Getting Started with GreerGuard
Your complete guide to Android security protection
What is GreerGuard?
GreerGuard is a free Android security app that scans your installed apps for risky behaviour, checking what permissions they hold, how they were installed, and whether they are trying to hide. Run a scan any time, review the results, and decide what to act on.
GreerGuardian is the paid subscription tier inside GreerGuard. It adds automatic, always-on protection so you never have to remember to scan:
- Real-time monitoring: detects threats the moment a new or updated app appears, before you ever open it
- Automatic weekly scans: your device is scanned in the background on a schedule, with results delivered as a notification
- Always-on background protection: GreerGuardian runs quietly at all times using minimal battery
- Instant alerts: high-risk apps trigger a full-screen alert visible even on your lock screen; medium-risk apps show a heads-up banner
Zero false-alarm fatigue. Both the free scan and GreerGuardian only flag something when it genuinely looks wrong, using a tunable sensitivity system so you decide how strict your protection is.
How to Get Started
Download GreerGuard for free at greerguard.com. No account or sign-in required.
The setup wizard will ask for Notification access and Usage Stats access. These are needed so GreerGuard can monitor app activity. Neither permission shares your data with anyone.
Tap Scan Now on the main screen to check all your existing apps. If any familiar, legitimate apps are flagged, tap them and choose Trust App to add them to your safe list. Trusted apps are never flagged again unless their risk level increases after an update.
GreerGuard is now active. Free users get on-demand scanning. GreerGuardian subscribers also get real-time background monitoring that alerts you the moment anything potentially unwanted appears.
Free vs. GreerGuardian (Premium)
| Feature | Free | GreerGuardian |
|---|---|---|
| Manual scan (Check My Apps) | ||
| Risk scoring - Low, Medium, or High for every app | ||
| Trust individual apps from scan results | ||
| Batch trust all low-risk apps in one tap | ||
| Trusted Apps list - view, search, and remove | ||
| Auto-revoke trust if an app update raises its risk | ||
| History log with filter and search | ||
| Share your history report | ||
| View system info page for any flagged app | ||
| View full permission list for any flagged app | ||
| Home screen widget | ||
| Automatic background monitoring | not included | |
| Instant threat alerts (banner and lock-screen) | not included | |
| Customize alert buttons (Uninstall, Review, Trust, Not Now) | not included | |
| Quiet hours for alerts (silence during set times) | not included | |
| Monitoring on/off toggle | not included | |
| Alert level slider (Fewer / Balanced / More) | not included | |
| My Report - 30-day and all-time security summary | not included | |
| App Audit - full risk list of every installed app | not included | |
| Device Health Check | not included | |
| Unofficial Apps (Sideloaded Apps) scanner | not included | |
| Notification Spam History | not included | |
| Automatic weekly background scan | not included | |
| Monthly security report notification | not included | |
| Real-time notification spam detection | not included | |
| Subscription renewal alerts | not included | |
| SafeSearch (filter and block dangerous websites) | not included | |
| Family plan - protect up to 5 devices under one subscription | not included | |
| Family Devices security overview (plan host) | not included | |
| Rename and identify family devices | not included |
What You Get for Free
Every GreerGuard user gets these features at no cost, with no account required.
Manual Scan (Check My Apps)
Tap Check My Apps to scan every installed app on your device. Results are sorted by risk level and recent activity so the most important items appear first. Each app is shown with its risk rating and the reasons it was flagged. From the results you can open an app's system settings page, view its full permission list, or trust it.
Risk Scoring
Every app on your device receives a risk rating: Low, Medium, or High. The rating is based on what the app can do, what permissions it holds, and how it behaves. Ratings update automatically when apps are updated.
Trust Apps
If a familiar, legitimate app is flagged, tap it in the scan results and choose Trust App. Trusted apps are removed from your results and will not be flagged again. If the app later updates and its risk level increases (for example, from Low to Medium), trust is automatically revoked and you are alerted so you can review the change.
Batch Trust All Low-Risk Apps
When your scan results include low-risk items, a Trust All Low-Risk button appears. Tap it to trust every low-risk app at once, clearing them from your results in one step.
Trusted Apps List
View and manage every app you have trusted in one place. Search by name and remove trust from any app at any time. Removing trust does not affect the app itself; the app remains installed and will reappear in your next scan so you can review it again.
History Log
A complete record of every event on your device: apps flagged, apps trusted, permission changes, and apps uninstalled. Filter by event type, search by app name, and share your report at any time.
Filter the history to see specific event types. Tap a filter chip to change the view.
View App Info and Permissions
From the scan results, tap any flagged app to open its Android system settings page directly, or view the full list of permissions that app currently holds.
Home Screen Widget
Add the GreerGuard widget to your home screen. It shows whether protection is on, how many threats were caught this month, and when you last scanned. Tap the widget to open the app.
GreerGuardian Features Explained
The following features are available to GreerGuardian subscribers only, in addition to everything in the free tier.
Automatic Background Monitoring
GreerGuardian runs quietly in the background and watches every new app install and every app update as it happens. You do not need to remember to scan. If anything dangerous appears, you are alerted straight away.
Instant Threat Alerts
When a dangerous app is detected, GreerGuardian notifies you immediately. For serious threats, the alert appears as a full-screen takeover that is visible even on your lock screen, so you cannot miss it. For medium-risk apps, the alert slides in as a heads-up banner at the top of your screen.
Each alert includes action buttons so you can respond immediately without opening the app. By default you see:
- Uninstall: removes the app right away.
- Review: opens GreerGuard to see the full details for that app.
- Trust: marks the app as safe and removes it from future scan results.
