Database Info

Best Android Task Manager - Open Processes

Hello All,
I wanted to see what everyone thinks is the best application manger for Android.
Also is anyone familiar with the Getjar free app store?
Thx All,
Force

What do people think of "Advance Task Killer"
It seems to me it shows all tasks, not jsut the open ones.
Regards,
Force

FYI,
Many people say talk killers are not necessary, as that is a windows phenomenon, Linux & android treating background processes differently.
Regards,
Force

I personally use Advanced Task Manager for $0.99. I have read the articles about how Android does not need task Managers because it is built in, but I know from personal experience that without it if there are running programs in the background my phone gets really sluggish especially when I get a phone call and it makes it difficult to answer etc. Take in account, this experience was mainly with the Hero (slower) but I use on my Evo now.

You know people will argue either way, because there is evidence to support both sides of the argument. so with that in mind- i honestly havent had the need for one with my evo, but it you truly are considering one- i actually have a pair to suggest.
one is OS Monitor- free on the market- great app for pinning down process that could be an issue- also supports dmsg repporting- and logcat is built in to- so if your testing something and it goes all wonky you can export the log to view on a pc and send it to the developer too.
the second is AMM- or Auto Memory Manager- free and donate versions on the market. There are pretty much a couple of sliders and you set it how you want android to handle the process. I have had great success with this app on my other device- normal free memory was around 30-35 and using this set aggressively i saw gains of 50mb at most times keeping my freememory to around 75-80mb range.
Hope this helps.

I take both sides. I have task manager installed, but use if ONLY when needed. Aka, I used it when I want to kill the browser after I'm done with it so next time I launch it I won't be seeing old pages.

I like EStrongs Task Manager.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/nextapp.systempanel.r1 is nice, it can kill processes, monitor system stats, uninstall apps and more. There is also a free version.

TREYisRAD said:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/nextapp.systempanel.r1 is nice, it can kill processes, monitor system stats, uninstall apps and more. There is also a free version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i installed that last night, cool app

why someone who know don't explaine exactly how android works and do we need killers and if yes which one is best...
Everyone of us using something but question is that which one is best for our needs.

quick system info pro (free)
I only use the manual task killer widget when memory gets down around 100. Spikes it right back to about 250.
Whats your guys' normal memory range? I see someone on here saying 50 was normal for them but that seems REALLY low to me.

frifox said:
I take both sides. I have task manager installed, but use if ONLY when needed. Aka, I used it when I want to kill the browser after I'm done with it so next time I launch it I won't be seeing old pages.
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Click to collapse
Does the stock Sense browser not have an option to kill the windows by hitting menu? On CM, I do menu, windows, and X them out

Apps running in background

K... I'm new to android (from iPhone) and I just bought the mt4g... I downloaded the advanced task killer, but every time I "kill" the apps, there are 10 more running less than 5 seconds later... I've set my autokill to crazy, have an ignore list, etc... any thing else I can do to limit what crap runs without me opening the app myself?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

kevo817 said:
K... I'm new to android (from iPhone) and I just bought the mt4g... I downloaded the advanced task killer, but every time I "kill" the apps, there are 10 more running less than 5 seconds later... I've set my autokill to crazy, have an ignore list, etc... any thing else I can do to limit what crap runs without me opening the app myself?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you are not supposed to use task killers on Android because the system manages apps and when you stop them it messes up something. Here is a link: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

Correct. There is no need for task killers with these phones.

Glad I asked... uninstalled it, guess I'll see how it goes
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Yes sir! Plus thats why we have such big ram size
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Wow I didn't know this, I just uninstalled my task manager.
myTouch4G (Glacier)

It can also hurt battery life as well. If you constantly force close applications the phone will boot them back up which puts strain on the processor and uses more battery life.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Speaking from personal experience: once there's enough RAM in the phone, there's no need for external task killer or manager. Yes, it was necessary on the phones like G1 or original MyTouch with less then 1 year old OS. At this point, Android matured enough to handle everything on its own and it does beatiful job at it. I am almost at the point of getting MT4G, using wife's old Cliq at the moment. I can't believe how much difference extra RAM does, it never slows down for me on 2.1 de-blurred. Be extra careful downloading multiple apps though because if one misbehaves it will be hard to know which one.
Remember, free RAM is wasted ram, especially true with FroYo

You should still use a task killer, just don't use an autokiller. Let's say you use play a game, open browser, open music, open 3+ other cpu intensive apps..They will not close on there own, till the ram is "extremely low". Apps still use cpu when in b/g, like syncing apps like fb and twitter.

