If you are looking for an antivirus, McAfee is one of the best antivirus available in the market. But, is it actually good for your mobile? Here is everything you need to know about McAfee Mobile Security.
McAfee Mobile Security has many free features and a subscription tier that removes advertisements. Although, unlike other top antivirus software, McAfee’s subscription tier is quite pricey, and many of its most beneficial features were deleted in the summer of 2021. Still, McAfee has good malware protection, which is quite a big deal. If you can put up with the advertising, then you can use the free version of the app.
Pros
Cons
McAfee Mobile Security, like almost all of antivirus solutions, uses a freemium marketing strategy. McAfee has an extensive free tier, with tools like Wi-Fi security that are usually in the expensive tiers. The cheapest paid plan costs $29.99 per year or $2.99 per month, which is not that cheap. With this plan, you get secure online browsing, phone assistance, and the ability to avoid in-app advertisements. Although, in the summer of 2021, the Guest Mode and App very handy Lock features, were eliminated. The next tier has an unlimited VPN service built-in, but the price reaches $79.99 per year or $9.99 per month. Before opting for this service for VPN, you should definitely look at standalone VPN choices. For $59.99 per year for 10 devices, McAfee AntiVirus Plus includes Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. Also, new customers could purchase this package for as little as $24.99.
It takes only a few seconds for McAfee to perform a deep scan on your phone. This is truly remarkable. However, the program has a high rate of virus detection. Web protection from McAfee is only offered to Premium members, and it only works with a few popular browsers. This includes Chrome, Samsung Internet, Opera Mini, and Firefox. When trying to access a malicious website, all supported browsers displayed a warning with the choice to Keep Me Safe by moving away from the site or Open Anyway.
Even the free edition of McAfee Mobile Security offered a great collection of anti-theft tools. This included the ability to remotely trigger an alert, lock your device, locate it, take a picture with the Thief Cam, wipe your data, and do a full factory reset. All the tools worked within 3-5 seconds of delivering the command using the web interface at mcafeemobilesecurity.com. The gateway was simple but nicely done with a full-page map and a little overlay containing icons for the numerous accessible options. Moreover, did not attempt to capture a photo without the unauthorized user’s knowledge. Instead, McAfee established a phony alert on the smartphone and snapped a shot when the individual pressed to dismiss it. It is quite disappointing that this feature was discontinued in the summer of 2021.
McAfee can interact with a Wear OS smartwatch just like some other antivirus apps. Although, McAfee’s app can let you know when the watch gets out of the Bluetooth range of the phone. It does notify you of an insecure Wi-Fi network or when the phone’s battery gets low.
This function is not as well-implemented. It feeds you information about any app that you may also access in your device’s app settings menu. McAfee sorts your apps by the amount of privacy risk and places them in a new tab named Privacy Alerts after they reach a particular threshold.
This feature checks to verify if the Wi-Fi network you’re connecting to has a password or encryption. Safe Wi-Fi will also notify you if your Wi-Fi connection has been compromised.
Unlike Memory Boost, the storage cleaner had some merit. You could use it to delete movies, shows, or podcasts you have watched. You can do this yourself, but it’s handier to see all of your possible trash in one spot and remove it with a few clicks. Although, even this feature was removed recently.
App Lock has become a more frequent and beneficial feature among Android antivirus apps. This tool allows you to build a secondary degree of security by locking individual apps with a PIN or your fingerprint. You could use this for apps that you don’t want others to have access to if you offer your device to them unlocked. The McAfee app lock’s user interface was a bit complicated, even though it worked completely fine. Recently, even this feature was discontinued.
This tool of App Lock was quite handy because it let you create a Guest account. You could then choose which apps that account could use. Rather than having some apps locked all of the time in case you handed your device over to someone else, you could use this functionality to instantly enable guest mode when needed. Although, along with App Lock this feature was also removed.
Even though the VPN services on the McAfee security are good, but it is a bit pricey. So you could check some standalone VPN choices rather than paying $50 a year to subscribe to McAfee’s built-in option. While utilising the VPN in McAfee, you won’t have any substantial slowdowns in the Wi-Fi speeds. VPN Guard offers a variety of server locations across the world. When using Wi-Fi or cellular data, you can select to automatically connect to your VPN, but you can alternatively mark trusted networks as not triggering your VPN.
McAfee’s installation process is one of the simplest of any Android antivirus. It displays a screen with a list of all the permissions you’ll need to grant, as well as an explanation of why each is required. You can set up everything, in less than two minutes. Unlike many of the free options, McAfee provides online chat help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as access to the McAfee support forums and knowledge centre. Moreover, the premium subscribers have access to phone assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
McAfee Mobile Security’s user interface has a huge box dedicated to virus scanning which occupies the top of the screen. There are four other key functions accessible below it. Due of the enormous advertising and persistent urges to upgrade, it is far more complicated in the ad-supported free versions. As you progress through the McAfee app, you’ll see a number of displays that appear to be obsolete. Also, McAfee puts little question-mark symbols next to most features. When you click on one, you’ll get a rather detailed explanation of what that feature performs.
McAfee Security has a few clever features and tools to help you detect malware on your device. If you are ready to put up with the advertisements then it is a great app to go for virus protection. The premium version seems a bit costly and many of the tools were discontinued this year. The app does a good job in malware detection and notifying you about it. But the other tools are a bit lacking. The interface is easy to use with a virus scan box on the home page. Moreover, The built-in VPN gives you good Wi-Fi speeds without any slowdowns.
Which antivirus app are you currently using? Tell us in the comments section below.
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