That App Looks Harmless. But Should You Install It?

Downloading an app has become almost automatic.

Need to scan a QR code? Download an app.

Need to edit a photo, sign a document, translate a menu, or track a flight? There's an app for that.

And often, we aren't leisurely browsing through the app store looking for something interesting. We have a problem we want to solve right now.

That's when it's especially easy to let our guard down.

I ran into this myself with an older smartphone. Its camera wouldn't scan QR codes, so I downloaded a QR code reader. For reasons now lost to the sands of time, I wasn't happy with that one, so I downloaded another.

Problem. Search. Install. Still have a problem. Search again. Install again.

Sound familiar?

The more urgently we need an app, the less carefully we may choose one.

Most apps are perfectly legitimate, and I certainly don't want you to become afraid of installing them. Apps are a big part of what makes our smartphones so useful.

But installing an app means allowing someone else's software onto a device that may contain your email, photos, contacts, passwords, financial information, and much more.

That deserves at least a little thought.

When an Innocent-Looking App Causes Trouble

I learned this lesson again more recently while working with photos and videos on my smartphone.

During that process, I installed an app called Photo Recovery Restore Images. It appeared to offer a function I needed at the time.

Not long afterward, something strange began happening. Full-screen advertisements started popping up on my phone—even while I was using completely unrelated apps such as Calculator and Google Calendar.

At first, the connection wasn't obvious. Why would opening Calculator suddenly produce an advertisement?

Rather than assuming my phone had somehow gone haywire, I eventually asked a useful troubleshooting question:

What changed?

What had I done shortly before the problem began?

One answer stood out: I had recently installed that photo-recovery app.

I uninstalled it.

The unwanted ads disappeared.

Problem solved.

The experience was annoying rather than catastrophic, but it illustrates an important point: even people who are reasonably careful with technology sometimes install an app they later wish they hadn't.

The goal isn't to never make a mistake. It's to reduce the odds—and to know what to do when something does go wrong.

Start in the Right Place

One of the simplest ways to reduce your risk is to get apps from a legitimate app store.

For Android phones, that generally means the Google Play Store. For an iPhone, it means Apple's App Store.

Be much more cautious if a website, advertisement, text message, email, or popup suddenly tells you that you need to download an app.

You may even see a message claiming that you need to install a particular app to view a document, clean your phone, remove a virus, scan something, or solve some urgent problem.

Don't let the message make the decision for you.

If you really do need an app, open your phone's legitimate app store yourself and look for one there.

But there's an important qualification.

Official app store = safer starting point, not permission to stop thinking.

Google and Apple have security measures designed to keep malicious apps out of their stores, but that doesn't mean every app in those stores is equally good, trustworthy, or appropriate for you.

We still need to keep our brains engaged.

Take 30 Seconds Before You Tap Install

You don't need to conduct an FBI background investigation every time you want a new weather app.

Just slow down long enough to look at what you're installing.

Who developed the app? Does the developer appear legitimate?

Does the description clearly explain what the app does, or is it filled with exaggerated promises?

What do users say about it?

Don't look only at the star rating. Scan some of the reviews, particularly recent ones. If multiple people complain about intrusive advertisements, unexpected charges, strange behavior, or an app that doesn't do what it claims, pay attention.

Also consider whether you actually need the app at all.

Modern smartphones can perform many functions that once required separate apps. Before downloading a QR code scanner, flashlight, document scanner, or similar utility, for example, check whether your phone already has that capability built in.

Thirty seconds of checking can save considerably more time spent removing a troublesome app later.

“Why Do They Need to Know That?”

Installing the app isn't always the end of the decision-making process.

Apps may ask for permission to use different parts of your phone or information stored on it: your location, camera, microphone, photos, contacts, and more.

Many of these requests are perfectly reasonable.

A navigation app needs your location. Otherwise, it can't navigate.

A video-calling app needs your camera and microphone. That's rather the point.

But suppose a simple flashlight app wants access to your contacts.

Why?

Think about it the same way you might think about filling out an application or creating an online profile. Haven't you occasionally reached a question and thought:

Why do they need to know that?

Ask the same question when an app requests permission to access something on your phone.

The issue isn't that every permission request is suspicious. It's whether the request makes sense for what you're asking the app to do.

If it doesn't, don't automatically tap Allow just because that's the fastest way to get past the screen.

Keep your brain engaged.

What If You Already Installed a Bad App?

Good advice about smartphone safety often focuses on what not to do.

Don't download apps from questionable sources. Don't grant unnecessary permissions. Don't ignore warning signs.

Fine.

But we're human. Sometimes we goof.

Maybe you're in a hurry. Maybe the app looked legitimate. Maybe you needed to accomplish something right away and installed the first promising solution you found.

So what happens if you make the wrong choice?

First, pay attention when your phone suddenly starts behaving differently.

Perhaps advertisements begin appearing unexpectedly. You start receiving strange notifications. Your browser begins doing something it didn't do before. An app behaves very differently from what its description led you to expect.

One odd event doesn't necessarily mean you have a malicious app. Look for a pattern.

Then ask the question that helped me:

What changed?

When did the problem begin?

Did you install a new app shortly before that? Did you update something? Did you tap a link and then install something it recommended?

If a recently installed app seems like the likely culprit, uninstalling it is a sensible first step. Then see whether the problem stops.

If it doesn't, you may need to investigate further. But you've already narrowed the possibilities considerably.

This kind of thinking is useful far beyond malicious apps. When almost anything suddenly stops working properly on a computer or smartphone, asking “What changed?” is often an excellent place to begin troubleshooting.

Stop. Check. Install.

None of this means you should stop trying new apps.

Your smartphone would be far less useful without them.

The goal is simply to replace an automatic habit—

Search. Tap. Install.

—with a slightly more thoughtful one:

Stop. Check. Install.

Stop for a moment before downloading something simply because you need it right now.

Check where it comes from, who developed it, what other users are saying, and whether what it asks permission to do makes sense.

Then, if everything looks reasonable, install it.

It doesn't have to take more than a minute.

And if your phone starts acting strangely afterward, remember one more simple question:

What changed?

You don't need to become a smartphone security expert. You just need to keep your brain engaged.

Want to Make Your Smartphone Safer?

Choosing apps carefully is one part of smartphone safety. Your phone also has built-in security settings that can help protect your personal information, accounts, and the phone itself.

I've put together a free Tech4Me2 guide, 5 Smartphone Settings You Should Check Today, that walks you through five important settings worth checking on your own phone.

It's designed for ordinary smartphone users—not tech experts—and you can work through the checks one at a time.

Download 5 Smartphone Settings You Should Check Today and give your phone a quick security checkup.