Review Avast For Mac

We heaped praise on Avast’s top tier product in 2018, then called Avast Security Pro, for its solid malware fighting capabilities and a modern interface. In the two years since then, Avast renamed the product Avast Premium Security, but its protection is as strong as ever.

Avast Free Mac Security review Avast Free Mac Security is the best free Mac antivirus program, but has so-so malware protection By Henry T. Casey 28 August 2019. Avast for mac free download - Avast Free Mac Security, Avast Free Antivirus, Avast Pro Antivirus, and many more programs. Avast Premium Security for Mac review: Excellent, but should you buy? Avast is an excellent antivirus suite, but with the free option offering so much is the premium version worth the cost? Ian Paul (Macworld.com) on 04 May, 2020 21:00.

On the privacy front Avast has had a rougher time. In early 2020, the company suffered a huge privacy black eye related to data collection that has since been ameliorated. You can read all about it on PCWorld.

AV-Test most recently tested Avast’s malware capabilities in March 2020. The suite earned a 100 percent detection rate from 58 samples in its widespread and prevalent malware test. In December 2019, it also had a 100 percent detection rate from 145 samples.

AV-Comparatives tests Mac software once a year with its most recent tests at this writing dating from June 2019. Here, too, Avast received high marks earning 100 percent malware protection from 585 samples of Mac malware. It also had a 100 percent detection on 500 samples of Windows malware. Not a huge surprise considering Avast is equally effective on Windows.

In our own spot tests, Avast did very well detecting everything we tried the minute it was unzipped. It also prevented some online threats as soon as they were downloaded. The web threat test we used isn’t something the average user is likely to see.

To even get to the point of downloading known malware from the web you have to click through a lot of warnings from the OS. Still, it’s nice to know that Avast can act as a final line of defense.

As before, Avast’s Web shield doesn’t rely on plugins and does an effective job. To make any adjustments to web protection, users have to jump into Preferences > Core Shields.

Avast calls its primary protection modules Core Shields: File Shield, Web Shield, Email Shield, and Real Site. Web Shield and Real Site comprise the web browsing protections.

From the primary dashboard all you can do with any of these shields is turn them on or off. To adjust them, you need to dip into Preferences > Core Shields. Here you can add exceptions for any of the shields, save Real Site, which appears to be inaccessible by the user. There isn’t much here the average user would want to turn off, but it’s there for power users who might need to make temporary adjustments.

Avast Premium Security is also packing ransomware protection. Click on the Ransomware Shield from the dashboard to specify which folders you want monitored. By default it adds Documents and Pictures, and then it’s up to you add to add others if needed.

Avast has a Wi-Fi Inspector that displays all devices that are connected, or recently connected, to your home network. This is a nice feature and helpful for those who want to get a good sense of the devices on their network. Premium subscribers also get alerts when new devices join the network, which can help monitor for potential intruders. At first, however, you’ll get a good number of alerts as Avast sees phones, tablets, and other devices connecting for the first time.

The network monitoring feature is nice, but it needs some work. Many of the devices aren’t properly named. Instead, they’re identified by vendor or some other cryptic identifier. If you know how to find the local IP address of each device then you can figure out which is which, but it takes a little work.

During installation Avast tries to install Google Chrome onto your Mac. Chrome is a well respected web browser, and you can opt out, but depending on your views on privacy and security you may classify it as a “potentially unwanted program.” Plus, it just doesn’t help the trust factor when a security program is trying to install software you didn’t ask for.

There are also upsells that you’ll come across in the early moments with Avast Premium Security. Avast sells subscriptions to SecureLine VPN as well as Avast AntiTrack. The latter is an online feature that disguises any identifying features of your PC to prevent tracking and targeted ads, and it automatically clears your browsing data. AntiTrack costs about $70 per year, but a lot of these features can be had for free with the right browser add-ons and adjustments to your browser settings.

Avast: Pricing and Conclusion

We really question whether it’s worth it to pay for Avast Premium Security right now. Not because the program isn’t top notch (it is), but because you get so much with Avast’s free version. The difference between Avast Free and Premium comes down to two features: Wi-Fi Intruder Alerts and the Ransomware Shield.

