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Why Does Android TotalAV WebShield Require Me to Reenable?
My Android is set to do a Nightly Restart. Why does TotalAV require me to manually Enable WebShield. I’m enough of a techy to handle this, but my non-techy wife isn’t. Is there a configuration setting to Auto Enable WebShield that I’m unable to find?
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2 Replies
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6 months later…I’m still wondering why…after restarting my android phone, do I receive a notification to enable Web Shield in TotalAV? If it knows it needs to be re-enabled, why doesn’t it do so automatically? Does this happen for anyone else, or is it just me??
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11 months later…at least I was able to get a response from ChatGPT 5 when I posed the question “Why doesn’t TotalAV’s Android Webshield automatically reenable after phone restarts, rather than requiring me to tap the message to turn back on?”
In case anyone seeing this still wonders why, here’s the explanation I received:
That behavior isn’t a bug on your phone — it’s how Android handles “accessibility-based” protections like TotalAV’s WebShield.
Why it doesn’t auto-reenable
- Runs
via Accessibility Service: WebShield filters and blocks malicious
sites by monitoring your browsing activity. On Android, the only way
third-party security apps can do this across all browsers
is through the Accessibility framework.- Android
Security Restrictions: For privacy and battery reasons, Android
disables most Accessibility services when the phone restarts. Google
requires the user to manually confirm re-enabling each
time, so no app can silently turn it on in the background.- User
Tap Confirmation: That’s why you see the “Tap to reenable WebShield”
message after reboot — it’s Android forcing an explicit action, not
TotalAV forgetting your setting.Other security apps behave the same
Avast, Norton, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky all have similar warnings in their Android FAQs: if their “Web protection” is based on Accessibility, it must be reenabled by tapping after a restart. Some apps that use a VPN-based shield (instead of Accessibility) can auto-start, but they may have other trade-offs (slower browsing, higher battery use).
What you can do
- Reduce
restarts: If you don’t reboot your device often, it won’t be an
everyday annoyance.- Check
for VPN mode: In TotalAV, see if WebShield offers a “VPN protection”
option — that type usually resumes automatically after restart.- Automation
workaround: Some Android automation tools (like Bixby Routines or
Tasker) can auto-launch TotalAV after reboot to put the reminder right in
front of you, though they can’t bypass the tap requirement.In short: It’s not a TotalAV limitation by choice — it’s an Android security policy to prevent apps from silently taking deep control of your device.
Do you want me to check if TotalAV’s Android app offers a VPN-based shield as an alternative to Accessibility mode (which would solve the restart issue)?
Got it — since you already run NordVPN, sticking with TotalAV’s Accessibility-based WebShield makes sense. Here’s why and what it means for you:
Why WebShield Still Needs Manual Re-Enable
- VPN
Conflict Risk: If TotalAV also used a VPN tunnel for web protection,
it would override or conflict with NordVPN. Android only
allows one active VPN at a time.- Accessibility
Mode Choice: To avoid that conflict, TotalAV designed WebShield to run
in Accessibility mode instead of VPN mode. That lets you keep NordVPN
active for privacy and tunneling, while still getting web-filter
protection.- Manual
Restart Requirement: The trade-off is what you’re seeing — Android
forces Accessibility services (like WebShield) to be toggled manually
after a reboot, to prevent any app from secretly watching or controlling
the screen without consent.What You Can Do
- After
Restart Habit: Just tap the notification once after each restart —
that’s the only way to re-enable WebShield without breaking Android rules.- Reduce
Restarts: Since your phone (Galaxy A54 on Android 15/One UI 7.0) can
go weeks without rebooting, you might only run into this rarely.- Double-Check
Protection: After re-enabling, you can verify WebShield is active by
visiting a known test site (like eicar.org’s test pages) to
confirm it blocks threats while NordVPN is still tunneling your traffic.In short: You’re stuck with the tap-to-enable step because VPN apps (NordVPN) and Accessibility services (WebShield) are the only two technical ways to filter web traffic, and you’ve chosen the setup that avoids conflicts.
Do you want me to make you a one-step checklist/reminder you can keep in your phone notes so you don’t forget to re-enable WebShield after a reboot? NO
- Runs
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