Absolutely not, that guy is eating marketing

No, antivirus in general is not a good idea these days. It is extremely invasive, consumes resources, and doesn't actually do much of anything.

Don't sideload random APKs off the web and you'll be fine.

There have been far more severe iPhone exploits in the past year or two compared to Android ones.

Apple will never take the brand hit of allowing third party security software, so maybe let your pals know a brand's fragile ego is putting them in an arguably more perilous position.

You should never trust an apple user for technology questions. If they knew better, they wouldn't be using apple devices.

You don't.

Long answer: https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/you-dont-need-to-install-an-antivirus-app-on-your-phone

Maybe against the grain, here, with all the comments saying No, but: If you were interested in trying something out, I would give Hypatia a go. It's a FOSS-based app, available on F-droid. It's basically a ClamAV front-end. Pulls from their signature lists for Android, alongside other more general AV signature lists. Just an option.

Not really, as long as you stick to reasonably well-known apps and sources (Google Play Store, F-Droid).

And I'd rather use mobile websites with uBlock Origin in Firefox fornAndroid than using the mobile apps that are infested with trackers and ads.

They have as much need for antivirus software as an iPhone does.

Yes, you need antivirus. I recommend using antivirus called common sense.

Not really. Especially you stick to trusted app stores. It's only really needed if you frequently sideload apps, and even then only if you feel it's necessary.

That being said, Hypatia is a good one I like to use from time to time. It's FOSS too. You can find it on F-Droid if you use the DivestOS official repo.

I'm gonna say no, but not for the same reasons as other commenters.

Android isn't as safe as iOS in that you're way more likely to get an app that harvests your data on the Play Store. That being said, there's almost no chance of you getting a device-breaking bug or app on Android vs. on iOS.

Now, if you're worried about data collection, whether you have an antivirus is the least of your concerns. You need to evaluate every single service that you currently use or pay for and see how they use your data. Google and Meta harvest all of it. Your telecom provider harvests a ton of it. The big retail chains you shop at, your banks, your credit/debit card payment processor, your ISP, etc. all collect data that they then sell to data brokers. Any data that is sent to data brokers can be bought by basically anyone who wants it. Even if all of your data is nuked from these brokers, data breaches at various companies or government agencies can and do happen. Even if those breaches never happen, some of your info is kept in the public record and can't be erased.

So, if you want to do anything to protect yourself, don't get an antivirus. Instead, just try to scrub your personal info off the internet the best you can.

AV is no substitute for proper hygiene. Don't click random links, don't install random software, use a VPN on untrusted networks, yadda yadda.

I never have. Keep your shit updated, use a digital condom (ad/malware blocker), and dont go to shady websites offering free games and such and you are fine.

No and you're stupid if you do.

Basically due to how locked down phones are compared to computers, it's nearly impossible (though not impossible) to get a virus. Not only that, but being so locked-down means that even if your anti virus did work, it wouldn't actually be able to do anything about it. But what an AV can do is read all the data that goes into your phone and collect it for the company to sell it for a profit, and that's why phone AVs exist.

Computer AVs are already shaky enough as is (McAfee is so insecure that actual hackers use it to get into computers) but there are a lot of cases where they can save your ass due to computers just being pretty insecure in general. I've used Malwarebytes twice to save me from dark web viruses, but that was a case where I installed it, ran the scan, killed the virus, then uninstalled. You don't need one running all the time. In most cases your OS will imply common-sense restrictions if it sees you don't have an AV and in a lot of cases those end up making your computer way more protected than the security theatre most AVs employ.

Antivirus is badness enumeration. Androids security model is way better than that.

Nope

Not really but if you are really really paranoid try hypatia from fdroid solely for you peace of mind.

I don't.

No

It seems based on the comments you don't.

But I personally use ESET. It did catch a few things a few times. Specifically some of the shady modded APKs, which is expected. VirusTotal.com is also of help with those.