Avast Antivirus for Mac is a âfreeâ software program that protects your Mac from viruses, malware, spyware, and ransomware. The free version doesnât do much more than allow you to scan for malware that has already made its way into your system. The sleek designs, intuitive OS, trend-setting apps, and, yes, the anti-malware security built into the platform, make them among the most cherished items possessed by their owners. Is antivirus software for your Mac really necessary? Mac users have exceptional security records for decades, and this is for two reasons.
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Protect against viruses & other types of malware with Avast Mobile Security, the worldâs most trusted free antivirus app for Android.
Protect your privacy by receiving alerts when spyware or adware-infected apps are downloaded onto your device. Secure your device against phishing attacks from emails, phone calls, infected websites, or SMS messages. Turn on the VPN to keep your online browsing private and safe, as well as to access your favorite paid streaming services when traveling abroad.
With more than 100 million installs, Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus provides much more than just antivirus protection. Other features include:
â Antivirus Engine
â App Lock
â Anti-Theft
â Photo Vault
â VPN (virtual private network)
â Power Save
â Privacy Permissions
â Firewall (for rooted Android only)
â RAM Boost
â Junk Cleaner
â Web Shield
â Wi-Fi Security
â App Insights
â Virus Cleaner
â Wi-Fi Speed Test
Whatâs new
VPN (Virtual Private Network) - Hide your online activities and change your location to access your favorite paid streaming services from anywhere.
Introducing App Insights - Ever wonder how much time youâre wasting while looking at your phone every day? Weâve developed a solution for you, right inside of your favorite security app.
Premium features for advanced protection:
â Camera Trap: Secretly capture photos and audio of the thief if your phone gets stolen.
â Last Known Location: Check your device's last location before its battery died.
â Sim Security: Automatically register your device as lost after a SIM change.
â App Lock: Keep your sensitive content secure and private by locking any app with a PIN code, pattern, or fingerprint password. Only youâll be able to access them.
â Remove Ads: Eliminate ads from your Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus experience.
â Avast Direct Support: Contact Avast directly from the app to receive quick responses to your inquiries.
Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus in detail
â Antivirus Engine: Automatically scan for viruses and other kinds of malware, including spyware, Trojans, and more. Web, file, and app scanning provides complete mobile protection.
â App Insights: Discover how much time you spend using each app on your device and take back control of your phone-life balance.
â Junk Cleaner: Instantly clean out unnecessary data, junk files, system caches, gallery thumbnails, installation files, and residual files to give you more space.
â Photo Vault: Secure your photos with a PIN code, pattern, or fingerprint password. After moving photos to the Vault, they are fully encrypted and only accessible to you.
â Web Shield: Scan and block malware-infected links, as well as Trojans, adware, and spyware (for privacy and safe web browsing, e.g. Chrome). It also fixes mistyped URLs.
â Wi-Fi Security: Check the security of public Wi-Fi networks and email messages, browse safely, and make secure online payments from anywhere.
â Power Save: Reduces your device's battery consumption by adjusting battery-draining settings such as Wi-Fi, data synchronization, Bluetooth, and screen settings.
This app uses the Device Administrator permission. This permission allows you to remotely lock and wipe your device from my.avast.com.
This app uses the Accessibility permission to protect visually impaired and other users against phishing attacks and malicious websites.
Protect your privacy by receiving alerts when spyware or adware-infected apps are downloaded onto your device. Secure your device against phishing attacks from emails, phone calls, infected websites, or SMS messages. Turn on the VPN to keep your online browsing private and safe, as well as to access your favorite paid streaming services when traveling abroad.
With more than 100 million installs, Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus provides much more than just antivirus protection. Other features include:
â Antivirus Engine
â App Lock
â Anti-Theft
â Photo Vault
â VPN (virtual private network)
â Power Save
â Privacy Permissions
â Firewall (for rooted Android only)
â RAM Boost
â Junk Cleaner
â Web Shield
â Wi-Fi Security
â App Insights
â Virus Cleaner
â Wi-Fi Speed Test
Whatâs new
VPN (Virtual Private Network) - Hide your online activities and change your location to access your favorite paid streaming services from anywhere.
Introducing App Insights - Ever wonder how much time youâre wasting while looking at your phone every day? Weâve developed a solution for you, right inside of your favorite security app.
Premium features for advanced protection:
â Camera Trap: Secretly capture photos and audio of the thief if your phone gets stolen.
â Last Known Location: Check your device's last location before its battery died.
â Sim Security: Automatically register your device as lost after a SIM change.
â App Lock: Keep your sensitive content secure and private by locking any app with a PIN code, pattern, or fingerprint password. Only youâll be able to access them.
â Remove Ads: Eliminate ads from your Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus experience.
