Welcome to our new column on the most common tech-related concerns we encounter in our store. 

As the wonderful small community we are, we thought we would share some learnings in the hope that knowledge shared is knowledge grown. Each month I will post handy tid-bits that you can come back to, share with others, and hopefully gain more confidence with your device.

I wanted to start with my two best tips when dealing with anything technology based: 

1. Read everything that comes up on your device. Be sure to read the screen, pop ups, and everything else, and take time to understand it. Trying to tap it away can do the most damage. If you don’t know or understand, you’re best to ask your local IT person or call into the store.
2. Give yourself time. You are the one in control, not the device. Take some time to know your device, go into your apps, especially ‘Settings’, and see where things live. It is ok to not know everything with technology and it's changing all the time, so the best we can do is keep calm and keep exploring.
3. Make sure your device is up to date with the latest firmware or software. Every so often, your phone’s manufacturer will push an update to your phone, which could contain fixes for glitches in its operation and often includes important security updates. It’s crucial to make sure you’re downloading and installing these updates so that your phone is as resilient as it can be against viruses. 

‘Help! I have a Cleaning App and Pop ups on my phone’

Our most common customer concern is those pesky ‘Cleaning’ apps that seem to magically start appearing and flashing up little warnings. They look something like these:

It’s important to know that some of these apps can have viruses within them. The very first thing to remember is not to touch anywhere on that pop up - even if it has that wee ‘X’ to shut it down, it’s critical you don’t touch them.

What happens if you touch the pop up? The virus will automatically take it as a response and become more active.

These apps can load a virus within your phone that stops you from being able to use your device. From there, they can then do many harmful things like using your phone to access data, your information, infect other devices, send scam messages/emails, the list is endless.

Signs that your device has a virus:

• Dummy screens – this is where the app gains the ability to take over your phone’s screen and show you a ‘dummy screen’. It will look similar to your normal screen but usually the picture is different and you may notice some of your apps have moved.
• Struggle to get apps to open or even do basic actions on your device
• Annoying pop-ups
• Battery drains unusually fast
• Phone overheating, even when you aren’t using it
• Phone keeps going black or turning off
• Data and storage warnings

Can you fix it?

Most of the time we can remove viruses from your phone, and in fact you can too. It can be a little tricky though, requiring some exact digit tapping and lots of focus.

In other cases, viruses have overheated or damaged the internal workings of the phone to the extent that it can no longer handle basic operations, and ultimately crashes. In these cases, you will need to prepared for the possibility of having to get a new phone if a factory reset of the device doesn’t remove the virus. 

The warning here is that you will not be able to do a transfer of information from your old phone to the new one. The second part is that if you do try to transfer your information to a new device, it may carry those viruses over within some of the apps if they haven’t been removed.

How did it get there?

Sometimes these viruses tag in behind an app for a game (things like Solitaire for example) or are accidentally clicked on when they pop up within a game. We’ve also seen them tag in on QR scanning apps, but most phones today can scan QR codes without the need for a separate app.

How do I know what game or App is safe?

The most important thing to remember when downloading a new app is to make sure you get it from a trusted app store, rather than from the internet. On an iPhone, you’ll automatically be taken to the official ‘App Store’ or if you’re using an android phone, it’s called ‘Play Store’. 

Other things you can do include: 

• Reading some reviews on the app you are looking at (you will find a wee tab under the app in your app store that says ‘reviews’).
• Look at how many people have downloaded it, the more the better, use 10 million downloads as a good benchmark.
• Keep an eye out for apps created by trusted organisations. Look for brand names or logos you recognise and trust.
• Ask around, see who you know uses it. You can even search the web for reviews and opinions. 

I hope this piece has provided some helpful information for you to ponder. We have so many more tips and tricks to come, but if you have any concerns or questions, you are always welcome to pop into your local store.