Avast Mobile Security provides antivirus, b, app protection for your Android-based phone or tablet. Though the software isn’t optimized for tablets, Avast says that it expects to offer better tablet support sometime in the first quarter of 2012. On phones, Avast provides features such as SMS call filtering, remote locking, remote wiping. For rooted phones tablets, it offers a firewall enhanced uninstall protection.

The first time you run the application after downloading installing it, Avast Mobile Security will prompt you to complete the setup the first time you run it. Though setup is a bit more involved for AMS than for most other mobile security apps, it helps you disguise the antitheft component. Once you’re done, you’ll find that the main screen of the app lists shortcuts to each of the software’s main features.

The Virus Scanner checks newly installed apps for malware lets you perform on-dem scans of all installed apps of the memory card content, whether initiated manually or on days at times you schedule.

The ivacy Advisor searches for apps that have access to your sensitive data or device functions, organizes them for you to investigate further.

The Application Manager lists running user system apps. You can browse through the list select an app to view its privacy information, force it to close, or access the app’s system information screen.

The b Shield integrates with the default Android browser alerts you when it detects a malicious or phishing site, in much the same way that antivirus programs do on desktop computers.

The SMS Call Filter lets you block communication with select numbers–useful when you don’t want to be bothered or you want to ignore a certain person. You can specify who to block by choosing contacts manually entering numbers, or you can block all hidden or unknown numbers. The app maintains a log, so you can see all blocked communications.

The Firewall, which works only for rooted phones tablets, enables you to deny apps access to -Fi, data, /or cellular connections. This feature could increase your device’s security, reduce battery drain, save on data usage.

The Anti-Theft component provides remote functionality SIM card protection. Keep in mind that initiating any of the remote-control functions involves sending text messages to your device from someone else’s phone: As yet, Avast doesn’t provide a b interface for accessing them, though many competing security apps do provide such an interface. Avast says that it will launch a b interface for this purpose soon.

Avast Mobile Security offers more than the usual array of remote features. Among them is the option to call a number remotely, possibly to get the new phone number after a change in SIM or to listen for clues as to where your phone might be. You can also retrieve recent SMS messages, contacts, call logs, you can set the app to forward SMS messages call alerts to another phone.

To help locate protect your device, Avast allows you to activate its settings remotely via SMS comms–for example, turning on the data connection G, turning off B debugging, blocking access to the program manager phone settings. In addition, you can set some of the general antitheft settings, such as the owner name, the custom lock message, the password.

Aside from the remote functions, Avast Mobile Security provides some automatic antitheft features. You can lock the SIM card so that, if it’s removed, the phone locks itself sounds a siren (which says “This phone has been lost or stolen”). If the thief swaps out your SIM card, the app automatically text-messages the friend or friends you specified in the antitheft settings, informing them of them the new phone number the current location of the phone. For rooted devices, the app can automatically prevent B debugging to foil hacking via B to force the data connection on in order to help get the remote SMS comms through.

The app itself (including its uninstallation process) is password-protected by default, the user must enter the correct four- to six-digit N to uninstall the software. On many other security apps, the usual uninstallation protection is fairly easy to bypass, but Avast Mobile Security supplements those methods with a few other techniques to help hide preserve the antitheft component from thieves or snoops.

en you set up the app, it invites you to customize the name of the separate antitheft app it installs, which you can be named something inconspicuous so that thieves will have a harder time finding it. Avast can also hide this antitheft component from appearing in the app drawer. For rooted devices, it can even store the antitheft app settings in a way that survives hard-resets of your device, so you can still remotely control your phone or tablet after a thief sets the device back to to its factory defaults.

Overall, this is a great app to protect your Android-based phone or tablet against malware theft. It provides some extremely useful features– it’s free. But because it currently doesn’t provide a b interface for the remote location antitheft features, you must be comfortable with sending SMS comms from someone else’s phone if you do indeed lose yours.