UPDATED 7/28/18
"Help! I can't uninstall your app!"
"This app is f***ing stupid. And it won't let me uninstall it. I NEVER agreed to it being put on. IT HAS TAKEN OVER MY PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Your app appeared on my phone and I can't deactivate or uninstall it."
"Want to uninstall it but it wont let me. It's always opening ads. Please help me."
"I need help to uninstall this app. It just appeared on my phone today. Pop up windows all the time notifying about viruses. Thank you!"
These are just some of the numerous emails we have gotten recently, and mostly from people who have said our app suddenly appeared on their device without it being installed. All have said they did not install our app from Google Play. Unfortunately, what they have on their device IS NOT our app.
From the responses we have been getting, this is a result of installing an apk file from a place other than Google Play that secretly includes an illegal altered version of our app that includes ads, popups, malware and makes it difficult to uninstall.
UPDATE: 4/18/18
What's even worse, the malware and popups ads may not appear until 6 hours after the apk has been installed, so the user assumes the apk they installed over 6 hours ago is safe.
Now we have an idea why we are suddenly appearing out of nowhere on people's devices.
Some of these infected apps even managed to sneak past Google Play
(6 QR readers and a "smart compass") but Google Play has since pulled them.
ZDNet - Android malware found inside apps downloaded 500,000 times
Sophos - Crooks infiltrate Google Play with malware in QR reading utilities
Google Play is the ONLY place authorized to carry our apps (Battery Notifier Pro BT and Battery Notifier BT Free) and the only place to download our apps safely. There are no ads in either app when downloaded from Google Play, and both apps can be easily uninstalled.
On every Android device, in Settings under Security, installing apps from unknown sources is disabled by default. If you enable this option, you get the following warning...
"Your device and personal data are more vulnerable to attack by apps from unknown sources. You agree that you are solely responsible for any damage to your device or loss of data that may result from using these apps."
Despite the warning, many continue to disregard it and install apk files from questionable sources and so-called "free" apk sites on the Internet mistakenly believing they are safe.
At this time, we can only go on feedback we get from others we have tried to help.
Fortunately, many people have replied, and said they were successful in uninstalling the infected app using the steps below we have compiled from their responses...
Go into Settings on your device, then Security and find Device administrators. Look for something you do not recognize. It may even be a blank entry that only shows a box with a checkmark. Select that box with the checkmark and deactivate it. (Uncheck it.) Then go to Google Play and if you are given an option to uninstall it, do so. Some said this step seemed to work, while others said it just hangs at Google Play when choosing uninstall.
We then recommend installing and running two or more free antivirus apps from Google Play on your device to remove malware in the apk or app you may have installed recently, because one antivirus might miss something. Install and run each antivirus one at a time, as installing and running more than one antivirus on your device at a time may cause problems. After trying each one, uninstall it, and then consider reinstalling one that was able to find and remove the malware.
Well known free antivirus apps at Google Play we recommend are Bitdefender Antivirus Free, Kaspersky, Avira, AVG, ESET, Sophos (found the malware in the barcode apps at Google Play), Norton, Lookout and Malwarebytes.
UPDATE: 7/28/18
Antiviruses that have been reported back to us that were able to find and remove the malware are Bitdefender Antivirus Free, Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus and Malwarebytes, so you may want to try one of those first.. Avast Antivirus was reported back to us as not being able to detect it.
Several people have gotten back to us and told us they were able to uninstall the malware using the above method and using an antivirus found at Google Play.
If you are able to identify the apk you installed that you believe gave you the malware, please email us at bnbtfree@gmail.com and let us know the name of the apk and where you got it, so we may install it on a test device and try out various antivirus apps on it to give others the best solution for removing the malware. Also let us know if you installed a QR Reader (barcode scanner) or "smart compass" from Google Play in the past year.
Unfortunately, there may be nothing we can do for you in the future if those responsible for these infected apks alter them further to make them even more difficult to uninstall.
We STRONGLY recommend that you DO NOT install apks from unknown sources, and that you only install Android apps from Google Play.
