Microsoft Defender App for Individuals Goes Out of Preview

Microsoft’s new cross-platform Defender app for individuals is officially launching today. The app has been available in preview in the US for a couple of months, and it’s now available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription.

On Windows, this new Microsoft Defender app works as a central hub for managing and monitoring security protections for all devices used in your family. It works as a complement to the built-in Microsoft Defender antivirus on Windows PCs, but it can also recognize third-party antivirus solutions from Norton, MacAfee, and other companies.

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The desktop app can also continuously scan for new and existing threats and provide real-time security notifications and security tips for keeping all of your devices secure. In some cases, the Microsoft Defender app will redirect users to the built-in Windows Security app on Windows 10 and Windows 11 to do certain tasks such as running a manual scan.

On Android devices, the Microsoft Defender app can protect users from malware and phishing attacks. On iOS, though, Microsoft Defender can only offer anti-phishing protection because Apple already makes sure that all apps on the App Store are sandboxed and free of known malware.

Microsoft Defender for individuals leverages the same Microsoft Defender for Endpoint technology that Microsoft uses to protect commercial customers from malware. “As we look forward, we will continue to bring more protections together under a single dashboard, including features like identity theft protection and secure online connection,” said Vasu Jakkal, CVP of Microsoft Security. You can download the Microsoft Defender app for individuals on this page.

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Conversation 12 comments

  • hastin

    Premium Member
    16 June, 2022 - 1:07 pm

    <p>Ahh, memories of Windows Live OneCare. I’ve noticed that these subscription security services – Norton 365 + Lifelock, McAfee Total Protection – seem to be getting really popular in the consumer space again – makes sense that Microsoft is rolling out a solution with Microsoft 365.</p><p><br></p><p>For PCs, this is basically just a new interface for Windows Defender status. The Android app scans your apps for known bad apps, checks for apps with excess permissions, checks links you go to on websites, checks local settings, and also scans local files for viruses. However, the app itself needs more permissions (such as full accessibility permissions to check links) than I’m comfortable with. Haven’t had a chance to test the iOS app yet.</p>

    • mikegalos

      16 June, 2022 - 7:51 pm

      <p>As someone who was on the OneCare team, it’s nice to be remembered.</p>

  • iAlrakis

    Premium Member
    16 June, 2022 - 2:33 pm

    <p>Installed on all my devices but no real testing done so far. System scan on my Mac is still running.</p>

  • kherm

    Premium Member
    16 June, 2022 - 3:08 pm

    <p>The Windows app is literally just a web wrapper. Lovely…. </p>

  • covarr

    16 June, 2022 - 3:08 pm

    <p>"It can also recognize third-party antivirus solutions from Norton, MacAfee, and other companies."</p><p><br></p><p>As much as I’m normally not a fan of MS’s habit of "helpfully" telling people that their experience will be better if they use Microsoft’s stuff over the competition, I wouldn’t complain about them doing it here if it pushes people to stop using McAfee’s crapware.</p>

  • dftf

    16 June, 2022 - 3:52 pm

    <p>If I were to just see a screenshot of the app itself (without the Taskbar, which obviously then identifies the OS as <em>Windows 11</em>) then just from the blue-gradient background and the dark-grey-but-not-black text I’d swear this was from the <em>Windows 7</em> era, not a current-day thing!</p>

  • tripleggg

    17 June, 2022 - 7:51 am

    <p>Interesting how the loop back VPN defeats IOS safari Private Relay … IP address is no longer a random one … your actual up address is exposed. </p>

  • tripleggg

    17 June, 2022 - 8:16 am

    <p>… and on my iPad and iPhone, it defeats my personal vpn client, Encrypt.me, no matter which state or country vpn server I change it to. Both the msft defender loopback VPN and the Encrypt.me vpn run at the same time. </p><p><br></p><p>Seems there are some kinks to work out still … but I like the direction they’re going. </p>

  • RobotRaccoon

    Premium Member
    17 June, 2022 - 10:39 am

    <p>It’s not a good citizen on macOS. It doesn’t show up in the app switcher, it doesn’t seem to remember permission request decisions, there’s no way to quit the app from the menu bar icon, and there’s no direct way to uninstall it. I had to use a 3rd party tool to remove it from macOS.</p>

    • iAlrakis

      Premium Member
      17 June, 2022 - 11:43 am

      <p>Sounds like something went wrong during the setup.</p><p>For me it sits in the applications section, just like any other app so uninstall should work from there. Didn’t try though.</p><p>Doesn’t it make sense that something that’s running as a background process isn’t visible in the app switcher? I mean none of the apps ‘running as icons in my menubar’ appear in the app switcher.</p>

  • benhaube

    17 June, 2022 - 12:48 pm

    <p>I like it so far. I have been using it since it was in preview. The Windows app is more or less just a simple control center to see the health of all your devices. The actual security portions are still the same as part of Windows Defender. However, I do like having it on Android. Google Play Protect is notoriously bad at catching malware, so it is nice to have the peace of mind knowing there is an additional anti-malware program scanning my phone for malicious apps. It will also scan all the links you click and the websites you go to which is nice. So far, in my time using it on Android, I have not seen a noticeable reduction in battery life which is good. </p>

  • tripleggg

    17 June, 2022 - 4:11 pm

    <p>On macos I run Malwarebytes … defender doesn’t seem to see it and seems to run as an AV app? Taking more system resources than normal. </p><p><br></p><p>Is it running as full antivirus app in this case? Unclear, poor documentation on what it’s actually ding on macOS scenarios. </p>

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