Full screen ads - Android Shell app, other apps linked to ad networks

Not any help but can confirm very similar problem with a THL T6C that have owned for 9 months or more.
Just started getting the APD news full screen ads, trying to install from unknown source etc.
No new apps for months, and coincided with an update via google for 4 apps, all well known, all uninstalled.
Now uninstalled almost all, if i get anywhere i will post back.

— modified on Jul 7, 2017, 6:20:21 PM

Hi,
Going back to your original question 1, I think you are right: the Ads should be within the App you are using not popping up randomly regardless of the App in use; I had the Ad appearing even when using the built in camera! At this point a large square Ad (From APD always from them) appeared over the view finder, followed by a bar along the bottom of the screen. Clicking the cross in the corner of the Ad starts the install process for Their news reader. Thankfully it cannot install as I have the 'use trusted sources' or Google play store only set.

Steps I have taken include:

un-installing firstly the updated apps that coincided with the appearance of the Ad

un-installing third-party 'free' apps that despite have no ads in them 'might' have a problem however unlikely.

Trying to ascertain the app that created the Ad (hold finger on the Ad to reveal its creater) - this hasn't worked on the full screen Ad but sometimes I get a notification from 'launcher3' the built-in launcher that came with the phone (this just popped up as I was writing!!!) - how can this happen?!?

App by app removing permissions to 'draw over' and 'peeking'
Where possible setting 'block all notifications' though I think I left 'launcher3' since it is the desktop.
I have installed things like 'airpush', Malwarebytes, Adaware and none found a problem except Malwarebytes:
It found a trojan it named as 'trojan_guerrilla_ae' which I removed: searching on the net this 'guerrilla' is a pretty nasty piece of work and maybe, just maybe this is the source of all my woes?

Whereas I am only seeing ads from APD and getting a dodgy installer, yours seems more widespread.
I have just tried 'Appbrain Ad detector', whilst using it I was spammed again with Ads for APD news LOL!!! full screen ad followed by a banner ad along the base of the screen. The only Ad networks found were within Google Playstore.
This was 'Admob' which a quick search shows something how it works and the ability to 'full screen' an ad however, it would seem this should only happen within using the app itself so I do not believe this is the cause.
It did identify 'Package Assistant' as a potential source which I think I uninstalled already - I am currently looking into this.

I am on the verge of doing a hard reset as I cannot waste anymore time on this - if that doesn't do it I'm going back to my old Nokia c2 and forget smart phones!

An update that might be of interest to you, I decided on doing a hard reset yesterday, and guess what? The ads starting appearing again almost immediately: I had installed Firefox only at this point. I did another hard reset and installed nothing, just accessed the stock browser and other tools including visiting google playstore without installing anything and still I had the pop up ads (some full screen and some that sit middle of screen)
It would seem therefore the adware / malware has gotten itself into the base system folders where they are not removed, how this could occur without the phone being rooted I do not know.
Although initially I was ready to take a hammer to the phone I'm now sufficiently interested in the problem I'm messing about looking at rooting it / installing a custom recovery rom / installing a new rom and even seeing if I can trace the offending app / software once rooted.
I have managed to use USB debugging with ADB shell to see the base protected files and folders but have yet to ascertain the culprit: would be so nice if they named the offending file 'annoying ads app' or something.
Also attempting to flash the rom using SP Flash but come up against some problems.

Hope you fix your problem soon!

The ads. are gone, finally! Here's what I did..
No amount of virus / malware software could find the culprit: (AVG, Malwarebytes, Adbrain Addetect)
I was unable to 'root' my phone (THL T6C): tried Kingroot
I was unable to install a custom recovery: Tried to follow instructions for TWRP but SP flash came up with a DRAM error.
I found a full firmware image for the exact model of my phone on the Chinese THL site (near 500MB) which I downloaded and tried again with SP Flash and this time it worked, but the ads still persisted!
This left two possibilities: one the ad was embedded in the firmware, or there were still files and directories that remained in the flash memory which I suspect were protected files but I cannot confirm this since I never found the offending files.
I decided to look into formatting the device, this in turn I discovered causes issues with removing the phones IMEI number(s) and also removing the embedded fixed mac address of the wifi card (not a problem particularly)
For my hardware there were a number of apps to enable resetting the IMEI (MTK Engineer mode) so within SP Flash I ran the format routine and then re-flashed the entire image again, I think in download only mode as the other modes then threw up errors.
It's all working again except I haven't fixed the mac address issue yet but I'm pleased to be rid of the ads.
Hope this helps someone.

