[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qihoo.security&referrer=104676″]
The idea of getting a virus is very scary to some people. Everyone has that one person they know who lost a ton of data and had to reformat their computer because they got a virus. 360 Security – Antivirus Free is an antivirus application developed by Qihu 360 Software Co., LTD(QIHU) that promises to alleviate that fear by keeping viruses off your phone, as well as performing a host of other housekeeping tasks. Unfortunately, most of its features aren’t actually very useful, meaning the tangible effect of having the app installed is quite low.
360 Security’s two primary features are an antivirus software, and a device accelerator as well power-saver utility. Both of these features boil down to scanning your phone’s memory and then deleting useless or dangerous data. Unfortunately, this doesn’t actually have any appreciable effect on the functioning of your device.
First of all, getting rid of useless data primarily means deleting cached data. For those who don’t know what that is, cached data is essentially data stored on your phone by an application so that it can quickly access it when it is required. Usually this data is used in functionality such as restoring states when closed applications are reopened or quickly loading data from recently visited websites.
Clearing the cache doesn’t really do much for your phone, since any usage of your device will immediately start filling it up again. The amount of data stored is also usually pretty insignificant, so even immediately after performing the cleanup, there isn’t any appreciable difference in phone speed and definitely none at all in battery life. However, on older or slower devices with less memory, this isn’t always the case, and a cache clean can sometimes noticeably speed up a phone for a short while.
The second function, an antivirus software, is just as useless for most users. It is surprisingly difficult for someone to get a virus on their phone. Tech savvy users need only apply the smallest amount of common sense to avoid downloading a virus, and less tech savvy users are unlikely to be using their phone in a way that would lead them to download a virus in the first place. This means that for the vast majority of users, 360 Security’s antivirus software won’t do anything at all.
It is irritating then, that the application constantly claims that your device is infected even when it is clearly not. Immediately after performing a virus scan, 360 Security told me my device was clean, I then uninstalled and reinstalled the app, only for it to now tell me that I had six malware applications running on my phone. Since it’s obvious 360 Security does not come pre-installed with malware, this leads one to wonder how accurate its virus detection and removal capabilities actually are.
Not everything about 360 Security is bad however, the application does have a clean and sophisticated visual design and is simply a joy to look at and use. It also offers other features to users, such as anti-theft features and a call and SMS blocker among others. They work well, but since there are a multitude of other apps that perform these tasks that don’t come bundled with useless data cleaning and antivirus software, they don’t make 360 Security any easier to recommend.
360 Security is a beautiful application that constantly tells you how much better it’s making your phone, but unfortunately it doesn’t actually benefit your device in any tangible way. This one does not come recommended.