AMC Security is an improved version of Advanced Mobile Care. Does the improved version make your phone even faster and safer? Let’s check it out. And after that we have a giveaway event for this app. Do check it out toward the end of this article.
Installation and getting started
To get started, install AMC Security from the Google Play Store. Being a security and privacy app, it is necessary to be able to access your data or even control almost all aspects of your phone. Don’t be alarmed to see a long list of access permissions while installing the app. If you are really paranoid about this then you probably won’t want to install any such apps in your phone. Once installed and doing the first run, it will automatically create a Booster shortcut on your Home screen. The Booster shortcut allows you to quickly release RAM space with one click. Note: personally, I hate any app that automatically adds shortcuts to the home screen, no matter how useful the shortcut is, without asking for my permission. In this case it really gives me a bad impression. On the main page of the AMC Security app you will find a big SCAN button with “Booster” and “Security” buttons at the bottom. Pressing the SCAN button will begin the scanning function that will scan your system and find useless files to remove. This includes cache files, running apps, privacy records and apk files. It’s kind of misleading when it shows there is 1.9GB to clean, as that includes the physical storage space (occupied by cache files) and memory (RAM) space (occupied by running apps). Since running apps take up memory space, you are sure to see a high value every time you run the scan. Don’t be alarmed when you see that there is always 1 GB (or more) to clean. While there is an option for you to go down a level and see which app cache will be deleted, it doesn’t let you go into details of which files are removed. After the scan you can press the “Clean” button to get it to clean up your phone. The cleanup is thorough, overly thorough in fact, as some of the files that I downloaded and deem useful are removed as well. Some of the comments state that the cleanup even removes some of the saved game data. I have yet to verify this, though, as all my games still work well after the cleanup.
Release memory with Booster
When you go into the Booster page, it will show you the amount of memory that can be freed up. Pressing the “Boost” button will remove all the apps from the memory and free up your memory space. There is also a “Game Speeder” and “Hibernate” mode which can optimize your phone for gaming and hibernate your apps respectively. My LG G3 is a well-specced phone, so I don’t see any difference in the game performance with and without using the Game Speeder. The hibernate function merely shows all the running apps, and you can click on any of them to reach the Settings page and “Force Stop” the app. It doesn’t automatically hibernate apps that are not in use. On a side note: Android has a good memory management system built in, and it is often not necessary to “free up” memory space. In most cases it doesn’t translate to a faster phone. For example, my input keyboard of choice is Swype, and by keeping it in the memory, it can be fired up as soon as I tap on a text box. If I remove it from memory, it will have to be cold-started the next time I tap on a text box which will take up more resources and cause the phone to lag. Also, once it is running, it will reside itself in the memory again and wait for the next input command. So in this case it is really counterproductive to “boost” your phone. Unless you are using a low-specced Android phone, or are using an old, outdated version of Android, the “Boost” feature is not going to be of much use.
Security
In the Security section you can find Antivirus, Payment Guard, Anti-Phishing, Surfing Guard, Anti-Theft and Security Guard. Of all of these, Payment Guard and Anti-Phishing are premium features, which means you have to pay a subscription fee to use them.
Antivirus – as its name implies, it scan all the files in your phone for virus. Payment Guard – it checks for a copycat payment app and removes it from your phone. Anti-phishing – checks for phishing sites. Surfing Guard – protect you against rogue, malicious sites while you are browsing the Web. Only works in Google Chrome and the default web browser. Anti-Theft – it comes with a location detector, alarm and wipe data function so you can easily locate your phone when it is stolen. Security Guard – scan your WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, etc., and make sure the connected source is secured.
Other Features
App Manager
It gives you an overview of all the apps installed, including apk files, in your phone and provides you with an easy way to mass uninstall them.
Battery Saver
There are several parts to this. It shows you which app uses the most battery and the current battery information. The last, and the best of all, is it comes with a saver setting where you can configure the battery saver settings, such as the brightness, WiFi, sound volume, mobile data, sync, etc. There is also a one-click button that you can press to activate battery saving mode.
Call/SMS blocker
You can add numbers to the Blocked List and have it block incoming calls. I have not been able to get the SMS blocker to work though.
Privacy Locker
This is just like your secret vault where you can store sensitive and confidential files. Do note that all your files are tied to AMC Security. If you uninstall the app you will lose all the files you store in it. AMC Security is available for free in the Play Store, though you can upgrade for $9.99 per year to a Pro account where you can get additional features like multiple devices support, anti-phishing, payment guard, anti-theft, scheduled scan and clean, database auto updates, contacts & SMS Vault and an ad-free environment. AMC Security
