Which Antivirus has the best detection ratio for Android?

[LukeLovesSecurity]

I'm trying to get the best protection I can for my phone. I wanted to see what people think has the best detection rate.

 

[DeepWeb]

One time my mother had adware on her phone and none of these AVs detected it even though the malware came from Play Store. I eventually removed it myself by discovering that it locked itself in by using Accessibility. Once I removed the permissions manually I was able to remove it by myself. Long story short, all phones already come with Google Play Protect. If it didn't detect it, chances are the others won't detect it either.

 

[woomera]

for android i suggest to only use play store protection combined with MOAB host file or adblock app with added host sources.

if you are not rooted use netguard adblocker/firewall and it has host file support built in and feed MOAB file to it.

 

[karthic1998]

For android you can use play store and fdroid and both are very safe

 

[LukeLovesSecurity]

One time my mother had adware on her phone and none of these AVs detected it even though the malware came from Play Store. I eventually removed it myself by discovering that it locked itself in by using Accessibility. Once I removed the permissions manually I was able to remove it by myself. Long story short, all phones already come with Google Play Protect. If it didn't detect it, chances are the others won't detect it either.

Thats an interesting observation, but I wouldn't believe it for all malware as it was only one piece of malware.

 

[Ink]

I plan to download from unverified sources, so I need an antivirus to verify it is safe. Which antivirus has the best detection ratio? Tom's Hardware claims Bitdefender has the best detection rate, but I want to hear it from MT.

As I cannot confirm whether Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Android scans the Downloads folder, you may need to upgrade to the paid version, or find another security solution that protects users from Apps Outside the Play Store.

In some cases, the apps in the Google Play Store may not available, compatible or optimized for the device, therefore I occasionally visit APKMirror.com (run by AndroidPolice.com) who run a vetting process before all publications.

FAQ - APKMirror

What measures do you take to make sure all uploaded APKs are real and created by the respective developers?

1. All APKMirror.com uploads are verified prior to publishing.
2. • We make sure that the cryptographic signatures for new versions of all previously published apps match the original ones, which means we know if uploaded APKs were signed by the real devs or someone pretending to be them.
   • Note: APKMirror.com has been protected from the Janus vulnerability in Android from day one.
3. • For new apps that have never been uploaded to APKMirror.com, we try to match the signatures to other existing apps by the same developer. If there’s a match, it means that the same key was used to sign a previously known legitimate app, therefore validating the new upload.
   • If we see no matches, we try to obtain and compare to a version of the same app from the Play Store or another verified location. If it’s a beta, we will try to get into it. If we can’t, we will attempt to contact the developer.
   • If we’re unable to verify the legitimacy of a new APK, we will simply not publish it.

Does APKMirror.com host paid or pirated apps?

• APKMirror.com has a no-piracy policy and does not host paid apps.

Based on the above, I am assured the apps from APKMirror.com are Safe and Verified.

However, if you are running Pirated/Dubious apps from unverified sources, don't expect an "AV with the Best Detection" to save your device.

Moderator Notice:
Merged with existing thread from Nov 2017, created by @LukeLovesSecurity . Please use the Similar Thread function before posting new topics.