Avira is an app that is designed to aid you if you ever have to deal with your device being stolen. This app is great for those who rely on their smartphones to store some or all of their personal data. It is also great for those who the take “always be prepared” approach with their belongings. People who like being cautious or thorough will typically use this app to make sure their information is always secure, no matter who has your phone.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

This app is specifically designed so you can prepare for the worst — a lost or stolen device. It recognizes that it is a very real possibility that at some point, your beloved device could wind up in someone else’s hands. The app aims to ease this pain by giving you comfort in knowing that all of your personal data is stored.

Pros

• SMS and call blocker and blacklist
• Remote lock and wipe
• Custom message to finder/thief of phone
• Location tracking
• Remote scream
• Monitor battery life

Cons

• No way of disguising or protecting app
• Some crashes

Discussion

We live in a world where people are beginning to do more and more personal things with their smartphones. These things include making online purchases, keeping track of passwords, and sending personal messages that are not meant to be publicly viewed. All of these things can be compromised when you you lose or have your phone stolen. When this happens, you need to have a way to remotely secure all of your data so you don’t risk having it looked at by who ever has your phone. Avira aims to add much-needed security to your phone by giving you tools that can be used when you do not have your phone in front of you.

Avira starts off by giving you useful functions that are meant to be used while you still have your phone. An example is that it offers an SMS and calling blacklist. This means that you can block any number that you do not want contacting you. Additionally, you can easily monitor your battery life so you can get an idea of how your phone’s battery is over a specific period of time. This can alert you to certain times of the day that you use your phone more often than other times.

Avira’s real service will really kick in once you lose or have your phone stolen. Perhaps the most useful and well thought out feature is the ability to remotely trigger certain functions. You can remotely trigger your phone to automatically lock or wipe your data. When you remotely lock the device, the device will become useless until a pin is entered. If you want a more extreme solution, you can remotely wipe all of your personal data from your phone. You can also track the location of your phone. This is incredibly useful because you can easily find out where you left it or where the thief is located. Additionally, you can activate a remote scream. This is useful if you lost your phone around your house or other small building. It will trigger your phone to let out a loud scream, even if it is in silent mode.

There are a couple unfortunate aspects of the app however. The major issue is the fact that there is no way to disguise or protect the actual app from the thief. If the thief finds your phone and looks through it before you have a chance to get to a computer, then he or she could very easily uninstall the program if they recognize that it has security functionality. A good way to solve this would be to require a password if the user wants to uninstall the app, or even find a way of renaming or changing the icon of the device to seem more inconspicuous. Additionally, the app can crash rather frequently depending on your device. Just be aware that the crashes are not exclusive to lower-end phones.

Conclusion and download link

This app can be an absolute lifesaver if configured correctly. It is one of those apps that you don’t think of installing until you absolutely need it. If you take the time to install it and set it up in advance, you will be very relieved should you find yourself away from your phone or other Android device. While there are a couple issues, it doesn’t effect the features that make this app so great.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.1

Requires: Android 2.2 and up

Download size: 2mb

Avira on Play Store