What is SmashApps?
SmashApps is a potentially unwanted application. This app is compatible with the Chrome browser, as it can be added as an extension. At the time of writing, this app has already been removed from the Chrome Web Store, so it shows that there might be some issues with it. If you happen to have SmashApps on your browser, you must have gotten it through some other source. Either way, you can easily delete the app if you follow the removal guidelines we have provided at the end of this description. Be sure to delete the app if you don’t need it.
Where does SmashApps come from?
Might have had its official website and a Chrome Web Store page, but it is far more likely that it comes through third-party sources. For instance, our research team has indicated such pages as installus.xyz or qip.party to be part of the distribution network. There could also be more pages that promote SmashApps, but we don’t know the exact distribution vectors at the moment.
The point is that apps like SmashApps can always be hiding behind pop-ups and other notifications that tend to assault users when they access sites that support third-party advertising. That’s usually video streaming pages, online gaming sites, and other similar domains that provide free content. Sometimes just one stray click anywhere on such a page launches a pop-up that belongs to an adware domain or to some other website that promotes freeware apps.
What to do you when you encounter a pop-up? A lot of users fail to realize that they can close those pop-ups without too much difficulty. Clicking the X button at the top right of the window should be enough. But users get distracted by notifications and pop-ups, and sometimes they think that the only way to close those windows involves interacting with the same pop-ups. As a result, things like SmashApps get added to the target browsers.
What does SmashApps do?
The extension itself should provide you with some specific function, which would enrich your browsing experience. However, judging from the list of permissions that SmashApps asks, we can already tell that the app is more of an empty shell. It outsources search engine services, and the question is whether you really need this third-party app to reach your search results.
What’s more, if you don’t notice how SmashApps enters your system, you could easily think that the app is a browser hijacker. After all, it changes the new tab and default search settings to smashapps.net, and then redirects your search queries to searchmes.xyz. But again, as it usually is with unwanted applications, users GIVE those permissions to the app even if they are not aware. And the permissions requested by this application include:
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Read your browsing history
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Change your search settings to: smashapps.net
So, not only does SmashApps modify your search engine settings, but it also reads your browsing history. The app employs tracking cookies to collect data on the sites you visit and the search keywords that you use. This information allows the app, later on, to generate custom commercial content that should be related to your likes and preferences.
Apps like SmashApps rely on promoting commercial content because they need to cover their development and distribution costs. And the practice isn’t malicious in itself, so there’s nothing illegal about it. The problem here is that SmashApps cannot check the third-party content it promotes. The custom commercial content could be embedded there by unreliable third parties, and there’s nothing the app could do about it. Hence, when you interact with third-party content, you have to understand the potential risks.
How do I remove SmashApps?
The most thorough way to remove SmashApps is to restore your browser to default settings. That would also remove other unwanted applications that might be added to your browser. While you’re at it, you should also consider scanning your system with a reliable antispyware application. Aside from random extensions, you might have programs that are installed on your computer, and you don’t even know they’re running. So, take your time to review your system’s status, and if there are more unwanted apps on-board, delete them all through and through.
Manual SmashApps Removal
- Open Chrome and press Alt+F.
- Click Settings on the drop-down menu.
- Scroll down and click Advanced.
- Press Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Click Reset settings.
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