Whether you want to use your smartphone to communicate with friends, browse the Internet, or post on social media, you need a functional keyboard.
When a smartphone keyboard is not working properly, performing a soft reset, clearing the cache, or installing a different keyboard app is sufficient to resolve most issues. But what if none of this helps?
Why Malware Can Cause Keyboard Malfunctions
It’s well known that Android phones are more vulnerable to malware than iOS devices, but iPhones are vulnerable too – and not just jailbroken iPhones. If your smartphone’s keyboard is acting up, lagging, taking time to appear on the screen, or not responding when you press a key, your smartphone may be infected.
Smartphone keyboards can be corrupted by malware as it usually affects the entire device. Malicious programs cause a variety of problems, including overheating, lags and crashes, reduced battery life, and more. Depending on the type of malware, your personal information and privacy may also be affected.
Typically, malware consumes a substantial amount of computing power; This creates performance issues in the first place. And because your smartphone’s operating system is affected, so are all the programs installed on it, including the default keyboard app.
In short, if the keyboard on your smartphone isn’t working properly but everything else is, you probably don’t have malware. But if the keyboard has performance problems, and you see other signs of infection, then a malicious program is most likely to blame.
What types of mobile malware can cause keyboard problems?
But what kind of malicious software would cause the keyboard on your smartphone to start acting up?
A Trojan horse, which is malware disguised as a legitimate program, certainly will. The same can be said for adware (malware that displays unwanted advertisements), spyware (malware that records information without consent), worms (malicious programs that replicate themselves), and especially cryptojackers.
Cryptojacking is an attack in which a cybercriminal hijacks a target’s device in order to mine cryptocurrency. In other words, if your smartphone were infected by a cryptojacker, its computing power would be used to solve cryptographic equations and generate digital currency for someone else. This causes all kinds of performance issues, and possibly slows down the keyboard.
how to remove malware from smartphone
If you believe malware is rendering your keyboard unusable, the first thing you need to do is download and run anti-malware software. There are many free antivirus suites on all the major app stores, and most should be able to detect at least one malicious program.
What you should also do is look for any unfamiliar apps on your phone. If you don’t remember downloading the app, and it didn’t come pre-installed, there are good chances that it is deploying malware on your smartphone. If you find one, make sure you delete it and then scan your device with an antivirus program.
If none of these work, you still have one option left: factory reset. This will restore your smartphone to its initial state when you first turned it on. Keep in mind, this will delete all data from your device, so you won’t be able to recover it unless it’s backed up somewhere. This is really a last resort.
Fix your smartphone keyboard and keep yourself safe
Once you’ve removed the malware from your smartphone and the keyboard has started working properly, you need to make sure you never find yourself in a similar situation again.
This includes installing reliable anti-malware software, staying away from shady websites, using safe app stores, and keeping an eye on the latest cyber threats. But to stay safe at all times, you need to understand how smartphone security actually works, so for starters, familiarize yourself with common myths and misconceptions.
How many times have you encountered malware on your computer, and how many times have you encountered malware on your phone? Absolutely.
Yet it is not uncommon to hear arguments about desktop devices and laptop computers being more secure than smartphones. In fact, this misconception is prevalent even among people who should know better.
In fact, smartphones are inherently more secure than computers because they were created long after the internet was available to the average person. For example, the first version of the Windows operating system was released in 1985, decades before the first modern smartphones hit the market. Because of that, Windows (which runs the vast majority of computers) had some security holes from the beginning, and still has many today.