- Forum posts: 5
Jul 5, 2017, 2:34:54 PM via Website
Jul 5, 2017 2:34:54 PM via Website
Hi All,
Hoping for advice, suggestions, or at least some enlightenment on annoying full screen ads I'm experiencing on my Android cellphone.
First things first, phone details:
Doogee T5S (Chinese origin, I believe), not rooted (unless it comes like that in the box), USB debugging disabled
Baseband version DOOGEE-T5. 2016/12/10, Kernel version 3.19.19
Android 6.0 - build number DOOGEE-T5-Android6.0-20161210
Country - Namibia, service provider - MTC
Secondly, my problem:
I'm experiencing more and more full screen pop-up ads at random times. Sometimes I'm in an app, sometimes I just tapped to open an app and other times it just happens from the anywhere. I don't have terribly many 3rd party apps and I've uninstalled some since the ads are appearing more frequently, so not quite sure where this is coming from.
It started with one particular ad, APD News, which wants to install an app with the same name from an unknown source. But lately it's a variety of ads promoting local TV stations, a Final Fantasy game, a mug press (!?!), etc., with a little (i) in a corner that says Ads by Google when clicked on. Also, when I hit the button to display all open apps while an ad is displaying, the app handling the ad is apparently [Android] Shell. I intended to add some screen grabs, but seems the ability is not yet available.
Remediation actions taken:
Searching the internet for similar problems did not provide much help, among the few suggestions I did find, were to factory reset the phone and remove all 3rd party apps. Not quite there yet, and it does not really identify or address the root cause.
So I installed Kaspersky Internet Security and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (unpaid versions), but scans with those always come out clean and didn't curtail the ads.
I stumbled across an app called AppBrain Ad Detector on Google Play store. Not sure exactly what all it's supposed to do, but one of the features highlights ad networks and shows which apps are linked to those. Admob seems to be the main culprit, and has 10 apps associated with it - Google, Google Play Store, com.android.snap and Shell (these came with the phone, I didn't install any of them) and 6 other apps I got from the Play Store. I swear when I checked over the weekend Google, Google Play Store and com.android.snap were not on the list.... There's also MoPub and InMobi, but those have 2 and 1 app (respectively) associated with them. Interestingly, Shell is the only app that is associated with all 3 ad networks.
Questions:
1) I understand that 3rd party apps may come with ads, but shouldn't that be within the app and not the full screen type I'm experiencing. Any other ideas how I can ascertain what the heck is causing this annoyance?
2) I checked in Settings - Apps and I have the option to uninstall Shell. I'm seriously considering that, since it's apparently the app handling the ads and is associated with 3 ad networks. Is this a good idea, though? It seems to be a system app and came with the phone, so what will happen if I remove it?
Apologies for the long post, trying to include as much relevant detail as possible, and thanks if you read all the way to down here. Hope someone has some ideas!
Cheers,
L.
Recommended editorial content
With your consent, external content is loaded here.
By clicking on the button above, you agree that external content may be displayed to you. Personal data may be transmitted to third-party providers in the process. You can find more information about this in our Privacy Policy.