SUGGESTION:
Let's try finding the problem App another way.
List the Apps on your phone. After a few people list theirs, we'll have the culprit nailed.
HOPEFULLY your list are not too long.
1. Keep my notes
2. Alcohol Calculator
3. Drawing Pad
4. QuickMemo+
5. eBay Mobile Web
6. Talkatone
7. Estate Sales
8. Garage Sales by Map
9. Twitter
10. Solitare Free Pack
11. Barcode Scanner
12. Adblock Browser
13. GasBuddy
14. The Weather Channel
15. DailyRoads

Hi there,
I use the DOOGEE X5 and I have the same problem. Every once in a while the app SHELL appears in my list, and the ads you describe appear.
I keep uninstalling the app (never hesitated once I realised that SHELL sende the ads), but it keeps coming back. I do not use an of the apps fm00078 has on the Phone, so I think there must be another sourceefor the app.

Same here on Doogee F7 pro, found the process name by pressing the home button to reveal running apps.
Shell keeps coming back, I have now stopped and removed three applications that I think are related (not installed by me)
But the apps have good reviews and I don't see a popup add connection, I seem to have no more adds, maybe post date and time if it happens to see if i is a push to all message?
Also no scanning tool found anything.

Apps>sprocket icon (=configure apps)> change system configuration> then deny system rights to:

DG Xender ,more info To prevent spam in our forums, new users may not post links to external sites.
Parrallel Space ,more info To prevent spam in our forums, new users may not post links to external sites.

Launcher3 ,? more info: To prevent spam in our forums, new users may not post links to external sites.

2-12-2017 malwarebytes found android/trojan.hiddad.eu in /data/app/com.vsen.assault-1/base.apk
shell app was back again , it keeps being pushed and installed, wonder from who, I need a rooted clean version for my F7.
Also pretty stupid no software to find it, kaspersky did not trace it and this should be found.

Xiaomi Mi 5 5S Plus does not have this app so I stay away from doogee, they are not serious enough.

— modified on Dec 4, 2017, 11:05:47 AM

Both Apps have already been deactivated, but now I also removed the permissions to change settings. I hope that will help.

OK, this helps me tremendously. Its possible a past uninstalled App may have left this problem.

It appears I'll need to a factory reset but I've read elsewhere this didn't help some.

I hope we can find this irritating issue, I also hope this isn't collecting personal data.
THANKS

** _ _ _ UPDATE: _ _ _ **
Now going on 9 days and no FULL SCREEN POPUPS.
I've opened every downloaded App and let run for a few minutes each.

More Net search results.
FLV Player sends a hidden ADVERT pack when you accept their terms. This I didn't know, shrewdly they hid that info during install.

Malwarebytes, found nothing. Installed "Anti Adware" & so far 24 hrs no Full Screen Ads.(FSA).
Found 5 issues, removed 2, 'The Weather Channel' and "FLV Player".

Glad to read some have found their problems but this leads me to believe this FSA issue is deeper.
IF I had easy access to our court system, I'd be FILTHY RICH. Also (hopefully) many problem making folks REALLY POOR...or in jail.

— modified on Oct 6, 2017, 5:29:48 AM

Wow, well done. I am now at the hammer point! Could you please explain what you did step by step for someone who is a bit clueless? I'm sorry to be a nuisance but I think it would be a great help to lots of people. Many thanks.

FIONA:
IF you're asking me, it was the 'FLV Player' (read my post above).
To this day, no Full Screen Adverts.
BUT, maybe I should reload FLV Player and see if it comes back?

The offending app in my case was Video Player for Android: I want to caution others as I downloaded this app from the Google Play Store where it is still available and has been downloaded 10 million times! I had used it without any issues for well over a year but noticed that full screen ads started appearing about three or four months ago (September 2017) which could have been the result of an update. It's a pity as the player itself worked really well but the ads are very annoying, drain the battery and make the phone very difficult to use. They appear even when the app is closed - while browsing the internet or checking emails. They even appear when the phone is locked.
I discovered this by using your tactic of closing all apps and waiting to see which one appeared with the ad: this app is incredibly sneaky as it didn't show its name. It was only after checking the recent activity for each app that I discovered it was Video Player as this was the only app that had been active since the last full battery charge! It was not the one I would have suspected but since uninstalling it, I haven't had any further problems. Hope this helps somebody.