For some people, ransomware protection is a no-brainer and well worth the cost of $70 per year, per Mac. Others willing to do without, however, can be served well with the base package that includes nearly everything we’ve touched on including the Wi-Fi Inspector (sans real-time alerts when new devices hit the network).

New safari update for mac. That's a question for Apple, not Flash Player forums.Apple dropped support for Flash Player in Safari 14 ahead of Flash Player's end-of-life at the end of 2020. You're both replying to a post that is one year old, for older verson of Safari.Regarding 'i s it possible to 'downgrade' to an older or previous version of Safari?' If you've upgraded to Safari 14 (released Sept 16) you'll need to use one of the other supported browsers: Google Chrome, Firefox, or Opera.Locking this topic as it's no longer relevant.

With extra services such as AntiTrack and even a small free amount of VPN every month, Premium Security would be well worth the cost. We’re just not convinced that ransomware and network alerts are enough to seal the deal for most people.

Positives

• Comprehensive duplicate file finder
• Speedy computer scan
• Easy-to-understand controls
• Clutter alert

Negatives

• Limited feature set
• Basic user interface
• Unique features don't seem to work

Known and trusted by millions of Windows PC and Android users for its antivirus products, Avast is now looking to conquer new markets by offering a handful of apps optimizing Mac performance, security and privacy. Avast Cleanup Pro seems to be the Mac version of the Cleanup Premium app that is available for Windows users and is part of this new offering specifically developed for the growing market of Mac users that the company sees as an opportunity on which it can capitalize.

The software is available as a free download, but you need to purchase a license to actually make use of the product – though doing so is protected by a 30-day money back guarantee. A yearly subscription license costs $59.99 per Mac, but it can be had for as low as $16.89 for one machine through a special 20% discount offer. But is it time for Mac users to take notice?

Why is the software program still available?Based on our scan system, we have determined that these flags are possibly false positives. What is a false positive?It means a benign program is wrongfully flagged as malicious due to an overly broad detection signature or algorithm used in an antivirus program.BlockedIt’s highly probable this software program is malicious or contains unwanted bundled software. Download google earth for mac. Why is this software program no longer available in our Catalog?Based on our scan system, we have determined that these flags are likely to be real positives.We’d like to highlight that from time to time, we may miss a potentially malicious software program.

Features

Installing Avast Mac Cleanup Pro requires admin privileges, and it takes less than a minute. After that, a clean and easy-to-understand welcome screen appears, informing the user about the software's built-in features and that it is using the scan-only mode. This means that without a valid license the software will only scan the Mac, identify cache files and look for duplicates. Microsoft works for mac free. To actually free up space you'll need to either enter a license key or, if you somehow managed to obtain an Avast Cleanup Pro installer, purchase one by clicking the “Clean” button.

Avast Cleanup Pro Scan-Only

Scan Results

Avast Cleanup Pro Activation Prompt

If your expectations aren't high, then you won't be disappointed. The software's welcome screen displays everything you need, and since the available features are quite limited there is no way you'll miss anything. The features that are here include: Clean Clutter, Find Duplicates and Alert Me (when there's clutter to clean).

Cleaning

By clicking on the green “Clean” button, Avast Mac Cleanup will search the machine for crash reports, junk and temporary files, and log files created by applications, as well as any browser caches, development junk data, and system files that macOS adds to external files that are formatted for other operating systems.

Close Apps Before Cleaning

Notification After Cleaning

Depending on the Mac's hardware limitations, the scan can be very quick – which we experienced on our test machine – and will display its findings in a pretty basic app window, whose header advises the user as to how much clutter there is on the machine. The different clutter categories appear on the left, and the basic graphics show how much each category takes out of the total amount of junk data. The process of removing the files marked for deletion is fairly self-explanatory, requiring manual reviewing of the files and unchecking of any you don’t want to delete.

At the bottom left of the window the app displays a dropdown list with the recommended selection being the default for clutter. This is how Avast Cleanup Pro allows users to customize the cleaning process. The default setting includes the first three categories: application caches, log files, and trash. The cleanup process can be customized by checking the Downloads folder, and if you happen to be a developer you may be lucky enough to be given the opportunity to test how the development junk feature works, since the category was greyed out during our testing – much like the External Drive Junk.

