Malware App Installed, Then uninstalled immediately- Next action steps I recently accidentally installed an app from Google Play onto my android phone (Version 2.3.6) which was clearly a fake... It had the same name and icon as the app I wanted, and I hit the install button.

While it was installing, I noticed it was not the real app, and as soon as it completed, I uninstalled the app without opening it.

1 - What actions should I take to assure I have no infection?

2 - Does the fact that I did not run the app mean that it did not have the ability to infect the phone in any way?

3 - Just by installing it, could it have sent my MEID to a bad guy?

Thanks in advance for your help!
SteveG
Android won't run anything from the app as soon as you install it. An app can only set alarms, register broadcast receivers, etc. after the first time you run it manually, for example by:


launching one of its activities from the launcher
clicking Open in the Play Store app
creating a home screen or lock screen widget provided by this app
starting it from another app (via a Share action or the like)


This isn't a complete list, but it should be pretty obvious what actions start the app. If you haven't started the app, it can't have run yet, unless the author is able to exploit a bug in Android that no one else knows about.

This is very different to the situation on desktop OSes. In Windows and most GNU/Linux package managers, installing an application consists of running code provided by the app author. In contrast, Android is designed to limit what apps can do. Android itself installs the package by reading its manifest, which tells Android the name of the package and what components it contains. Android unpacks the app's files to its own private directory in internal storage, without running any code provided by the app. If the app wants to do any further setup (such as performing an anti-piracy check, or getting you to sign into a server), it can only do this when you first run the app.