There are few things as annoying to me as intrusive ads on a smartphone – ads on my lockscreen annoy me, ads popping up at random while using a phone tick me off, and my first instinct is to get rid of them. In my opinion, ads are justified for free products, but when I have paid for a product, I do not want to see ads imposed on it.

The problem with modern smartphones is that while you may have paid for the device, chances are that you have installed quite a number of free apps, and it is usually these apps that are the culprits behind ads on your lockscreen.

It wasn’t too long ago that I began to notice ads on my lockscreen. What?! Where are these from? How do I block them?!

Experience told me that such ads are the work of an app, and that the thing to do was find the offender and find a way to disable the ads or uninstall it outrightly. So, if you are in similar shoes and asking, “How do I get rid of ads on my lock screen?”, I have an easy-to-follow guide for you.




How do I get rid of ads on my lock screen?

Step 1: The first step is identifying which app is causing the problem.

Chances are that the last app you installed before the ads started showing up is the culprit. It is a simple deduction. If your smartphone had no ads showing on the lock screen before, and you installed an app, after which ads began to show up, you get the point.

This is 99.9% fool-proof. The other 0.1% is that it may be caused by an app that has been on your phone all this while, but got updated recently and the updated version now includes ads on your lockscreen.



Those are the two scenarios to consider: pencil down the last app you installed before the ads arrived. Where you have not installed a new app, pencil down the last set of apps you updated just before the advent of the ads.

Step 2: If the app is vital to you, consider paying the developer to have the lock screen ads removed. Almost every free app has an ad-free paid version. If the app is really important to you, it isn’t a bad idea to reward the developer with some cash. Usually what they ask for is a small fee of around $5. Of course, some cost more, depending on the value they provide.

If the app is not so important to you and so leaves you unwilling to pay for it, what to do is delete/uninstall it to get rid of the lock screen ads. Pronto.


What kind of apps are the usual suspects?

There are certain kinds of apps that tend to be the usual suspects in this matter, and I would take a look at them first when needing to get rid of ads on my lock screen. Here is a short list:

battery optmisation apps

RAM and memory management apps

flashlight apps.

If you have installed or updated one of these categories of apps just before ads started displaying on your lock screen, I bet you that is the culprit. Chances are that if you get rid of them, the ads will go away.

Some 3rd party web browsers are fast joining this category, sadly. People have reported seeing Dolphin Browser do this. So, keep an eye on any broswer that you install on your smartphone..

How to pay for an ad-free version of a free app

Where an app is of great value to me, paying to get the ad-free version of the app is one way I get rid of ads on my lock screen. And it is an easy process to carry out.

Launch the free version of the app, go into its settings and you will likely find a menu dedicated to making a payment. Follow through, and voila, you get the ad-free version. No more ads.

Alternatively, some apps offer their ad-free alternatives in the Play Store, so launch Play Store, search for the name of the app, select it and proceed to pay.

The free edition of Photo Editor by MacGyver does not impose ads on the lock screen, but it is a valuable tool for me, so I paid for the ad-free version.

I stand with app developers. They put in a lot of work into creating these tools we all use. If you are able to, do make a payment to support them.

How to delete an app

Dive into your phone’s Settings menu and look for a menu item that says Appsor App Management. Scroll through the list of apps till you see the one you want to delete, Tap on it to open up the app info page. You will see options to “Force Stop” and “Uninstall”. Tap on the “Uninstall” button and it disappears deep down into the abyss, never to pester you again (unless you re-install it).

Summary

In summary, what I do to get rid of ads on my lock screen is either delete/uninstall the app, or make a payment for an ad-free version. It is the same approach for getting rid of most other types of intrusive ads on my smartphone. I’d rather pay or uninstall than be hunting around for hacks to block the ads.

Source: MobilityArena