Task Killers
I don't see any reason not to have a task killer...without it, how would you know if there is a rogue app on your system? With a task killer installed, I was able to see what apps were loading at startup and then if I rarely use it, I blocked it with Startups. This has had a huge impact (for the better) on my battery life as well.
I agree not to setup the task killer to aggressively kill tasks, but if you use it to see what is happening on your phone, I don't see the harm in them at all.

don't you think a task killer would be built into android if Google intended us to manually kill tasks?

I have actually been going into the packages and disabling them via a terminal emulator. It was really easy and it seems to have prevented them from launching again.

best task manager/killer app

Hi guys,
what is the best task manager/killer app for galaxy tab?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

None. Why do you need averting more than the samsung provided one? I haven't seen any need to kill apps on the tab.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Task killers are the devil. Don't use them. They haven't been needed since Android 2.0
If you need to kill an app, use the Task Manger that comes with the Tab.

Thanks guys for the advice.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Quick question...because I'm confused and curious as well about Task Killers...why would devs and users alike think Task Killers are so bad if GB 2.3 includes an enhanced Task Killer for managing apps, seeing which apps take up memory, and kill battery life? The SGT including one as well. What gives?
All of the things listed above seem like a good reason to me, right? Again, I just want to understand that's all.
Thanks for teaching.

cramjammer said:
Quick question...because I'm confused and curious as well about Task Killers...why would devs and users alike think Task Killers are so bad if GB 2.3 includes an enhanced Task Killer for managing apps, seeing which apps take up memory, and kill battery life? The SGT including one as well. What gives?
All of the things listed above seem like a good reason to me, right? Again, I just want to understand that's all.
Thanks for teaching.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some Task Killers (TK) are quite extensive in that they willl allow you to close down all manner of objects, Apps, etc. It is these TK's that are risky or should be treated with care.
However, the one provided on the Tab and alike are designed to only show running Apps and services that it feels you can stop if you so wish without causing any effect to the Tab's running.
I use both the built in TK and a third-party named SystemPanel.
If you look at both you will see that although the built in TK does it's job it is nowhere near as fierce as SystemPanel.
Again, provided you know what you are doing TK's such as SystemPanel can be of benefit. I use mine for a great number of tasks including obtaining detailed information of any App or object running to see how much of the processor it has been using, or Archiving any App prior to upgrading the App (just in case the updated App has issues I can then easily use the archive).

That's too funny...System Panel is the one I've been using for a while now. I like how it will give you MANY details about system apps as well as a ton of others information, makes me feel better!
Thanks for taking the time to share, much appreciated!

Croak said:
Task killers are the devil. Don't use them. They haven't been needed since Android 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. See this post for a partial explanation:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9681544&postcount=21

The only time you need a task manager is if you have a rogue app that won't exit and which is taking up the CPU. The SGT seems to be pretty good at killing such apps but I've had a couple of old programs with problems. (They have the same issue on my N1, so not surprising).
I've got OSMonitor installed anyway so I can check things, I just use that when I need to kill a "stuck" app, or if I really aren't too fussed I just reboot with QuickBoot.

well i use the tab a lot and when browsing any site with flash and graphics the avail memory drops to 40mb or less then thats when its gonna crash especially if you get a call at the same time.. i use advance task killer froyo just to free up memory here and there but since froyo the task killers can't really force close the tasks thats why the stock manager works well but doesn't show what background services are taking up memory and thats a major problem im still looking for a good task killer that will show and kill but not take up a large footprint in the memory , a program that seems to work well with my ATK is Fast Reboot its restarts all the apps running and frees up memory greatly helps a lot , for some reason the pro version disappeared that allows you to exlude certain tasks from restarting on click.
I really don't think if you use the tab a lot and as a phone you can't live without a one click task killer, don't really trust android os managing my ram, as well noticed when something such as yahoo mail eats up ram and cpu, it doesn't get closed automatically by android , big alternative i've noticed was uninstall it and use the stock email app and works so much better on memory and cpu.

i use the tab lots, as a phone too. I survive great without a task killer. I trust android to manage my free memory. I don't trust all apps to respect the os tho.
Read this: http://www.droid-den.com/android-guides/android-guide-should-i-use-a-task-killer

Which Is the Best Task Killer?

