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VidMate WARNING: Report Shows The App Drains Battery, Charges Users and Exposes Personal Information

Vidmate has been installed by over 5 million users until now, lured by the promises of offline streaming. With the app, Android users could download any video from YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and so on. While it was a great service, offering users with a low or unreliable internet connection, users that had an expensive data plan a way to stream videos on mobile phones. The popular video downloading app was developed by a subsidiary of UC Web (which is owned by the Chinese tech giant Alibaba) and got very popular in Asian countries, like India.

Upstream’s Secure-D Reported VidMate as Being a Dangerous App

However, the service came with a high cost that users had no idea they were paying. According to security searchers at a mobile tech firm from London, called Upstream, VidMate had a suspicious activity. At the Upstream Secure-D security lab, researchers unveiled the suspicious activity at VidMate in their report:

“A hidden component within the app delivers invisible ads, generates fake clicks and purchases, installs other suspicious apps without consent and collects personal users’ information. Consequently, it depletes users’ data allowance and brings unwanted charges.”

The app is not available in Google Play Store but can be downloaded as an APK from various sources.

The CEO of Upstream, Guy Krief, said that whoever downloaded and opened VidMate, has surrendered “control of their phone and personal information to a third party,” adding that while users cannot see the ads displayed, the “phone and its connection become part of a botnet and are used to commit ad fraud, at the expense of its owner … and his privacy.”

The app also requests suspicious permissions, such as:

  • allows the app to create windows on top of others
  • allows the app to install and download other unknown apps without asking or notifying the user
  • allows the app to read and write system settings
  • allows the app to access the user’s device log files, which contain sensitive information.

Delete VidMate to Protect Your Privacy, Data, and Money

The Upstream report urges users to delete VidMate to remedy the issues of battery drainage, charges of premium content without the users’ knowledge, data usage and privacy breach, adding that installing apps from outside Google Play Store is dangerous:

“VidMate is a reminder of the serious dangers of installing software from sources other than the official Google Play Store. The financial and privacy risks of letting misleading and abusive apps onto your device are simply not worth it.”

Here’s a short video from Upstream on VidMate’s suspicious activity:

A VidMate spokesperson was interviewed by BuzzFeed and stated that the app has no such knowledge of the suspicious activity, but they will investigate it. The spokesperson used the name Jiatao Chen and didn’t provide basic information of the funders and executives of the app, refusing to confirm his name or title. However, he stated:

“No only do we not program such practices into our core app, we have a zero-tolerance policy because it is in VidMate’s interest to protect our users against such detrimental practices.”

Chen also added that they are investigating the issue and VidMate has terminated the relationship with a partner (Nonolive) that was included in the Upstream report.

VidMate Spokesperson about Mango’s SDK: “Vidmate will terminate relationship with and blacklist this company”

The suspicious activity began with Vidmate installing a software development kit from Mango, which loaded the hidden ads and signed up users to premium services. The activity would take place when users didn’t use their phones. One spokesperson from VidMate stated that if the “SDK really is performing ad fraud, Vidmate will terminate relationship with and blacklist this company.”

UCWeb and VidMate responded to BuzzFeed News, with a UCWeb spokesperson saying that the app and trademark were sold to a start-up called Guangzhou Nemo Fish Technology Co., in 2018 and that they are not involved in Vidmate’s operations, but have maintained a business collaboration.

VidMate’s Suspicious Activity Started Long Before It Was Sold to the Start-up

The issues with VidMate were first revealed by Upstream when the company began providing security services to mobile carriers in some developing countries, and Krief found that VidMate “was number one in terms of block attempts over the past six months” compared to other apps monitored by Upstream. Guy Krief stated that Upstream saw and blocked suspicious transactions from VidMate before UCWeb sold VidMate:

“We saw some first small volumes of suspicious transaction requests in October 2017 and it progressively ramped up until April 2018 when it then started being at a different scale.”

As a response, the UCWeb spokesperson stated in an email that they could not respond to these accusations until they see the data and all the details, adding that Upstream didn’t contact them to give them the information.

Keep your personal information safe and use trustworthy apps that you can find on Google Play Store. Alternatively, use the Lite versions of social media apps to save data.

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Is VidMate Harmful for You?

If you have Android or iOS, you have probably heard of VidMate – the app that lets you download videos from many different platforms. With this app, you can stream and download videos from Dailymotion, YouTube or Facebook, by bypassing the restrictions of these websites.

It even lets you watch TV shows from about 200 channels. But many people have said that the app is actually a thread. Is it true, though?

It is not a virus

Some people have said that, because you don’t get it from the Google Play Store, it is not safe. Truth be told, it is not there because it does not meet the policies of Google about downloading videos from YouTube – which the company owns. The app does not modify your system without your permission.

It does not steal your identity

If an app requires you to give the personal info, it’s a red sign. Don’t give your personal info – we are talking about your credit card details – before you can actually use the app. VidMate is no such app, it does not require you to provide any personal info.

The app has millions of downloads

The app has about 500 million of users, which means that it was not downloaded for nothing. It’s one of the best apps on iOS and Android – it’s safe and free. By having it on your device, you can download whichever video you want, in many formats. The quality options range from 360p to 1080p.

