Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email?
Sign up for my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter!
Question from Lilly: Hello, Rick. I just have a very quick question.
Do I need to install an antivirus app on my iPhone? One friend says I do and another friend says I don’t.
I’d really like to know for sure so I can make sure my phone is protected. I just don’t want to install another app if I don’t need it. But if I do need to install one, which one would you recommend?
Rick’s answer: Lilly, this question has been asked many times, and the short answer is no, you don’t need to install an antivirus app on your iPhone. In fact, Apple has designed the iPhone’s iOS operating system in a way that prevents security apps from even running virus scans.
As explained right here by the folks at Malwarebytes, any app that claims to be a “virus scanner” for your iPhone is simply being dishonest. True virus scanning apps for iOS don’t even exist.
If you’re interested in the technical details of why Apple blocks apps from running virus scans, this excellent post from the folks at Tom’s Guide lays them out quite well.
If an abbreviated explanation will suffice, it’s because iOS (your iPhone’s operating system) forces the apps running on the device to run in a way that isolates them from the operating system and other apps. That makes it extremely difficult for a malicious app to take complete control of your iPhone.
Since each app runs in its own isolated virtual space (referred to as a sandbox), even if an infected app does manage to make its way onto your iPhone it won’t be able to spread the virus to the operating system itself or to any other apps that are installed on the device.
Truth be told, any computer can potentially be attacked by malicious code, and an iPhone is simply a very small computer at its core.
But that being said, the risk of your iPhone being completely taken over by a virus is virtually nil. What’s more, even if you wanted to install an antivirus app in order to mitigate that tiny risk you wouldn’t be able to since true iOS antivirus apps don’t exist.
If you suspect that your iPhone might possibly have a virus there are several things you can do to find and remove it. This step-by-step guide from Malwarebytes does an excellent job at walking you through it.
And now, one final note…
Although iPhone’s are at very low risk of catching viral infections, their users are still susceptible to other dangerous non-viral forms of attacks such as phishing attempts, adware and spyware. You can and should protect yourself from those threats by installing a really good overall security app on your iPhone. The one I use and recommend is Malwarebytes. (#ad)
Why Malwarebytes? Because nothing else even comes close to offering the level of protection or the types of protection it provides. And that goes for every device you own, not just your iPhone. You can get one subscription that covers up to five of your devices (PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.).
Bottom line: Your iPhone doesn’t need an antivirus app and you couldn’t install one if you wanted to since true iOS antivirus apps don’t exist. But it does need a high quality overall security app like Malwarebytes.