed with maximum ventilation in mind. When gaming, you’re challenging both your CPU and GPU to work to their fullest extent.

Similar to when using your Wi0Fi card like there’s no tomorrow, you may find yourself with little battery life and a hot phone in your hand. Take it as a sign to get up, stretch your legs, and have a break from the screen.

Running Endless Applications
In the end, everything comes back to basics. Your phone could just be overheating because it has too many processes running in the background. Android phones have the ability to switch between multiple apps, well before other mobile options on the market did. However, with great power comes responsibility, and your overheating phone might mean closing what’s happening in the background.

Apps hogging up memory and sucking up power is an ongoing problem. Luckily, you can download an app like dfndr security, which includes a cpu cooler feature to cool down your Android by closing background apps with a single tap. If you are a gamer, the function can do double duty to reduce lag time and free up more resources for your epic gaming battles.

5 Ways to Turbo Charge Your Smartphone’s Internet Speed

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:00:17 +0000

The Internet has become a part of our everyday lives, many of us grabbing our smartphones to check our email before we even step out of bed in the morning. With such a digitally connected life, it’s essential that your internet keep up with your life. If you find yourself waiting for waiting for pages to load or game servers to connect, it might be time to see how your speed can be improved.

Here are 5 ways to speed up your slow internet connection and bring your smartphone’s sluggish performance into the 21st century.

It May Not Be Your Phone, But Your Plan
First, let’s talk about the least desirable option and get it out of the way. It’s essential to ensure that your current Internet provider is delivering speeds that you need daily. If you’re skimping by on the cheapest plan and expect to stream Netflix films in 4K, you might need to reconsider your options. Using a free website such as SpeedTest.Net to determine your current Internet speed and have a better understanding of upload and download speeds is a good start.

Chrome or Firefox?
One of the most wonderful features that the Android platform has to offer is choice, and that applies to your web browser too. Due to the nature of Android operating systems, web browsers can vary significantly in speed. Implement different approaches to web browsing. If you find your device is doing fine with Internet speeds in most apps, but web browsing itself is a problem, consider an alternative web browser.

Apps are a Space Hog
Another possible reason internet is moving at a turtle’s pace is due to background apps also attempting to access the web at the same time. You might have a game downloading a patch, an app checking refreshing content, or the system performing an update. An easy solution to this problem is using an optimization app, one that does the work for you. dfndr performance has an accelerate internet feature, which automatically closes down background apps with a tap and increases your Internet speed.

Ensure Your WiFi is Top Notch
If you’re using your smartphone at home, there’s a good chance you’re on a private WiFi network. But if your network is in poor condition, you can’t expect that to translate into lighting fast speeds. Ensure your router is placed in a central open area of the house and that the model you’re using is current and supports at least wireless ‘N’ standards. Lastly, if you still having an issue, try unplugging both the modem and router for 30 seconds to give your network an easy reboot.

Just as humans age, our smartphones also age over time and can start to slow down. There are various reasons for the decline in performance including an outdated operating system, slow internal chips that can’t handle modern content, and older software that has become bogged down over the years.

Consider this thought: if your smartphone isn’t acting too ‘smart’ any longer, it might be time to buy a new one.

Your Android Device is a Slave to Cryptocurrency Malware

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 08 Apr 2018 12:00:32 +0000

Hackers have quickly discovered that they can infect Android phones with cryptocurrency malware, forcing devices into using precious CPU power to serve them. A new piece of malware, known as ADB.Miner is doing just that. The general term is called “mining for cryptocurrency”. A cryptocurrency is an asset that can be used similar to any other currency, trading for goods or services, but the difference is it’s digitally based and untraceable. The mining process itself allows for the discovery of new bits of digital currency. If a hacker is sneaking in on your device, how might it be affecting you?

Once a piece of mining malware has attached itself to your Android, it will relentlessly use the CPU and battery life to obtain digital currency. In the process, you may find the battery life of your phone draining or even heating up suddenly. Scarily enough, some bits of mining malware have learned to clone themselves, which means the virus can transfer to other devices on a network that your phone is connected to.

Take these tips to heart to better protect yourself from nasty viruses such as the recently discovered cryptocurrency malware attack.

Third-Party Apps Don’t Play Around
While there’s no way to guarantee that malware won’t be nested in the apps you download, you can reduce your chances of infection by sticking to a reliable store such as the Google Play Store or the Amazon Appstore. Just this past January, Google removed sixty different compromised apps from its store. Sticking to reputable app stores is a smart way to stay away from shady sources.

Listen When Apps Are Speaking
When you download a new application to your Android phone, it will typically make you aware of any permissions it requires such as scanning your contacts to modifying the device itself. Determine what an application probably doesn’t need and understand what each permission allows an app to access. Use common sense here, if a calculator app needs access to your camera, microphone, and contact list – something is dodgy. You’re better off deleting the app than taking a risk.

Call in the Virus Scanning Reinforcements
Truthfully, it’s nearly impossible to stay up to date, detect, and avoid every strain of malware out there. The good news is there are antivirus applications that can help. dfndr security is one reliable app that has a full-virus scan feature, which scans your Android phone’s memory and SD card for any threats, removing them completely.

Just you alone can’t fight off these cryptocurrency miners, but having these tips and a strong security app will no longer make you a slave to hackers looking to hog your phone’s power.

Hackers Target Taxpayers with Ransomware During Tax Season

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 12:00:43 +0000

The wonderful joy of tax season, a fresh honey glazed ham out of the oven and as many jellybeans as you could ever want!