It is true, the app comes with pop-up advertisements, but that will not allow the ads to slow down the performance, or infect your device with some kind of virus.

Without any doubt, it is one of the most useful apps out there. It comes with many benefits and it is such a shame that people believe that it can get a virus on their devices.

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Vidmate 4.1404 Rolled Out With Bug Fixes and Several Improvements for Performance

Many people love to watch videos on online streaming services. However, there are moments when you would like to view your favorite content, but you are unable to do so because you cannot connect to the internet. There may be a variety of reasons for this, including the lack of Wi-Fi networks in a particular area, bad signal coverage, or a limited data plan. Vidmate is the best app to download online videos and watch them while offline. Now Vidmate 4.1404 rolled out with several improvements.

Vidmate, a third-party app which allows you to download everything you want with just a few taps, is one of the most popular online video downloader apps in the world. Here are only a few of the features provided by the app.

Vidmate features

  • View anything offline – Downloading your content is quite easy. The app is also compatible with other sites like DailyMotion, Vimeo, and many more. Users have the option to download full movies on their device, and there is no limitation or content tap.
  • Dedicated music library – Over 500,000 high-quality songs await listeners, and new ones are being added each day.
  • Watch what is worth – A dedicated recommended content tab will suggest new content each day. Find funny clips, formidable challenges, sports highlights, and much more.
  • Download without issues – A robust download protocol allows users to download several videos at the same. You can also pause and resume a download, do something else while the content is being downloaded in the background and enjoy excellent speed.
  • Continuously updated – In recent months, the developers of the app pushed a more significant number of updates which aim to improve the user experience and make the popular app even better.

Vidmate 4.1404 came out with fixes and improvements

The latest update, Vidmate 4.1404, comes with new bug fixes, removing some issues that were quite resilient in the past versions. No new features were added, but future updates could introduce some.

Also, Vidmate 4.1404 comes with several improvements for stability and performance. Since it’s violating Google Play Store policies, Vidmate 4.1404 is only available as an APK file.

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VidMate Update 4.1311 APK – What’s New?

VidMate, the popular app that everyone uses to download online videos for offline streaming has just been updated, reaching build number 4.1311.

Why is VidMate such a good app? Remember that time when you had no internet connection on your phone and really wanted to have some music or movies to pass the time? VidMate is great for when you need to grab some media files from different websites and play them whenever you want. Whenever you get an internet connection, you can download your favorite content on the phone at whatever quality you want, and it’s all free!

The online video downloader has just got an update today.

VidMate 4.1311 – New Update, Faster Downloads

Considering the app is quite filled with features, the developers at VidMate have only been working on improving and keeping the app stable, also focusing on increasing the download speed and better integrating it with other apps like WhatsApp.

You can only update VidMate manually, and you need to download the VidMate 4.1311 APK file. The app cannot be updated over the air (OTA) like other apps, so you must download the update and install it on your smartphone. VidMate is not in Google Play Store, as it goes against the copyright rules, but you can find it on the official VidMate website.

Before you install it, check the “Unknown Sources” option in your smartphone’s settings to be enabled.

VidMate 4.1311 version is only 12.22 MB – a little lighter than the previous one – 4.1302, which was 13.43 MB. The update comes with enhanced performances and tweaks that will make downloading a lot faster. The update also brings some bug fixes and boot time should be faster now, for a smooth experience.

You can also install the latest VidMate app version on a Windows device by using an Android emulator, like Bluestacks – just follow this short guide.

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VidMate 4.1004 – April Update Brings Better Download Speed And More

VidMate just got updated, reaching version 4.1004. We know it is tough to always be up to date with all the news, games, apps and things that show up every day. However, if you use an app often, it’s best you keep it updated to enjoy the best experience it can offer. Many Android users love this app because it lets them watch and download media for free from many websites.

We have talked a lot about VidMate in our articles which you can check out here if you want to learn more about the app.

Now let’s check out all the new things introduced in the last update.

VidMate 4.1004 Patch Notes

VidMate 4.1004 comes with better download speeds on all platforms. The update also introduced performance fixes and has made the app more stable, meaning you won’t experience random crashes. The latest added features brought better sharing through WhatsApp and some JavaScript fixes. Unfortunately, there’s nothing new added to the app at the moment.

The latest version was aired on April 4 and should reach VidMate users, as it is an OTA (over the air) update. However, you can grab it right now if you don’t have it yet.

To get VidMate 4.1004, you must head over to APK Mirror – a trusted downloading source, and download the latest APK version. The size of the file is only 13.85 MB. Here is the direct link to download the VidMate 4.1004 APK file.

If you are new to sideloading apps through other sources than Google Play Store, check out our easy guide on how to install VidMate APK on your Android device. You can also get Vidmate for your PC through an Android emulator – check out this guide.

Enjoy watching videos, TV Series, movies and listening to your favorite songs in offline with VidMate. If you’re looking for alternatives, we’ve got you covered: Alternatives to Vidmate.

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