Free apps serve ads; it’s been happening since Android became a huge success. Ads are important for developers since it allows them to earn some cash. Some developers solely rely on the earnings from there apps. Now, if developers love pushing ads, users don’t like them at all. That’s why we have paid version of same apps that has no ads. That’s a win-win situation for everyone; developers get some cash, users get an ad free experience.
But some developers go greedy over time (I don’t know a better way to put it). They start pushing wretched ads. And if there is one thing that users don’t like then it’s those godforsaken ads that take up the whole screen and redirect you to various links to install something that you really don’t want to. Now, just to be clear, we don’t want to give an impression that we despise ads, we know ads are a necessity and we completely support that. But full screen ads are just too much. And if you don’t have any control over those ads then it’s just not bearable. That’s what’s happening with Xender recently.
Xender is one of the most popular file sharing app. I’ve been using it for years. But its latest update brought an adware that gets activated everytime I charge my phone. It acts as a lockscreen over the existing lockscreen. It takes up the whole screen and claims to boost charging speed by 20%. Wow, that’s huge right? Well, it’s fake. It’s an adware that comes in the form of a battery booster that does nothing of the kind.
Well, one thing that it surely does is show you ads. Ads placed here take up lower half of the screen. And in order to get to the actual lockscreen you’ll have to swipe right. Since ads take up majority of that area, it’s highly likely that you’ll tap on that ad and will be taken to a webpage.
According to a lot Android users, not only Xender, but ES explorer, Amber Weather, Kitty Play Wallpaper Ringtones, Apps by Zero team, Apps by Touchpal, Kingo Root, etc. are also showing same adware.
The lockscreen has a settings button on the top from where you can disable it. This works on Xender but I’m not sure regarding other apps. ES explorer users are also reporting that it has option to turn the lockscreen off in app settings. But if this does not work for you, you should go over apps permissions and deny it permission to draw over other apps. This seems to working for me right now. If all else fails, simply uninstall the app and find a new alternative.
Es file explorer have made big mistake to place this type of ads. thanks for post
Yup, but it looks like most of such apps are removing this adware.
PS: Sorry for the late reply, I wasn’t much active on the internet for a few weeks. 🙂