There are tons of Android mistakes
you might be making right now.
We're going to tell you about the biggest security mistake
you can make on an Android,
as well as the number one mistake
every single person with a cell phone makes.
We're going to start by talking about something
that might seem counterintuitive, but bear with us.
And it's downloading an antivirus app on your Android.
A lot of people will say that antivirus software
is necessary, but is it really?
These days, usually the answer is no.
Antivirus software, because of the way it works,
will necessarily slow down your Android
and drain its battery faster.
As long as you stick to the Google Play Store
and the Galaxy Store and avoid third-party app stores,
you're going to be fine
because they have lots of great built-in protection.
But some Androids try to sell you antivirus software
under the guise of device protection,
and they build it right into the Settings app.
If we open Settings by swiping down
from the top of the screen and tapping the Settings gear,
and I scroll down to Battery and Device Care,
and then tap on Device Protection.
We got this Check Offers link from McAfee.
You might also see this as a big, scary warning
in the Security and Privacy section of Settings.
Just ignore it.
Maybe they're getting a little kickback.
Samsung, are you telling this?
Well, let's check the offers.
Maybe it's free.
Check the offers.
It's not free.
It's $37.99. Surprise.
Built into the Settings app.
Have they no shame.
They're able to position this
as a security feature somehow,
even though they're tacitly admitting
that the phone itself is just totally vulnerable to viruses.
Yeah, why not just make a phone?
We don't need to pay for extra software.
You don't need it.
The next mistake Android users make
is letting all of their apps access the location
all of the time.
David, are you telling us to turn off GPS on your phone?
I'm not telling you to turn off GPS.
Just be selective about which apps can have your location
and when they can have it.
I'll tap back, lower right-hand corner of the screen,
then back to the main page of Settings
by tapping in the upper left-hand corner of the screen,
scroll up, and tap on Location,
then tap on App Permissions,
and here we can see the apps that have access
to my location and when they have that access.
So you'll notice at the top,
there are certain apps that are allowed all the time,
but in fact, there are more apps that are just hidden.
They are hidden.
If we tap the three dots,
upper right-hand corner of the screen,
and tap Show System,
it'll show the system apps
and the allowed all the time list
just got a whole lot longer.
Allowed all the time is the most dangerous setting,
at least for your battery,
because GPS is one of those things
that drains a phone's battery the fastest.
Allowed all the time means all the time,
even when you're not using that app.
So for example, Bixby Voice, I don't use Bixby.
Does it need my location all the time
if I'm not even using it?
No.
Let's tap on Bixby Voice,
and let's select only while using the app.
You might get a scary pop-up saying
if you deny this permission,
basic features of your device
may no longer function as intended.
This is just designed to scare you.
Just tap Don't Allow Anyway.
And if for some reason,
Bixby wasn't doing what you wanted it,
so you can just come back in here and turn this back on.
You also need to be very careful about that
Use Precise Location switch.
How precise does that location really need to be?
And remember that the more precise your phone
hones in on your location, the more battery it uses.
This switch is a toggle that says
I want to allow this app to use more of my battery life.
When you turn it off, you're gonna save battery life.
Unless it's a Maps app,
it really doesn't need access to your precise location.
Let's tap back upper left-hand corner of the screen.
Take some time, go through this list of apps,
and be very selective about which apps
you want to be able to use your location
and how often you want them to have that access.
Next mistake, not cleaning your phone.
It is easy for pocket lint and other debris
to get stuck in the various ports on your phone.
And when it gets stuck in the charging port, for example,
your phone might not be able to charge
because you can't get your charger all the way in.
Take some time, get a brand new toothbrush
or an anti-static brush if you're fancy,
clean out the ports on your phone.
But there's literally no benefit to an anti-static brush
over a clean toothbrush.
The next mistake Android users make
is leaving all of their apps open all the time.
When you minimize an app,
it's supposed to go in the background and go to sleep,
but apps don't always work the way that they're supposed to.
Sometimes they crash, which can slow down your Android
and drain its battery.
Fortunately, it's easy to close all the apps
on your Android at the same time.
Tap that Recents button,
lower left-hand corner of the screen,
it's the three vertical bars.
We'll tap on that, and there's this nice Close All button,
all of them closed all at once, I love it.
Can't do that on an iPhone.
Yeah, come on, Apple.
Next mistake, having too many Chrome tabs open.
Having hundreds of tabs open at the same time
I've been in that situation before
can slow down your phone,
especially when you're browsing the web.
I'll open Chrome and tap that Tabs button
upper right-hand corner of the screen.
Right now, only 10 are open, probably not a big deal,
but if you have dozens, hundreds of tabs,
start closing the ones you no longer need
or close them all at once by tapping that More button
upper right-hand corner of the screen,
then tapping Close All Tabs, then tap Close All Tabs.