I have had full screen ads popping up now for around a week or 2. Drives me nuts, as I don't like ads on any device or service.

I set my updates to Automatic, which is something I don't usually do, as most updates are of no benefit.

Eg, ES File Explorer was really good until they sold out to another co, from then they just bombarded ads and slowed down the functionality.

To fix this, I have installed zip signer from the app store, which permits you to sign an older version of an app, and prevent it from updating.

I've just uninstalled FLV Player, as I also have that, so will be watching to see if this fixes the ads. I also run parallel spaces, so if ads persist, I will be signing this app to an earlier version also.

FLV Player - ads have stopped since deleting this...
Such an intrusive app. Gonna report it to Play store - give it a crop rating.

Hi Louw,
I managed to find out what caused the apps to install on my Doogee T5. It is the app called Xender, which I actually disabled when I got my phone, but used it a couple of weeks ago and took a while for me to figure this out.
So remove all permissions and disable this app, or if you have rooted phone like me use ES File Explorer to remove the Xender System App.
Hope you come right.

Hi
you can the App which generate the full screen ads the block or unstill it. Here is the way;

press the left button which makes multi-windows App to close them, as the Apps at this shape, look for the Ads window and from the left-up corner, press long, it will show you exactly the real app behind the ads

This is the only thing that is new to me and the only thing that actually worked.. so far .. i followed ur steps and it showed me an app that i was not suspecting.. i forced it to stop for now and will consider deleting it ... if the ads stopped popping for good.. god.. i will owe you my life .... shokraaaaaannnnn

— modified on Feb 13, 2018, 9:59:09 PM

Why do you believe your doogee phone is Chinese origin?

To; Louw van wyk
I have something for you to try.
First, google uses everything you do with your device to target you for ads.
1. Go to google settings, clear and pause your web activity. (This is a history of everything you do on line)
2.go to your internet settings, find your web site data, and delete it. (Do this on a regular basis).
3. Everytime you are done using the internet, delete your browser history.
(These steps may not stop all thoes page covering ads, but they will at least decrease the number of them.)
4. I have a Galaxy s 5, and when i go on the Internet i can switch to Secret Mode.
This blocks your device I D. That stops advertisers from targeting you!
And a good Heads Up.
If you switch off your ads in settings, or turn off your cookies! Well there are a lot of websites that will deny you access if you do that!
I hope i was able to help.
I hate ads also!
Lindsay

I also have been plagued by this problem for the last month or two. Louw mentioned airpush.com. On their web site, they indicated that I could opt out of all of the ads which they provide by using the addchoice app. Addchoice provides separate apps for android and iphones which enable you to opt out of many companies which send apps to phones for advertisers. In addchoice, I was able to opt out all airpush clients by one stroke (actually, you can opt out of all of app providers by choosing "opt out of all" in addchoice). I opted out of all such providers and my phone has been free of annoying random full pages ads for the last 8 hours (far longer than before). Hopefully, this will continue to work for me and work for you.

Joe

Just to confirm the same problem here full screen adds at complete Random, I can be sending a message on Messenger or checking an email or surfing chrome. And a random full screen ad pops up some video some images.

Louw
Third party apps can't be the problem.
I own a unlocked galaxy s7! It came with a minimum of what I call unnecessary apps. And then I disabled those! Have not installed any new apps. But I still receive a lot of ads that cover the screen.
But here's a thought ..., every time you x out that ad to get rid of it, Google gets paid something like 7 to 10 cents by the advertisers!
I think the best solution is do all your web searches in private mode.
That way Google can't read your device I D number! And they don't know who to send the ad too!
And remember! Google is monitoring your search history in real time then selling it to advertisers! So turning off your web activity or deleting your history's won't stop the ads either!

In addition: going to Google settings an opting out of all ads is not a good idea because almost all websites will deny you access if they can't display ads to you!

— modified on Sep 9, 2018, 12:13:47 PM

I'm have the same problem. When an ad pops up, I hit the button that shows all of the running apps and it shows app launcher as the culprit. I tried Nova launch and Evie and still have the same problem. I have has ads come up when I am trying to send mail, texts, etc.

I have one app that throws up full screen ads: gallery from SB Studio. It throws up ads to install Facebook and some google apps, nothing bad. Also, it only has ads when actually using the app. It is such a good replacement for the original gallery (much better) so it is not a big deal, I can put up with the odd ad once in a while.

I m also haf the problem with the doogee t5