How to stop someone uninstalling your app lock (device admin explained)

Short answer

Before you start

• A phone with Android 8.0 or later.
• Applore Pro, or Pro bought inside Applore Free. Advance Lock is a Pro feature.
• App Lock set up with a PIN or pattern. See how to lock apps on Android.
• A screen lock on your phone that other people do not know. It protects Settings, and everything else, better than any app can.

How device admin protection works

Device admin is an Android permission for apps that need extra control, such as work apps that enforce a screen lock policy. An app with device admin rights cannot be uninstalled in the usual way: Android first asks you to turn off its admin rights in Settings.1 Learn more in what device admin means.

Applore uses this in a narrow way:

• Protect from uninstall: device admin must be turned off in Settings before Applore can be removed.
• Applore asks for no device admin rights beyond being an admin, so it is not told about screen unlocks.
• Applore cannot wipe, lock or change your phone, and you can turn device admin off at any time.

Device admin is also a permission that monitoring apps can use to stay installed. That is why it is worth knowing which apps on your phone have it. Read how to check device admin apps.

Steps with Applore

In the same screen you can also lock the Google Play Store, and turn on Private Notifications, which holds notifications from locked apps until you unlock.

To test it, press and hold Applore’s icon and try to uninstall it. Android should tell you that the app is a device admin app and must be deactivated first.

What it does not protect against

• Someone who can open Settings. Device admin can be turned off from Settings, and Applore does not lock Settings. Your phone’s own screen lock is what keeps other people out of Settings.
• Someone who knows your screen lock and has time with your phone.
• A factory reset, which removes every app and its data.
• Your data itself. Protect from uninstall keeps Applore installed. It does not back up anything or stop anyone from reading what is on an unlocked phone.

Applore is not an anti-theft app. It cannot find, lock or wipe a lost phone. For a lost phone, use your phone maker’s or Google’s device-finding service.

Turning it off

You can switch protection off in two ways:

• In Applore: App Lock › Advance Lock, then turn off Protect from uninstall.
• In Android: open Settings › Security › Device admin apps and turn off Applore. On many phones this is under Security and privacy › More security settings or Other security settings instead. If you cannot find it, search Settings for “device admin”.

After that, you can uninstall Applore like any other app.

Common problems

The Uninstall button is greyed out, or Android says the app is a device admin

That is the protection working. Turn off device admin as described above, then uninstall.

Advance Lock opens an upgrade screen

Advance Lock needs Applore Pro. See pricing in the app on Google Play, or compare Free and Pro.

What stays private

Turning on device admin does not send anything to Applore’s servers. Your Advance Lock settings and App Lock PIN stay on your phone. Read the device admin section of the privacy policy.