@keith @handle
Yeah, for sure, apps are by far the most common vector for abuse to arrive, and its not uncommon for them to come from the Play Store (although their are other app stores that are far worse) or even be pre-installed on the phone.
Cheap phones are particularly bad for this. Theres of course also a decent case to be made that all the Google Play stuff is abusive, although some folks happily embrace its shiny integrated massive data & money fuelled tech wonders.