Obscuring permission access

[Pssox2]

Not sure this is the right board, but it will be obvious that I don't have a lot of knowledge on technology. I have an Xperia L1 and yesterday I downloaded a new paid for cleaner and reinstalled a virus app. When I was trying to set them up and allow accessibility I got a message that an app is obscuring permission access. I di a bit of research and as suggested checked all my apps and turned off all permissions to 'draw over'(?) Didn't work, just rechecked nothing is showing as having this ability. Another suggestion was to open in safe mode and try to gain permission, this hasn't worked either.. My son in law usually sorts this sort of thing out for me but with the current lockdown this won't work. Any suggestions please.

[RottenFoxBreath]

Either try a restart, which can solve that issue, or to be honest, cleaners and antivirus are useless in the vast majority of cases, and prey on the users knowledge/lack of knowledge..

That's my opinion, absolutely useless.

I would just uninstall them, and enjoy your phone, and not worry about apps like that.

Android does its own cleaning, and you can also clean/remove any data you don't need, by for simple instance, cleaning useless data from the Chrome browser say, which can be in the hundreds of megabytes, or more.

Those apps though, they're more bother than they're worth.

[Qatrium]

Hello @Pssox2 

I second what @RottenFoxBreath said. I'm also keeping such apps away from my phone. For security protection, you get monthly patched from Google to address any. And for cleaning up your mobile from clutter, I use Google's app "Files" which does the trick easily and securely. 

So my advice is to begin with removing both cleaner and antivirus apps, restart your mobile, then try to sort your permissions.

[Pssox2]

Thank you to both you and Rottenfoxbreath. It is painfully obvious that my technical skills are strictly limited, so I hope you won't mind me clarifying a couple of points.

when you say Google sends patches, is that automatically, or do I have to sign up for that. I've never noticed any. Files, I take it, is available from the Apps store.

finally when you say restart the mobile, that's nothing more complicated than turning it off and on again? 

thanks again.

[Qatrium]

We are always glad to help, @Pssox2 

Updates should be automatic, you get a notification that you have a new software update ready and you just accept the download. However, phones have a "software support lifetime" which is usually 2-3 years from the date of release. Seeing you own an L1 (released March 2017), those updates can be limited for your model.

Restarting is as simple as you thought, but it really helps with some hiccups like lagging or misbehaving apps. Your Android is just like any operating system, it will need a restart to refreshen up and Sony recommends restarting at least once weekly.

[RottenFoxBreath]

Agreed, and as above, Updates can also help your apps, so be sure to visit the Play Store on your phone, and update the apps you use most.

Sometimes new features are added to apps, and also bug fixes, and patches are added as updates.