Android: Pinpointing where ads are coming from

[bluesofa]

Is there some straightforward way to find which app is serving up the most adverts? Or perhaps when I am served an ad, to know which app generated it?

 

I completely accept that in order to offer free apps there is a need to fund it by advertising. I have perhaps four free apps I d/l from the Play Store, but I might consider paying to upgrade one or two in order to remove the ads.

However, it would be pointless (for me) to upgrade if the level of ads being served was kept the same.

 

The most consistent ad I see is in the form of what looks like a floppy disk-type icon at top left of the display with other notifications. Clicking on that always presents an advert only in Thai, which basically asks if I want to d/l a particular app. Clicking "no" prevents the icon from disappearing. The only way to do that is to reboot the phone.

 

I have an i-mobile IQ 5.7, Android version: 4.3 (Jellybean, which I have just noticed is now not supported any more by Android).

 

[johng]

Have you "rooted" the phone yet ? If so you can block anything you want with a "host" file...there are many pre made add server lists for example from "HP hosts"
This also works on PC's, tablets etc and even for stopping things right at the router for safer home surfing.

[RichCor]

On one of my previous i-Mobile phones, i-Mobile sent out a test message via their system 'update' system app. A week later I noticed the phone popping up ads out of nowhere.  I got frustrated, rooted the phone and disabled the mostly useless 'update' system app. No more ads.

 

Interestingly, my second i-Mobile phone (i-Mobile IQ II running AndroidOne) they haven't pulled the same shenanigans. 

[mtls2005]

You could uninstall the apps (or stop them), either one-by-one and see when the ads stop? Or uninstall them all and them add them back one at a time to see which is serving the ads.

 

Most apps serve up ads within the app; I don't ever remember seeing an ad pop up in the notification area?

[bluesofa]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

There was some mention about rooting the phone. I feel that is too involved for me. I'd have no idea how to do it, or if I had a new phone, would assume it would invalidate any guarantee?

 

I notice RichCor said his IQ11 was running AndroidOne. I have no idea what that is? Looking on the i-mobile website, it says the IQ11 runs 5.1.1 Lollipop?

 

I say that because I've been considering buying a new phone, and thought I'd stick with i-mobile. However, a lot of the models they are selling at present seem to have older Android versions that could be unsupported, perhaps within a year or so?

 

Some phones one sale now have Lollipop, which was introduced in 2014. I say this, because if I do buy a new phone, I'd look for one with a newer Android version - say 6 (Marshmallow) or 7 (Nougat).

 

My IQ 5.7 running 4.3 (Jellybean, introduced in 2012, but I bought the phone new in 2014) is still physically good (not cracked screen, or dropped), but now unsupported by Android. I'm finding newer apps struggling to run properly, and the phone often locks-up.

 

I guess that's the way with technology moving fast, makes it difficult for a three year-old phone to cope with newer apps.

 

 

[RichCor]

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

I notice RichCor said his IQ11 was running AndroidOne. I have no idea what that is? Looking on the i-mobile website, it says the IQ11 runs 5.1.1 Lollipop?

 

I say that because I've been considering buying a new phone, and thought I'd stick with i-mobile. However, a lot of the models they are selling at present seem to have older Android versions that could be unsupported, perhaps within a year or so?

 

I bought the i-Mobile IQ II a few years ago because is was a AndroidOne phone.

 

Paraphrased from Wikipedia:

Android One is a low cost line of consumer electronics devices that run the Android operating system.

It is a hardware and software standard created by Google to provide a standard Android platform for phone manufacturers and customers in the developing world. Google manages the design, development, marketing, and support of these devices while all manufacturing are carried out by partnering original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

 

AndroidOne smartphones run the latest android software (close to stock Android), no manufacturer customization is done. Android Security and System updates are handled directly by Google, pushed to the phone, usually a couple of days before even Nexus or Pixel devices. So I received the Nougat update on the phone before anyone nexus or carrier customer in the US. 

 

But the updates were only guaranteed for two years.  Almost time for me to find a new phone.  Unfortunately i-Mobile hasn't made any new AndroidOne project phones since the IQ II. 

[Maestro]

On 2017-4-29 at 9:33 AM, johng said:

Have you "rooted" the phone yet ? If so you can block anything you want with a "host" file...there are many pre made add server lists for example from "HP hosts"
This also works on PC's, tablets etc and even for stopping things right at the router for safer home surfing.

 

Will rooting the phone provide an answer to the following question asked in the OP?

 

Quote

Is there some straightforward way to find which app is serving up the most adverts? Or perhaps when I am served an ad, to know which app generated it?

 

[Maestro]

On 2017-5-1 at 4:06 PM, bluesofa said:

I notice RichCor said his IQ11 was running AndroidOne. I have no idea what that is? Looking on the i-mobile website, it says the IQ11 runs 5.1.1 Lollipop?

 

It is IQ II, the roman number 2. I bought mine some two years ago and it updated the operation system regularly now running on Android 7.1.1.

 

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Maestro said:

 

It is IQ II, the roman number 2. I bought mine some two years ago and it updated the operation system regularly now running on Android 7.1.1.

 

 

Thanks for the info on that.

I had no idea that model would update to the newest OS automatically, seems like a good idea.