4 Android myths: do you need antivirus and fast charging?

Android myths: why your smartphone is smarter than you think

Modern Android smartphones are much smarter than they used to be. They manage RAM on their own, optimize power consumption, and protect your data. Even so, many users still follow outdated advice that has long since lost its relevance. How-To Geek has debunked four of the most common myths about Android devices.

1. Force-closing apps: harmful, not helpful

A common belief is that you need to manually close background apps to free up RAM and save battery life. In reality, Android manages resources efficiently on its own. It automatically stops apps that need memory for other programs to run.

In addition, regularly force-closing apps can have the opposite effect. Each time you reopen such an app, the processor has to load it from scratch, and the system has to restore data in memory. This uses a significant amount of energy and, as a result, drains the battery faster. Some apps, on the contrary, are meant to run in the background to provide timely notifications, sync data, or update information. If a specific app really uses too much battery, it is better to limit its background activity in settings.

2. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: minimal impact on battery life

Users often turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, hoping to noticeably extend their phone’s battery life. However, testing shows that these modules use only a minimal amount of power when idle. An experiment by MakeUseOf found that over 24 hours, a smartphone with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth always on used only 3.4% more battery than a device with them turned off.

It is important to note that a weak Wi-Fi signal can have a significant impact on power consumption. In that case, a phone can indeed use up to three times more battery. So constantly turning off wireless interfaces to save power is not especially effective. It may only make sense for privacy reasons, if you want to limit wireless activity.

3. Fast charging: the myth of battery wear

There is a widespread myth that fast charging speeds up battery wear. However, tests have disproved this claim, at least for modern devices. An experiment by HTX Studio showed that after 500 charging cycles, iPhone batteries lost only 0.5% more capacity when fast charged than when charged slowly.

Interestingly, Android smartphone batteries wore out even slightly more slowly during fast charging than during normal charging. This suggests that battery capacity loss happens at roughly the same rate, regardless of charging speed. So there is no need to fear fast charging — it lets you quickly top up your battery without harming its longevity.

4. Antivirus for Android: is it really necessary?

Many people believe that an Android smartphone absolutely needs an extra antivirus app for protection. In fact, Android already includes a powerful built-in security tool — Google Play Protect. This service is integrated directly into devices and continuously scans apps installed both through Google Play and from third-party sources for malware.

An additional layer of protection is provided by Google Safe Browsing, built into the Chrome browser. It warns you about dangerous websites and downloads, reducing the risk of infection. In addition, Google regularly releases security updates for Android. For most users of newer devices with official support, these built-in tools are more than enough, provided updates are installed on time and apps are downloaded from trusted sources.

There are exceptions: third-party antivirus software can be useful for devices with unofficial firmware without Google services, for those who often install apps from third-party sources, or for older models that no longer receive security updates. In such cases, according to How-To Geek, you may want to consider Bitdefender antivirus.

Your smartphone is a smart device that often handles many tasks on its own. Outdated advice about how to use it no longer matches the reality of modern technology.