What has been the best task killer for anybody. Im posting this threads cause myself have been wondering, which of all of them in the market is the best 1 for a phone. As for me i have a mytouch slide, Not rooted 2.1update1. I have been using Advance task Killer Pro, n has been wrking fine. But for some reason now my battery has been draining. So can u all plz let me know another good task killers out there. Yes ive heard is bad by killing apps, but i jst dont never understood why. So let me know what you all use thank u, n appreciate it.

I like system panel it gives a lot more info about what apps are missing behaving. Watchdog is real useful also.

Task killers are a bad idea, because as soon as you kill them, Android starts loading them back into memory, which wastes battery.
There's a whole bunch of levels of memory usage for apps, and task killers generally group them all together. Most of those apps being "killed" aren't actually loaded - they're cached, memory that can be dropped at a moment's notice when something else needs it. And the cached apps will start right away, since they're already in memory.
With a task killer removing those from memory, now there's lag because it has to be re-loaded, plus general lag from Android re-caching some of them.

Izkata said:
Task killers are a bad idea, because as soon as you kill them, Android starts loading them back into memory, which wastes battery.
There's a whole bunch of levels of memory usage for apps, and task killers generally group them all together. Most of those apps being "killed" aren't actually loaded - they're cached, memory that can be dropped at a moment's notice when something else needs it. And the cached apps will start right away, since they're already in memory.
With a task killer removing those from memory, now there's lag because it has to be re-loaded, plus general lag from Android re-caching some of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's not asking you if he should get a task killer he's asking for some names of task killers
Best and simplest is advanced task killer or ATK
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

torvick12 said:
What has been the best task killer for anybody. Im posting this threads cause myself have been wondering, which of all of them in the market is the best 1 for a phone. As for me i have a mytouch slide, Not rooted 2.1update1. I have been using Advance task Killer Pro, n has been wrking fine. But for some reason now my battery has been draining. So can u all plz let me know another good task killers out there. Yes ive heard is bad by killing apps, but i jst dont never understood why. So let me know what you all use thank u, n appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Use Adv. Task Killer, Also I Never Really Have A Issue With The Battery, But If You Notice Sometimes, After Killing A App, It Comes Right Back.... At That Point, If You Have The Adv. Task Killer Version I'm Using (V1.0.0 Build1) You Will Also Have A Service Button, Where You Can Go To The App That Keeps Restarting, & Touch It To Force It Closed, After That Your Battery Life Should Be Great!!
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

PMGRANDS said:
I Use Adv. Task Killer, Also I Never Really Have A Issue With The Battery, But If You Notice Sometimes, After Killing A App, It Comes Right Back.... At That Point, If You Have The Adv. Task Killer Version I'm Using (V1.0.0 Build1) You Will Also Have A Service Button, Where You Can Go To The App That Keeps Restarting, & Touch It To Force It Closed, After That Your Battery Life Should Be Great!!
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
But it still boots up though even if you force close it. I'm assuming at that point you are wasting battery trying to close it several times.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

es_bih said:
But it still boots up though even if you force close it. I'm assuming at that point you are wasting battery trying to close it several times.
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Click to collapse
And this is why I had my previous post. torvick12 said he never understood why it's bad to kill apps, so I gave him a reason - and here's another person saying basically the same thing, just, without the why Android does what it does.

es_bih said:
But it still boots up though even if you force close it. I'm assuming at that point you are wasting battery trying to close it several times.
It Boots Back Up Sometimes, But Instead Of Long-Pressing On Whichever App It Is Restarting, Press The Service Button (In Adv.Task Killer App) That Should Shut It Down Once (Twice The Most) For Good!!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

i prefer autokiller. if root then the preset work like charm. if not then need manual killing the task at process tab.

but i dont get this
so if u kill apps it wastes battery
then how do u get rid of the apps running

keatlck said:
i prefer autokiller. if root then the preset work like charm. if not then need manual killing the task at process tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Used Autokiller
I Also Have Autokiller Installed, But More Or Less Only Use The Presets, Mainly Cause I'm Not Sure What The Settings Are Spose Tah Get Set Too.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

moharu said:
but i dont get this
so if u kill apps it wastes battery
then how do u get rid of the apps running
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They aren't "running". They are loaded in memory for quick access to them. If something else needs that memory, the os will unload something from memory itself.

moharu said:
but i dont get this
so if u kill apps it wastes battery
then how do u get rid of the apps running
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to. Period.

