I always urge people to store their personal important data elsewhere. I also recommend using a good cloud storage service which can help you in case of data loss. I also suggest you, never keep your credit card information on your smartphone. Purchase an app and then delete all the information, I know this can be a hassle but the thieves can’t steal what is not even there. If you need aid in remembering all those credit card numbers and passwords, you can easily use a nice password manager app for that purpose. This will keep all your data extra save and sound. Remember an antivirus app should be the last defense on your Android device; first one is your common sense. Note: I tested the free version of the Lookout Security & Antivirus and activated a 14 day free premium trial. I highly recommend that you do the same instead of paying outright for the premium version. I used the app on my Samsung Galaxy Note III and noticed some problems which I will state in detail below. Otherwise the app worked find and no bugs or crashes were faced during testing phase. Our Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars Google Play Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
The Good
The app comes with one of the best interfaces I had the pleasure of testing. The app will pose no problems for anyone, even if they are relatively new to the Android world. The app does most of the functions automatically requiring minimal input from you. This free Antivirus app for Android also comes with contact backup features which will surly come in handy.
The Bad
The app runs constantly in the background and drains the battery significantly. This drain can easily be witnessed overnight and can be annoying for many users. The app also hides some good features behind a pay wall which other apps provide for free. If you want to track your phone you can do that with this app. If you want to do that for free you can check out the best Android tracking apps. Another bad thing is that the app gains full access to your Android device, by full I mean everything from contacts to gallery and from emails to documents all are exposed. I guess the app needs to be on the lookout for potential viruses, but hey no one likes to give one app everything. The app is also prone to identify legitimate apps as threats. This is a highly annoying feature which can dampen the credibility of the app itself.
The Bottom Line
Lookout Security & Antivirus is a great app if all you want to do is scan apps. The app works wonderfully and will identify threats quickly. I threw a small virus on my phone just to see if the app can detect it or not, thankfully Lookout Security & Antivirus was able to locate and delete the threat almost immediately. This shows that the app is on all the time, which can be a good or a bad thing depending how much you value battery life over security.
Getting it on – 5 out of 5 Stars
Installing Lookout Security & Antivirus is a pain free procedure. Simple go to the Google Play Store link and click on install. The app will start downloading. The package is not of a large size so you won’t have to wait any longer for that. Once downloaded, the Lookout Security & Antivirus can be found in your app drawer. Just tap on the icon and the app will start churning its gears.
There will be few screens which tell you what the app actually does. These are great if you are not familiar with any other antivirus app. I recommend that you read through the 3 or so screens of the tutorial and then move on.
The app will then try to sell you a premium version, I recommend that you skip that and on the next screen opt for a free 14 day trial. This will allow you to actually test the app before spending a substantial amount of cash on something you don’t fully know.
The Interface – 4 out of 5 Stars
The interface of Lookout Security & Antivirus is a pleasant one but it somehow feels restrictive. Don’t get me wrong, the features are clearly visible and are easily accessible from the main screen, it just felt a bit conservative.
Sure minimal options on the main screen make the app easier to use but the interface looked small in portrait mode, even though I was using a 5.5 inch phablet. The tablet interface is much better in my opinion.
Once you click on any of the options another screen will appear detailing that feature. Again the information is kept at a minimum. I would have liked to know more about potential threats and detected viruses. But I can’t deduct any points from the app for being easy to use.
Features and Features – 4 out of 5 Stars
The Lookout Security & Antivirus comes loaded with features. Some of them are amazing and I loved using them, some of them not so much. The app does a fine job of scanning other apps and doing something which it calls “deep scanning”. I guess the app looks inside the files of other apps to find if something is out of order.
There is a contact backup option which is pretty self-explanatory. But you can also access that stored information from any PC by logging into your account, which is a nice touch.Another feature which I really liked is the find my phone feature. This is perhaps one of the best features of Lookout Security & Antivirus, even better than the shaky app scanner. The app basically locates your phone wherever it is and it does it with surprising accuracy.
But that is not what I liked, I liked the scream feature. Once you select the option, you can make your phone emit a loud siren with flashing screen. I tested this by using my PC as an activator and this feature worked flawlessly.
Scanning Things – 2.5 out of 5 Stars
There is absolutely no way of knowing how the app scans other apps. What it scans and what it checks in the apps and it cannot be determined. Sure we can read what the developer has to say but I really don’t believe the marketing content they push towards us. So when the app said it has found a threat, I was surprised. I take great care of my smartphone and never install anything which is even slightly off. So I eagerly opened the Lookout Security & Antivirus to check what kind of fish passed through my screening process. It was a Nova Launcher Plugin, which displays unread courts and notification numbers on the app icons.
This was a disappointing experience for me because this plugin is from a highly trusted developer. Nova Launcher also made the top 15 launchers list thanks to its brilliant design and easy customizations.
Permissions it Demands – 2 out of 5 Stars
I understand that the Lookout Antivirus app needs to look deep into my device to locate threats. But I have no way of trusting them with that information. Sure they are a reputable company but still I won’t like them to look through everything I have on my phone. There should be an option of warding off locations and making them inaccessible to the app instead of allowing full access to your device. I guess it is an Android flaw rather than this apps’ fault. The free security app for Android does a fine job of securing your device so there is nothing more we can complain about.
Conclusion
Lookout Security & Antivirus is a good looking app with a solid interface. The app comes with a healthy feature list which can further be bloated by paying for the premium version. The anti-theft measures taken by this free security app for Android are some of the best I have seen. If you need everything, packed neatly in a package, this is the app you should get for your Android device. It will make your life easier and provide a good service. But if you have the energy to install dedicated apps for each of the functions provided by Lookout Security & Antivirus, you will have an overall better experience.
