Android 'phone question.

[M.Mouse]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 'phone.

In general I like it but I am plagued with an advert almost everytime I unlock it. At the bottom of the screen it says 'Ads by Google' and if I click on that it waffles about 'interest based ads' which I can opt out of but that still gives me ads not 'tailored' to me, no option to turn the ads off completely.

I have tried all the apps which block or find and eliminate pop up ads triggered by various apps and have few apps which I use anyway so I don't think any apps are the source.

When I first bought the 'phone I had the problem but managed to switch off the ads completely (I forget how) but they seem to have reappeared after a software update and despite searching every setting I can find I cannot disable the popup ad which occupies the full screen when I unlock the 'phone!

Google searches have not revealed anything of use. Does anybody have any ideas, it is driving me mad!

[Booglebox]

Take it back and get a Nokia 1320 (http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/phones/phone/lumia1320/specifications/) :cool:

[Ancient Observer]

Mouse,
It is in there, somewhere. it's in Google settings, (might be google+ settings) and ad preferences or some such wording. I'll have a quick look at mine, if I find it I will come back to you.

[Ancient Observer]

Mine is in Settings, Accounts, Google, Ads. But mine is an older version of Android. I have opted out from interest based ads, but have not recently looked at the "ads settings" bit. There's a lot of stuff to "manage" here - buried deep in the phone!!
As I seldom log in to google - I do not have to to use my phone, I give them as little data as poss.
It is in here somewhere that their evil location tracker tells them exactly where you've been. Apple do the same if you let them.

[M.Mouse]

Thanks for that but in the settings you mention the only option I have is to opt in or out of interest based adverts, no ability to opt out completely.

It is making me so annoyed I shall sell the 'phone and buy something different if I cannot stop this unwanted intrusion.

[OFSO]

Delete google, use START PAGE WEB SEARCH instead.

[M.Mouse]

Unfortunately it seems impossible to delete all the Google stuff. When I try it just says 'Do you want to restore the app to factory settings' or similar. If I do that it then updates a few minutes later!

[OFSO]

Ah yes, and to old stick-in-the-muds like me, who are perfectly happy with the software as it came and don't want the phone's memory loading up with all sorts of unnecessary rubbish, this is a damned nuisance. What I have done (mixture please look away now) is to download everything I want and then deleted the giggle playstore and set the phone to "do not update". EVER. ANYTHING.

There are some nifty bits of App software which enable you to override the phone's own settings without rooting it, but frankly having done what I said in the first para my tablet is now just tippy-toppy.

Incoming text messages are read aloud, I get warnings of meteorite showers, maps, music and books, I get both US and UK news feeds, K-9 mail and gmail, local and international weather and nothing ever ever updates and I have huge amounts of phone memory (plus 32gb on a card) and the whole caboodle is advert-free.

Even makes and receives calls, too.

[Ancient Observer]

Mouse,
there is a ton of stuff on the net under Google. Android.Settings.

[M.Mouse]

Thanks but having suffered the problem for several months I know that!

Nothing I have found tells me how to prevent being shown adverts when, being slightly old fashioned and having bought the 'phone outright, brand new and unlocked, I think I ought to be able to choose whether I want to be shown an advert every time I unlock the damn thing!

Sure I can root it but that seems a) and awful lot of work and b) slightly risky and can cause problems in the future.

Judging by the lack of response here it would appear not many people suffer the problem.

[mixture]

b) slightly risky and can cause problems in the future.


Slightly risky is an understatement.

Friends don't let friends jailbreak/root their smartphones.

People who ignore the sound advice on that topic are morons and deserve what they get in terms of malware etc. exploiting their phones.

[KBPsen]

It's most likely a Samsung thing. They, and many other manufacturers, re-skin android and remove and add menus and functions. It's one of the great things about android that it is customizable, although some manufacturers probably go too far in making it their "own".

If you want pure android without all the bloatware get a Nexus or late model Motorola.

[Ancient Observer]

I dunno if it is a Samsung thing. I have a galaxy s2, a hand me down. Daughter has a galaxy s4. We do not have this issue. I've not noticed ads by Google and since mouse posted this I've looked and can't find it.

[Booglebox]

Mixture, I agree with you about jailbreaking phones, but am curious as to whether you consider CyanogenMod an exception to the rule?