Next mistake, and one of my favorite things
to help people fix, not canceling subscriptions
that you're paying for.
David, have you ever forgotten
to stop paying for a subscription?
I sure have.
One time I bought a Fubo TV account,
got the one week free trial.
After the one week, it's $70 a month, expensive.
I forgot to cancel it for several months
and ended up paying hundreds of extra dollars
for something that I never even used.
Hopefully that cautionary tale inspires you
to check your Android for subscriptions
that you no longer need.
To check the subscriptions on your Android,
open the Google Play Store and tap on your account icon
in the upper right-hand corner of the screen,
tap Payments and Subscriptions,
and then tap Subscriptions, go through this list,
delete the ones you no longer need.
We don't have any because we're very frugal.
And after you've finished canceling those subscriptions,
consider adding one by clicking that Subscribe button
below this video, helps us out tremendously.
And it's free.
Next mistake Android users make,
not deleting the apps that you don't use,
otherwise known as bloatware.
Androids are notorious for bloatware.
They come pre-installed with tons of apps
you are never going to use.
It's a good idea to go in there
and delete the ones you don't need.
I'll close out of the Google Play Store,
swipe down from the top of the screen
and tap the Settings gear to get back into Settings.
Scroll down and tap on Apps and go through your list of apps
and see which ones you no longer need.
How do we delete an app?
Well, maybe I want to get rid of a bowling crew.
I'll just tap on that and then tap Uninstall, then tap OK.
And if you can't uninstall an app,
you may be able to disable it instead.
For example, I don't want the AR Emoji stickers.
When am I ever going to use that?
Never.
I'll tap on AR Emoji stickers and tap the Disable button
in the lower left-hand corner of the screen,
then tap Disable App.
If you can't uninstall an app,
it's probably just a native app on your Android
that they won't let you delete.
Let's tap back upper left-hand corner of the screen
and tap the three vertical dots
in the upper right-hand corner of the screen,
then tap Special Access.
At the very bottom here, we have Install Unknown Apps.
Any app that is turned on can install other apps
on this Android without my permission.
It's kind of like having a party.
You invite your friends over, but you also say,
you guys can also invite all of your friends.
So even if I trust my one friend, Kyle,
he's got a lot of unsavory characters
that can end up in my house stealing my stuff.
Same thing can happen with your apps.
What should you do?
Turn this off for literally every single app in here.
And if for any reason you ever need to allow
one of these apps to install unknown apps,
can't think of why, but if you did,
you can come back in here and turn it on.
The next mistake, not joining this channel.
We go really fast through these settings.
You may have already typed that
as an angry comment on this video.
And if you did, you'll be delighted to know
that for just $5 a month,
you can download a PDF of all the settings we talk about
in this video and many others.
So click that join button down below.
You also get member shout outs, custom badges and emojis,
and a whole lot more.
And there's yet another app related mistake
we'd like to mention, device admin apps.
These are apps that can control
pretty much everything on your Android.
If we tap back upper left-hand corner of the screen
and tap on device admin apps, we have two apps,
Find My Device and Outlook Device Policy.
David, do you have a Microsoft Outlook account?
I do not.
So why is this enabled on your phone?
Well, it was enabled by default.
For what reason?
I don't know.
But if we tap on Outlook Device Policy,
it can do things like monitor screen unlock attempts
or lock the screen, or here's a scary one,
set storage encryption.
Yeah, so basically a hacker could use this as ransomware.
I don't want that to happen.
What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna tap
deactivate lower right-hand corner of the screen,
tap okay, and restrict that app
from having device admin access.
Google Location History saves a list
of the places you go with your devices
to show you personalized apps,
recommendations based on your activity,
and a whole lot more.
And it can do this even when you aren't using
a specific Google service.
Let's tap back upper left-hand corner of the screen
and back to the main page of settings,
tap Google, then tap Manage Your Google Account,
tap on the Data and Privacy tab,
and scroll down to your history settings here.
Location History is currently on.
Scroll down.
We really recommend turning this off.
If Google Location History has been on for a while,
you'll see a list of places here
that you've been with your devices.
And Google doesn't even guarantee benefits
as you may see benefits.
Now, if you don't wanna turn off
your Google Location History for whatever reason,
we really recommend setting an auto-delete schedule.
Down here we have auto-delete.
Let's tap on that.
Your options are three months, 18 months,
and 36 months, AKA three years.
Just choose three months, tap Next.
You're all set.
We really recommend just turning this off entirely.
To learn about more Google settings you need to change,
check out our next video about how to de-Google your phone.
We'll see you there.