After reviewing the files, hit “Clean” and then the app will display a message showing how much clutter has been removed. The process is flawless, although the app did crash once during our testing while we were reviewing a file listed in the Downloads folders.

Utilities

Avast Cleanup Pro's second main feature is its ability to deep scan a targeted folder for duplicates. This includes duplicate documents, pictures, music, videos, folders, and other files. The Duplicate Finder feature allows you to use file size, date, or a preview to decide which clones you need and which to remove from the Mac. The app will scan the Mac user's Home folder by default, but the targeted folder can be changed in the Preferences.

In our testing the Duplicate Finder performed very well, maybe even too well; it identified nearly 20GB of duplicate files in the Mac's home folder, a lot when compared to Gemini's 2GB. The difference between the two results could be due to Avast's deep scanning functionality, so when it comes to pictures, for example, Avast scours through the Photos library and carefully identifies duplicates. It does the same for videos, too, and will identify temporary files if there is a duplicate, so it does a good job here.

Duplicates Scan Results

Avast Free For Mac Review

Although there are quick removal options – such as “keep newest” or “keep oldest” – reviewing these files is highly recommended.

After hitting the clean button Avast Cleanup Pro removes the files, but they will be deleted forever. This means that they won’t be in the trash, so if you accidentally remove a file (you will have another duplicate remember), then you won't be able to recover it without a Time Machine backup.

Pricing

Compared to its competitors, Avast Cleanup Pro for Mac is priced high at $59.99 per year for a single Mac license. Luckily Avast doesn’t shy away from discount deals, and therefore grants new users a 20% discount through a special offer, dropping the price for one Mac to $47.99 in the first year. However, we were able to use the same license key on a secondary Mac, which means two things: first, that Avast needs to do its homework when it comes to protecting its products and, second, that the price for one license ultimately drops to at least half when used for two (or more) Macs.

Is Avast Security For Mac Good Review

Avast is available as a free download from the support page, but to use its cleaning features you need to purchase a license. The free trial is only for scanning purposes, but a 30-day money back guarantee gives enough time to test the software.

Accepted Payment Methods

U.S.-based users are offered multiple payment methods, as Avast accepts credit cards from the main payments networks – Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express – as well as PayPal and even wire transfer, an option that isn't available worldwide.

• Declutter your Mac
• Remove duplicate files
• Remove junk files
• Billed as $47.88/1 year

• Declutter your Mac
• Remove duplicate files
• Remove junk files
• Billed as $71.76/2 years

• Declutter your Mac
• Remove duplicate files
• Remove junk files
• Billed as $189.99/3 years (3 Macs)

Avast also offers a discount if you opt for three Cleanup Pro for Mac licenses: in this case the price drops to $18.66 per Mac per year when combined with the 20% discount, since the total is only $55.99. There is also a three-year subscription available, which costs $127.99 for one and $151.99 for three Mac licenses.

Customer Service

While the software is activated by default upon purchase, the same cannot be said of the Avast account. You need to register for one if you want to make use of the community support for the software, as the support page gives users very limited information.

Customer Support Message

Avast, however, enables several channels of communication for its customers. For example, you can send feedback (and hope they will reply) by clicking on the Help section in the app menu bar. But if you want customer support to reply, then head over to the dedicated page and select the category of problem that you are facing. Here you'll be able to either send a message or obtain a phone number through which the company can be contacted.

Bottom Line

Avast Cleanup Pro is a newcomer in the industry, and that clearly shows in how the app is presented and the features it carries. When compared to its competitors, Avast Cleanup Pro's feature set is poor for its price. The developer junk and external drive junk cleaning features just didn't work, which makes them useless. At its best, the software may be useful as a thorough and fast duplicate finder, since it was able to find so many more duplicates than its competitors could.

Rate Review Avast For Mac Security

At this stage it’s clear that Avast Cleanup Pro is a clear rookie in this segment, so if you are looking to clean up your Mac of system junk then it’s better to turn to other Mac optimization apps instead of this one. When it comes to cleaning application caches the program is good enough, but that's not satisfactory enough to make it worthwhile when there are tons of other neat optimization solutions for half the price.

Avast For Mac Review

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