Hi, I’m trying out your mobile security and theft-aware applications and so far am impressed. I installed TA in root mode so that I can have hard-reset protection, etc. Based on what I’ve been reading, uninstalling Mobile Security and just running TA is a supported configuration. This is exactly what I want to do, because the only portion of the app that I need/want is TA. However, I’ve noticed that there is an uninstall wizard for TA - but it’s in the mobile security app.
So if I uninstall Mobile Security, am I no longer able to use the built-in wizard to later uninstall TA? Please tell me that’s not the case… Thanks for any info,
that is the case, but you don’t need the wizard to uninstall the Anti-Theft if you know all the steps, the wizard is there just to help you. You can, of course, install Mobile Security in the future and uninstall the Anti-Theft using the wizard if you know your avast! PIN code.
Firstly, I would strongly suggest you add the uninstall wizard to TA itself. That would probably stop the endless emails and threads in your forums from people asking how to uninstall it.
Secondly, here’s what your documentation says about how to uninstall TA:
"Normally, avast! Anti-Theft can be uninstalled very easily through the Application Manager. Just select avast! Anti-Theft then press “System Info” then “Uninstall”.
However, please note that Android devices do not allow device administrators to be uninstalled. So if you are unable to uninstall Anti-Theft please check the Advanced Settings and make sure that this setting is disabled, then you should be able to uninstall as usual."
But regardless of whether you have allowed TA to be a device administrator or not, Application Manager doesn’t give you an option to uninstall. It only allows you to “disable” or “force stop”. So how exactly do I uninstall it?
There is description in documentation how to uninstall the anti-theft. If the uninstall button is not available (app manager), it probably menas, you are using rooted version.
Right, if you read my post earlier in this thread you’ll see that I pasted the exact text from your documentation about how to uninstall, and how it is useless for root installations. I guess what I don’t understand is why the documentation describes the root installation and the advantages it brings, but then fails to mention how to uninstall a rooted installation?
So I guess the answer then is to re-install Avast mobile security just so that I can get access to the wizard that will uninstall Theft-Aware.
I assume this wizard knows how to properly uninstall a rooted installation of TA? (cleans up everything it’s supposed to?) Can someone tell me where exactly I can find the rooted installation files so that I can validate that they’re removed properly during uninstall? I’d like to test this whole process before I start recommending this app to others. Thanks,
Yes, the best way is to reinstall avast! mobile security and use the antitheft (AT) removal tool. In case of AT rooted installation you have to have some advanced knowledge about android OS and linux commands. As you hopefully will understand, I will not publish the whole method, how to get rid of the antitheft without avast, but we will update FAQ and docs.
Thanks Jan. I had one last question that hasn’t been answered yet: Can someone tell me where exactly I can find the rooted installation files so that I can validate that they’re removed properly during uninstall? I’d like to test this whole process before I start recommending this app to others. Thanks!
You can find them in protected part of memory, sometimes encrypted, sometimes not. I am not able to propose exact answer, because it very depends on the user, where the files are.