[mixture]

but am curious as to whether you consider CyanogenMod an exception to the rule?

With a stupid name like cyanogenmod, I'd be very wary of it in the first place... :cool:

Briefly perusing their description, they call it "an aftermarket firmware distribution for several Android devices".

So no. I don't see why they should be an exception ?

[Booglebox]

I'm not hugely informed about it either. As for the stupid name, I think it's one of those things e.g. MtGox that started out as an in-joke and then got serious.
It seems to be quite a professionally developed and supported firmware with a good ecosystem, and I hear nothing but nice things from people who use it. Also I think Google encourage this behaviour, which is a bit different from the iOS situation where Apple are playing whack-a-mole with security holes.

[mixture]

MtGox that started out as an in-joke and then got serious.

And then MtGox went back to being a joke again... but I digress....:cool:

It seems to be quite a professionally developed and supported firmware

I didn't get that 'feel' from their website ? Sure it doesn't have the 'feel' of a dodgy site, but then at the same time there's not much that exudes trust about it ? The developer team list is just a bunch of random coders.

There's probably nothing wrong with it, but then there's no great reason to trust it either other than it obviously seems to rank higher than the obviously 'bad stuff'.

iOS situation where Apple are playing whack-a-mole with security holes.

iOS has a very good security model. The vast majority of published 'exploits' can only be exploited if the phone is jailbroken... so they are not really 'exploits' to start with.... there may have been one or two that were not, I'd have to check... but I'd hazard a guess they were with older versions of iOS.

Apple have also have a robust and proven track record when it comes to security .... so I think your concerns are unfounded.

I'm not to sure about your trust of Google .....;)

[KBPsen]

I have a galaxy s2, a hand me down. Daughter has a galaxy s4. We do not have this issue.That may be but different phones have different pre-installed apps, and as M.Mouse first had the issue when the phone was just out of the box it is either the OS or pre-installed apps causing it.

I would start disabling notifications from the pre-installed apps one by one.

[Ancient Observer]

Could it vary by carrier?

I suspect that the issue might go right back to the set up of the phone. I try to avoid setting up accounts of any sort on any phone. If I have to set up any accounts to make the phone work, I try to delete them and the phone still works.

[Capn Bloggs]

Mouse, just reset the thing.

[M.Mouse]

What exactly do you mean by '...reset the thing'?

[KBPsen]

You can do a factory reset which will wipe all data and user apps and restore the phone to the condition it had when you first took it out of the box.

But as you apparently had this ad issue from since the phone was new, it is not likely to solve it.

[M.Mouse]

Thanks. I might try that. What I find odd is that I did manage to find a way of disabling the ads but I am pretty sure that they returned after an OS update where I can no longer find a means to disable them.

[Ancient Observer]

In mine it is Settings/Back up and Reset. Obviously back your stuff up to something - mine is Samsung so I can use the clunk old Kies for a back up. Painful, but worth it. Then reset to factory settings.
Then, be very careful when you set up the phone from "new".

The big "but" is that Google just loves ferkin adverts, so might still sneak them in. Google, Apple and Farcebook appear to be in a race to "monetise" mobile things, and appear to me to take no prisoners.

[mixture]

The big "but" is that Google just loves ferkin adverts

Erm...

Google IS an advertising company ! As are Facebook. (Apple are not, I'm not sure where you got that one from other than your usual Apple bashing bull)

How do you think all the free stuff Facebook & Google provide is paid for ? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

[M.Mouse]

Well I bit the bullet and did a factory rest. I also did not link the 'phone to my, little used, Google account after the reset.

It works fine with NO ADVERTS!

The downside was that the dreadful KIES software (Samsung's ghastly offering) didn't back up any downloaded apps which is no big deal.

It also solved another problem which had appeared after several months of use and that was that every address book entry downloaded twice to my car system whenever I got in the car resulting in the car's 'phone memory being full before all my contacts had been copied. It was something to do 'Connections' where a contact was shown with more than one 'Connection' whatever that means!

I consider myself fairly tech savvy but so much of the stuff that seems to be part of the Android system strike me as utter crap.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[IBMJunkman]

For future ref I get a lot of answers in this forum

Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com (http://forums.androidcentral.com)