- Not Now: dismisses the alert without taking any action. This button is always present.
GreerGuardian shows different alerts depending on the risk level. Tap a level to see what the alert looks like on your device.
- Can read and send SMS messages
- Installed outside Google Play
Alert Settings
Open the Settings tab and look for the Alert Settings card at the top. From here you can:
- Customize alert buttons: choose which action buttons appear on threat alerts. Uncheck any button to remove it from your alerts. Not Now is always kept so you can dismiss any alert.
- Set quiet hours: choose a start and end time during which full-screen alerts are suppressed. Useful for overnight hours when you do not want your screen waking up. Regular app monitoring still runs during quiet hours; you will see any missed alerts when quiet hours end.
Monitoring On/Off Toggle
Pause and resume background protection any time from the main screen. Your settings and trusted apps are kept exactly as they were when you turn monitoring back on.
Alert Sensitivity
Choose how sensitive alerts are using the Alert Sensitivity slider. There are three options:
- Fewer alerts: only serious, high-risk threats trigger an alert.
- Balanced: most threats trigger an alert. This is the default setting.
- More alerts: anything potentially unwanted triggers an alert, including minor concerns.
A description of each level appears on screen as you move the slider.
My Report (Protection Report)
Your personal security summary. My Report shows how many threats were detected, how many permission changes were caught, and how many apps were removed over the last 30 days and across all time. It also tracks what happened to flagged apps after you were alerted.
My Report also shows your Device ID. Tap it to copy it to your clipboard.
App Audit (All Apps Risk)
A complete, risk-scored list of every app installed on your device, not just the ones flagged in your last scan. Useful for reviewing apps you installed a long time ago and may have forgotten about.
Device Health Check
A one-tap audit of your phone's security settings. GreerGuardian checks six things:
- Screen lock: whether your device is protected by a PIN, password, or biometric.
- Screen timeout: how long before your screen locks automatically.
- USB debugging: flags this if it is enabled, as it can expose your device to attack.
- Developer mode: flags this if it is on, as it reduces certain security protections.
- Storage encryption: confirms that your device storage is encrypted.
- Apps that can install other apps: lists any app on your device that has permission to install APK files from outside the Play Store.
Tapping any check takes you directly to the relevant Settings page so you can fix it immediately.
Unofficial Apps (Sideloaded Apps)
Finds apps on your device that were installed from outside the Google Play Store, such as APK files downloaded from the web. These apps skip Google's safety checks and carry a higher risk of being potentially unwanted or harmful. Each is scored and labeled: Clean, Low Risk, Medium Risk, or High Risk.
Notification Spam History
Shows which apps have had high-notification days over the last 30 days. A high-notification day is any day where an app sent 9 or more notifications. Each app is color-coded by how many such days it has had: green (1 to 4 days), amber (5 to 14 days), red (15 or more days). Use this to spot persistent notification spammers and adjust or remove their notification permission.
Automatic Weekly Scan
GreerGuardian runs a full background scan of your device once a week and sends you a notification with the results. This catches anything that may have slipped through between your manual scans.
Monthly Security Report
Once a month, GreerGuardian sends a notification summarising your security activity for the month: how many threats were detected.
Notification Spam Detection
If an app sends an unusual burst of notifications in a short period, GreerGuardian alerts you in real time. Sudden notification bursts are a common pattern used by adware and unwanted apps.
Subscription Renewal Alerts
GreerGuardian notifies you a few days before your subscription renews or expires, so you always know what is coming and are never caught off guard.
SafeSearch
SafeSearch is a built-in DNS filter that blocks access to dangerous or harmful websites before a connection is ever made. When it is on, your device checks every domain lookup against a regularly updated list of known harmful sites, ad networks, and tracking services. Blocked requests are shown in a log so you can see what was stopped.
SafeSearch also routes your searches through Google SafeSearch, automatically filtering out harmful and explicit results across every browser and app on your phone - not just GreerGuard.
To turn it on or off, open the Tools tab and tap the SafeSearch card. The toggle is on by default for new GreerGuardian subscribers. SafeSearch works system-wide, covering every app and browser on your device.
Family Plan
A Family Plan subscription covers up to multiple devices under a single activation. One device is the host, and the remaining devices are linked to the host's subscription. The host device is the one where you enter the activation code; all other devices join by scanning a QR code or entering a link code shown on the host.
As the host, you have access to the Family Devices screen. Open the Tools tab and tap Family Devices to see the security status of every device on your plan. Each device is shown with a color-coded dot:
- Green: no threats detected.
- Yellow / Amber: low or medium risk items present.
- Red: one or more high-risk threats detected.
From the Family Devices screen you can also rename devices to make them easier to identify (for example, "Mom's Phone" or "Work Tablet"). Tap the pencil icon next to any device name to edit it. Each device can also rename itself from within its own GreerGuard app under My Report.
As a linked device, your GreerGuardian protection works exactly as it does on a single-device plan. You can use all GreerGuardian features normally. Your device status is visible to the host, but the host cannot see the names of specific apps flagged on your device.
If the host's subscription lapses, all linked devices revert to the free tier at the same time. Each linked device receives a notification when this happens.
Cancelling Your Subscription
You can cancel at any time from inside the app. Your GreerGuardian protection remains active until the end of your current billing period: you will not be charged again after cancellation.
- Open the GreerGuard app.
- Tap Cancel Subscription on the main screen.
- Confirm the cancellation. You'll see the exact date your protection ends.
After cancellation your device switches to the free tier automatically on the expiry date. No action is needed from you.
If you subscribed through Google Play directly, tapping Cancel Subscription will open the Google Play subscriptions page where you can manage it there instead.