Wait, did I get that wrong? Oh, yes, we’re talking about tax season with receipts and paperwork galore; it may not be an exciting event like a spring feast, but it might lead to a decent refund! However, with hackers waiting for every opportunity to scam the system, ransomware has reared its ugly head again.

An essential start to staying protected should be to use an app on your smartphone such as dfndr security, which provides anti-hacking protection by scanning and blocking any possible malicious links in your web browser, emails, or your chatting/messaging apps. A little piece of security goes a long way.

We keep mentioning taxes, but what does this piece of ransomware have to do with your citizenly duties? The malware itself was found in an email when a hacker pretended to be a representative from the IRS. Ransomware is a type of malicious malware that will install itself on your phone or computer, typically locking down access to any files or material until a monetary payment is made to the cybercriminal.

Granted, this specific scheme wasn’t that slick since he was posing as a US agent sending an email from a UK email address and included a German language document.

This form of attack is known as phishing and tricks an individual into believing they are interacting with a trustworthy source. In this case, the attacker posed as a government official. The multi-continental and bilingual email may have been easy to spot, but there are other online scammers with savvier skills that can trick you into downloading malware.

Unfortunately, once you’ve fallen victim to ransomware, you could pay the ransom with no guarantees your data is returned safely.

It’s important when you receive an email or phone call, to double check the source. Look at the ‘From’ field to see the full email address. In this case, it wasn’t an ‘IRS.gov’ email address, let alone one originating from the US. Read the address carefully and make sure it’s spelled correctly — small typos can be missed.

When it comes to IRS tax season, the agency notes they will never reach out via email to request personal information. If you do come across any email phishing scams from the IRS, forward the email to ‘phishing@irs.gov’ to report it and help prevent others from falling prey to scams.

If you receive a phone call, the IRS suggests writing down the supposed employee’s name and badge number. Then, dial the official IRS number at 1-800-366-4484 to check if the request was authentic.

The Pros and Cons of Using an Ad Blocker

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 21:00:19 +0000

Using an ad blocker can be useful in some ways, and in others, it may prove to be suboptimal. While people have mixed ideas on this topic, it’s something that many others don’t truly understand enough to make an educated decision on it. Still, most seek out ad blockers for the purpose of removing annoying, phone-slowing ads.

Continue reading to find out what ad blockers are and what the pros and cons are that are associated with its use. You’ll soon learn more so you can make your own decision about this feature!

What’s an Ad Blocker?
An ad blocker is a type of software that has the ability to automatically remove unwanted online advertisements. This includes web banners, embedded audio and video, and pop-up windows. The way this works is that the connection between content providers and third-party networks is interrupted, and tracking scripts are blocked amidst the web activity. This type of software has been around (and evolving) since the early 2000s, becoming more widely used each year.

The Pros
The first pro of this type of software is that it cuts down on annoyance as we browse the web. It’s frustrating when you click on a link only to be bombarded by a pop-up ad that feels impossible to close. Since we all know the feeling, ad blockers have become more and more widely used. In fact, over 70 million people took advantage of them on their devices in 2016. With this software, interruptions are minimal and browsing the net is much more pleasant and seamless. Using this software can also cut down on loading times, help increase battery life, and increase the bandwidth of data usage.

The Cons
To counter those pros, there are also some downsides to using ad blockers. First of all, this software may end up blocking more than just ads. For instance, the commonly used in-app messaging tool Intercom is commonly erroneously blocked by ad blockers. Ad blocking users also report that this feature commonly cuts off their access to YouTube. Additionally, this software has an effect on sites that host ads, which can be damaging to their livelihood as they rely on these ads for income. This is damaging to the economy and could, ultimately, affect the level of free content available to users from venues like news sites, blogs, and so on.

Why It’s a Bad Sign if Your Apps Keep Crashing

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 23:00:11 +0000

If the apps on your Android device start crashing again and again, it can be a frustrating experience. Besides that, though, it can actually be a bad sign surrounding your device as a whole. While apps crashing may not be all that much of an issue, it can be symptomatic of something larger at play. The first thing you should check for is whether you have a virus on your phone. Try to use the security scan feature in dfndr security to quickly check your phone for malware:

You May Have Too Many Apps Open at Once
If you aren’t good about closing out apps from time to time, it could mean trouble with how seamlessly your phone runs. While killing your apps isn’t something that you need to do all too often, leaving numerous apps running in the background of your phone — i.e., if they’re not being used but are still open and active — for an extended amount of time can cause problems. This ranges from draining your battery to causing those pesky app crashes.

There May be an Issue With Your Software
Something more serious that may be at the root of your repeated app crashes is a problem with the software development of your phone. From time to time, updates to Android software may come out that then prove to operate in a suboptimal way with third-party applications. This means that bugs — such as repeated app crashes — can occur, causing frustration and prohibiting you from using your device the way it’s intended to be used. When you notice these performance problems, report the issue and make sure that you’re completing additional software updates that come out, as they could have useful bug fixes.

It May Be a Data Issue
If you don’t have a lot of extra storage space left on your phone, this could be the culprit behind app crashing, too. If you’re experiencing this crashing, try looking at your available storage and making space if you don’t have much left. You are likely to find that this will help to resolve this issue quickly.

You want to make sure that these issues are not compromising the safety of your digital device and try to be aware when your phone acts sluggish because the last thing you want is to have an infected device!