So my workplace is mostly iPhone users and someone asked me what kind of antivirus software I used on my Android, and I said “none” and he flipped out about how unsafe it was. Other people chimed in saying how all androids need antivirus apps and I’ve never heard of such a thing. I do have ad-blockers and a VPN but never downloaded an antivirus. Should I? If so, what would you recommend? Thanks lemmings, love you.
Not really. Especially you stick to trusted app stores. It’s only really needed if you frequently sideload apps, and even then only if you feel it’s necessary.
That being said, Hypatia is a good one I like to use from time to time. It’s FOSS too. You can find it on F-Droid if you use the DivestOS official repo.
No amount of antivirus or alternative OSs will save you from unpatched hardware vulnerabilities though. Visiting a malicious web page or downloading a temporarily hostage app from your favorite app store can be enough to allow the bad guys into your device.
As long as you have a currently supported device and keep it up to date, you shouldn’t ever need antivirus.