Bitdefender Mobile Security: app details and what’s included on Android and iOS?

Bitdefender doesn’t just make antivirus for computers, but also mobile devices. With Bitdefender Mobile Security, it gives you an app that can be used on both Android and iOS operating systems. Obviously enough, they’re quite different to what you get on a Windows PC or Mac.

So you might be wondering exactly how they differ, and what Bitdefender Mobile Security gives you in terms of protection for your smartphone. Both of these Bitdefender mobile apps have different features, so we’re going to go through what you get with each, and the ways in which you can obtain coverage for your mobile phone (or tablet), whether it’s Android or iOS.

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What is Bitdefender Mobile Security?

Bitdefender Mobile Security is the firm’s smartphone (or tablet) security solution which is produced in two flavors: an Android app, and an iOS app. It comes as a standalone application, and the Android antivirus app is considerably more in-depth than the one for Apple devices – the latter is a much more barebones affair.

What devices can I use Bitdefender Mobile Security on?

As mentioned, Bitdefender makes Mobile Security apps for both iOS and Android devices. With Bitdefender Mobile Security for Apple devices, your hardware must be running iOS 11.2 or better. In the case of Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android, the requirement is to be running Android 5.0 or later.

Subscribing to Bitdefender Mobile Security gives you coverage for just one device. However, there is an alternative to buying the standalone product – or having to purchase a number of copies if you’re protecting more than one mobile – and that’s to get coverage for multiple iOS and/or Android devices with a Bitdefender Total Security subscription. In the case of the latter, you can purchase plans which cover up to 5 or 10 devices (mobiles or PCs).

Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android features

App scanner plus web protection

Bitdefender Mobile Security provides on-demand scanning to check for any dangerous apps – this also runs automatically whenever a new app is installed – coupled with anti-phishing tech and malicious URL blocking to keep you protected when browsing the web on your mobile device.

App lock

This feature can be set to guard your more sensitive apps which carry personal data, preventing anyone from getting at this info by implementing a PIN for accessing those applications. For the sake of convenience, you can specify to have these apps unlocked when using your home network.

Anti-theft

Anti-theft countermeasures ensure that if you lose your device, or it’s stolen, you can try to locate it, send a message to the person who has found it, or remotely lock or wipe the phone or tablet if necessary.

WearON

If you have a Wear OS smartwatch to partner your Android phone, Bitdefender Mobile Security also covers the gadget on your wrist, with nifty features like alerts on your watch if you move too far away from your phone (and might have left it behind), or a sound ping to help locate your handset.

Bitdefender VPN

As with Bitdefender desktop software, the mobile apps come with an integrated VPN. There is a major limitation in that it only gives you 200MB of data per day - so nowhere near on a par with the best Android VPNs in the Play Store - but it’ll still be handy for occasional use.

Bitdefender Mobile Security for iOS features

Bitdefender Mobile Security for iPhone and iPad is a considerably cut-back app compared to the Android version, mainly because as you may be aware, iOS doesn’t have traditional ‘antivirus’ apps as such. That’s because Apple’s mobile operating system sandboxes apps, meaning there’s already built-in protection from malware-laden applications. There are still dangers iOS users can encounter though, and that’s why Bitdefender offers the following features:

Web protection

When you’re browsing the web on an iOS device, you can still run into hazards like phishing pages, so Bitdefender Mobile Security provides some top-quality URL filtering to help keep you safe.

Privacy monitoring

Bitdefender Mobile Security keeps an eye out for whether any of your online accounts have been involved in a data breach. That’s where a company is hacked and account details are stolen – or info is mistakenly leaked somehow – and your precious data ends up online somewhere. If you’re warned that this has happened by the app, you can then take swift action (perhaps changing passwords, etc).

Bitdefender VPN

This works exactly the same as with the Android app above, with the same major caveat – you only get 200MB of daily data allowance, but that could still come in pretty useful now and then.

How good is Bitdefender?

Bitdefender is a well-respected security vendor and the company is generally ranked at or near the top when the independent test labs prepare their reports (the seriously in-depth affairs which compare the relative strengths of different antivirus engines). In the latest rounds of testing by both major independent labs (AV-Test and AV-Comparatives), Bitdefender scored very highly.

Furthermore, as we’ve seen on Android, Bitdefender Mobile Security is well-featured and the asking price looks reasonable. On iOS, the argument is less compelling seeing as you only really get two pillars of defense – anti-phishing and the privacy monitoring – but you may find that’s still worthwhile. Or perhaps more to the point, if you have iOS devices and multiple other computers or Android phones to protect, you might find it a tempting proposition to fork out for Bitdefender Total Security, which gives you the mobile apps plus the ability to defend PCs (or Macs) as well.

Bitdefender Total Security certainly looks a good option for the heavily discounted first year of the subscription, but the plan could become less compelling after renewal compared to the asking price per mobile device with Bitdefender Mobile Security. As ever, you’ll have to work out the cost side of the equation depending on your own needs and number of devices – mobile, or otherwise – to be covered.

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