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I have an Asus Zenpad 3S 10 Z500M running Android 7 and I tried Avast recently but now I can not remove it. I deactivated the admin permission but still, when I uninstall, it redirects me again to manage the admin screen.

I tried to email support but they are very slow to reply and never give me a solution, all they knew is to deactivate the admin.

Andrew T.
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zac
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    https://support.avast.com/en-gb/article/Uninstall-Mobile-Security/ –  Dec 04 '21 at 16:19
  • @Tetsujin none worked out. – zac Dec 04 '21 at 16:27
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    Their support pages are as tracker-ridden as their "security" app itself… You could try uninstalling via ADB with adb uninstall <packageName> (see our ADB tag wiki for details on ADB). The package name is the part you find in the Play Store URL of the app, following the id= parameter. – Izzy Dec 04 '21 at 18:11
  • @Izzy I dont see how security app does not give you a choice to remove it is good nor waiting for a week for support to replay to me, it is a terrible app but thanks for your help. – zac Dec 04 '21 at 23:23
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    I have my doubts on most of those so-called "Anti-Virus" apps (see the intro to my corresponding app list). Often they are more harmful than useful. IMHO security apps (as well as apps for health, fincances or children) should not contain any trackers, yet most of them do. I've never installed such on any of my devices. I rather keep my defenses up and my eyes open, using that gray mass between my ears. Served me well so far ;) – Izzy Dec 05 '21 at 00:15
  • @Izzy yes I found the same. – zac Dec 05 '21 at 13:38
  • @Izzy if you post as answer I will select. I think adb is the only way. – zac Dec 05 '21 at 13:40

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You could try uninstalling via ADB with adb uninstall <packageName> (see our ADB tag wiki for details on ADB). The package name is the part you find in the Play Store URL of the app, following the id= parameter – for Avast that would be com.avast.android.mobilesecurity, so the complete command should be

adb uninstall com.avast.android.mobilesecurity

As it turned out (see comments below), the instructions given by Avast included the required details, but one needs to take care not to miss a step. Summing up:

  • open the app
  • via the Hamburger menu (upper left corner) navigate to Settings › Uninstall App
  • enter your pin, then toggle off "turn off device administrator first"
  • now tap "uninstall app"
  • on the following screen, tap the Uninstall button and confirm.

On the last screen mentioned, you could also try to first force-stop and clear its cache/data, as shown in this (older) video. Also see this video for more up-to-date visuals.

As for the so-called "Antivirus" apps, I'd keep them off my device and rather use "brain.apk", for multiple reasons:

  • they often do more harm than good, especially with the trackers included. Avira is the best example of this, tracking you without your consent as security specialist Mike Kuketz demonstrated in detail (German article) – and as you experienced yourself, removing that threat proves hard.
  • the term "Antivirus" is misleading. There are no viruses on Android (there is malware, yes, but you have to actively install it while viruses replicate themselves). So the naming is scare tactics as people using Windows think they must use such things.
  • Due to the architecture of Android, such scanners must have root privileges to be effective. As they do not, they cannot do half of what they promise: there's no heuristics, no live-activity-scanning. At best, they compare the package names (and maybe APK hashes) against some databases.
  • There's a wrong sensing of security. People let their guards down because they think themselves protected, getting reckless as they think no harm can happen.

So with some common sense and carefulness, your protection level is much higher :)

Izzy
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    For "what to install", just follow the link I gave to the ADB tag wiki. There you find a lot of details getting you started – for example also Is there a minimal installation of ADB?. Concerning the DELETE_FAILED_DEVICE_POLICY_MANAGER error message: that indicates you still have granted the app device manager permissions. Have you thoroughly checked with your settings? Settings › Security › Device administrators and uncheck the box next to the app? Does the app also have something like an anti-theft protection? If so, you might need to disable that in the app, too. – Izzy Dec 13 '21 at 22:42
  • yes check box clear for administrator. Yes there anti theft but I did not grant all permissions so it is not on but I will try to turn it on and then off maybe it will allow uninstall. – zac Dec 14 '21 at 00:04
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    This one you have tried (all 3 variants)? You could also try to first force-stop and clear its cache/data, as shown in this (older) video. There also seems to be a device admin setting in the app itself; maybe this video provides some help? If none of this works, forgive me the pun, that app seems to need a malware remover to get rid of it… – Izzy Dec 14 '21 at 01:55
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    no I did not notice the settings. I was able to uninstall from inside the app. I am getting old :) Thanks – zac Dec 14 '21 at 17:46