Many Android users fall victim to Android home screen adware.
While most adware isn’t necessarily malicious, the method in which it gets on a user’s phone is borderline predatory.
What is Android Home Screen Adware?
To understand what this adware is users must first understand what a home screen is on an Android phone.
On an Android phone, “home” refers to the layout of the phone’s main pages. These hold the apps that the user wants. It also refers to the entire layout of the phone, including the app list and settings screen.
Third party app developers can create new home apps that entirely change the look and feel of an Android phone. It can completely transform how the main areas function, add widgets that did not exist, and subsequently place advertisements on basic parts of the phone’s interface.
Many users download these replacement home apps accidentally by clicking on an advertisement, or from the Google Play store when they are searching for an app such as weather or horoscopes. The user then downloads the home app and allows it to be set as their default.
Once this is done, users might be unsure why they are getting lots of ads all of a sudden. Users also might be confused about why the entire layout of their apps and phone has changed.
How to remove home screen adware
In order to change the phone back to its original layout, users will need to enter the apps or apps & notifications section of their phone’s settings.
Sometimes the home app will display its own version of a settings screen, but there should be a way to get back to the original system settings from there.
Once in the apps section, locate the home app that is currently being used and click on it. Find the default home screen option and click on it. Then change it to the original one in the list. Uninstall the downloaded one so it is no longer on the device.
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