How to Check if an iPhone Has a Virus

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Are you seeing pop-ups, experiencing app crashes, or finding apps you didn't install on your iPhone? While iPhone viruses aren't common, they do exist—luckily, a simple factory reset will easily remove viruses without any hassle! This wikiHow article will help you check for signs that your iPhone is infected with a virus, adware, spyware, or other malware.

Steps

1
Check to see if your iPhone is jailbroken. Jailbreaking removes many of the iPhone’s built-in restrictions, leaving it vulnerable to unapproved app installations. If you purchased the iPhone from someone else, they may have jailbroken it to install malicious software. Here’s how to check if it’s jailbroken:
- Swipe down from the center of the home screen to open the search bar.^{[1]
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- Type cydia into the search bar.
- Tap the Search key on the keyboard.
- If an app called “Cydia” appears in the search results, your iPhone is jailbroken.^{[2]
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  Research source} To unjailbreak your iPhone, see Unjailbreak an iPhone.
2
Look for pop-up ads in Safari. If you are suddenly inundated with pop-up ads, there could be an infection.
- Never click a link in a pop-up ad. This could result in further infections.^{[3]
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3
Watch out for crashing apps. If the apps you use regularly are suddenly crashing, someone may have found an exploit in that app.
- Update the apps on your iPhone regularly so you’re always using the most secure versions.^{[4]
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4
Look for unknown apps. Trojan apps are made to look legitimate, so this requires a little bit of sleuthing.
- Swipe through your home screens and folders to check for apps you don't recognize or don't remember installing.
- If you see an app that looks familiar but you don’t recall installing it, it could be malicious. It’s best to delete it if you don’t know what it is.
- To see a list of every app you’ve installed from the App Store, tap the Apps icon at the bottom of the store, tap your profile photo, then tap Purchased.^{[5]
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  Research source} If there’s an app on your phone that isn’t in this list (and doesn’t come from Apple), it’s likely malicious.
5
Check for unexplained extra charges. Viruses run in the background, using your data to communicate with the internet. Check your billing statement to make sure you haven’t had a spike in data usage, or are suddenly paying for sending SMS messages to premium numbers.
6
Monitor battery performance. Since viruses run in the background, they can drain your battery more quickly than you’d expect.
- To check your battery usage, see Checking Battery Usage. This teaches you how to find which apps are using the most battery power.
- If you see an app you don’t recognize, remove it immediately.

Community Q&A

Question

Is it normal when a phone loses 1% battery in about 8 minutes?

Aradius Group

Community Answer

Many battery issues are actually software-related. Sometimes something as simple as updating your phone's software can resolve a battery draining prematurely. You may also want to check the health of your battery. If it's exceeded too many discharge cycles, then it may merely be entering the end of its life.
Question

My confusion is that when I type Cydia, it showed Siri’s knowledge and a picture of the app, and it showed it under the little website column but, in did not show if it was on my phone.

Xinyi Sun

Community Answer

Then you probably don’t have it. To be sure, type Cydia in App Store and if it says open instead of instore, your device is jailbroken.
Question

I have an iPhone XR (iOS 13.2.2 version). When I opened the notes to write something, it automatically threw me out of the notes and sent me to the camera. What should I do? Is it jailbroken or hacked?

EquableProgram

Community Answer

If you have the shortcuts app, check to make sure there isn’t an automated shortcut making that happen. Other than that, talk to Apple Tech support online, on the phone, or in-store.