â Avast Direct Support: Contact Avast directly from the app to receive quick responses to your inquiries.
Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus in detail
â Antivirus Engine: Automatically scan for viruses and other kinds of malware, including spyware, Trojans, and more. Web, file, and app scanning provides complete mobile protection.
â App Insights: Discover how much time you spend using each app on your device and take back control of your phone-life balance.
â Junk Cleaner: Instantly clean out unnecessary data, junk files, system caches, gallery thumbnails, installation files, and residual files to give you more space.
â Photo Vault: Secure your photos with a PIN code, pattern, or fingerprint password. After moving photos to the Vault, they are fully encrypted and only accessible to you.
â Web Shield: Scan and block malware-infected links, as well as Trojans, adware, and spyware (for privacy and safe web browsing, e.g. Chrome). It also fixes mistyped URLs.
â Wi-Fi Security: Check the security of public Wi-Fi networks and email messages, browse safely, and make secure online payments from anywhere.
â Power Save: Reduces your device's battery consumption by adjusting battery-draining settings such as Wi-Fi, data synchronization, Bluetooth, and screen settings.
This app uses the Device Administrator permission. This permission allows you to remotely lock and wipe your device from my.avast.com.
This app uses the Accessibility permission to protect visually impaired and other users against phishing attacks and malicious websites.
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Avast Security Pro for Mac
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The big friendly âYou Are Protectedâ green checkmark on Avast Security Proâs home screen is certainly a plausible statement. The software is a rare breath of fresh air in a sea of anti-virus products that havenât worked hard enough to keep up to date with current threats, or havenât updated the interface to meet modern expectations of presentation and usability.
Avast is danged good at catching malware. AV Comparables says Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware and 100 percent of Windows malware. In spot testing, the app did splendidly. Immediately on decompression of macOS malware from an encrypted archive, Avast detected it, deleted it, and notified me. It did as well with malicious files on the web, though it didnât detect some items at the WICAR test site that require active local components to be dangerous. Siccing it on drives loaded with other anti-virus products, Avast found test malware Iâd downloaded that had wound up in cached files that the anti-virus software on those volumes missed.
Note: This review is part of our best antivirus roundup. Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them.
Avast Software For Mac
Avastâs browser component, Web Shield, doesnât seem to rely on plug-ins (there are none to configure), but uses the programâs kernel extension to check at a low level. It can be managed from the Avast app, and settings apply to all browsers.
Avast App For Android
If youâre interested in ransomware monitoring, you need to buy the Pro version ($59.99 for one year/one Mac; $69.99 for one year/three Macs; $99.99 for one year/10 Macs), which relies on folder-based ransomware monitoring. It marks the user Documents and Pictures folders as protected by default, and you can add more folders. By default, Avast allows any Apple and App Store apps to manipulate items in those folders, although you can disable those options. Any other app that tries to modify or delete anything in the shielded folders is blocked, giving you an option to whitelist it.
This is an effective way to protect most usersâ critical files, but we prefer Sophosâs active monitoring approach, which looks for patterns of behavior and keeps files from being deleted than one that requires anointing folders. Still, it worked well in testing, and most users keep their most precious documents in a few locations. (Avast could expand the list to include a few more locations by default, too.)
Outside of core anti-virus features, the Pro version also offers a Wi-Fi Inspector. This is unique among anti-virus software we tested, and it looks for devices on a network engaged in malicious behavior. Other anti-virus software packaged with network monitors either whitelist local network activity, or treat it the same as any malicious Internet attacks. This seems aimed at helping users understand if theyâve joined a network, such as at a coffeeshop, that has compromised or attacking devices on it.
One negative is the soft but distinct upsell of Avast, which is sensible in its Free version, but not necessarily in a Pro. A Tools item on the lefthand navigation bar mostly displays other available products, like VPN service. A one-time message at installation might be acceptable, but mingling features and items for sale is too heavy-handed in a security product.
While you can create an account at Avast Software, itâs optional. Once created, you can use it to add machines to log in from the software for a computer to join the account. Unfortunately, the account provides no remote mangement or configuration, just reporting.
Bottom line
If youâre looking for a free anti-virus program, Avast is the best choice, edging out Sophos by providing more parity between free and paid version.
While we gave Sophos Home Premium and Avast Security Pro the same 4.5 mice rating, Sophos has a slight edge. The combination of active ransomware scanning makes it somewhat more superior to the folder-based method in Avast, while central configuration and remote control in Sophos can help for a disparate set of family or small-business users. We like Avastâs unique Wi-Fi threat detection, and its native app interface, where Sophos leans heavily on the cloud.
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Avast Security Pro for Mac
Learn more -
Avast Free Mac Security
Learn more