Advanced Task Killer does the job for me.

http://androinica.com/2010/05/07/go...-imply-task-killermanager-apps-are-pointless/

Taskkillers are for new android users coming from Windows. Lol.
Traced with Ultra Keyboard from my *Epic*

task killer pro is what i use to use back on ver 2.1 and 2.0.1 but if you ever get onto froyo or Gingerbread it's best not to even use a task killer at all.

moharu said:
but i dont get this
so if u kill apps it wastes battery
then how do u get rid of the apps running
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're really interested, you can read lengthy technical writeups on how Android manages its apps.
If not, then you need to accept the fact that those apps are cached in memory and are not actively processing or using battery and there is no reason to kill them (unless they are acting up, in which case, I believe Eclair, but at least Froyo, and up have a built in task killing feature). That memory will be cleared when another app takes priority.
Think about this: your automated task killer is showing you only have 5% free memory! You kill those apps and you now have 95% free. WHAT GOOD IS THAT MEMORY IF IT'S NOT BEING USED ANYWAY? I reiterate, the memory would have been cleared regardless when another app took priority.

the android os. plain and simple

[Q] Could someone please explain the JB multitasking?

Can anyone explain to me why the JellyBean multitasking is so damn weird? Whenever im using my phone and i open the task manager, i ALWAYS see a random app open which i never opened after rebooting. For example, rebooted my phone this morning and the only apps i opened were the phone app, messaging, mail. However, the task manager lists the following apps as open: "Android core apps, Tasks, Picasa Uploader, Social Manager, Notes".
So my questions is, Why are all these random apps open and eating up battery and memory? I guess android core apps must be system required to run in background at all times but what about the other ones? Is there a way to fix this?
I have used ICS and GB on htc inpire and sensation and both software versions would not show these "random" apps open, it would only show what ive opened and let run in the background.
Thanks for all the help.

mominn8266 said:
Can anyone explain to me why the JellyBean multitasking is so damn weird? Whenever im using my phone and i open the task manager, i ALWAYS see a random app open which i never opened after rebooting. For example, rebooted my phone this morning and the only apps i opened were the phone app, messaging, mail. However, the task manager lists the following apps as open: "Android core apps, Tasks, Picasa Uploader, Social Manager, Notes".
So my questions is, Why are all these random apps open and eating up battery and memory? I guess android core apps must be system required to run in background at all times but what about the other ones? Is there a way to fix this?
I have used ICS and GB on htc inpire and sensation and both software versions would not show these "random" apps open, it would only show what ive opened and let run in the background.
Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use an app called greenify in play store to keep apps from opening.
Here's the link to the apps XDA page http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2155737
Sent from my Elemental Venomized S-off HTC One XL

majortaylor said:
Use an app called greenify in play store to keep apps from opening.
Here's the link to the apps XDA page http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2155737
Sent from my Elemental Venomized S-off HTC One XL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ill try that app. This multitasking system really makes me mad. Why would anyone come up with a system like this that wastes battery and performance...

Unfortunately greenify only helps with non system apps. So notes, tasks, weather, social manager and etc will still have a mind of their own and open whenever they want.

mominn8266 said:
Thanks ill try that app. This multitasking system really makes me mad. Why would anyone come up with a system like this that wastes battery and performance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You obviously have no idea how the Android OS works.
Unless you have actual evidence that these apps are hurting your battery and performance, you should really stop worrying about it. I'm pretty sure the people who designed the OS have a pretty good idea of how to optimize its performance.

thebobmannh said:
You obviously have no idea how the Android OS works.
Unless you have actual evidence that these apps are hurting your battery and performance, you should really stop worrying about it. I'm pretty sure the people who designed the OS have a pretty good idea of how to optimize its performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you could help me understand how it works then? My only question / concern is why are apps that have never been opened running in the background?

mominn8266 said:
Maybe you could help me understand how it works then? My only question / concern is why are apps that have never been opened running in the background?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, didn't mean to be a douche (or, I did mean to, but shouldn't have been).
If you say you've "never opened" them, why do you even bother having them installed? You've been given a solution to this "problem," (Greenify), but honestly any benefit you see will more than likely be placebo. The OS is generally smart enough to know what to run and what not to run. Apps that are loaded into memory aren't necessarily "running" in the traditional sense, they're just in memory. It doesn't take any extra battery to have something in memory (memory is either powered on or not).

thebobmannh said:
Sorry, didn't mean to be a douche (or, I did mean to, but shouldn't have been).
If you say you've "never opened" them, why do you even bother having them installed? You've been given a solution to this "problem," (Greenify), but honestly any benefit you see will more than likely be placebo. The OS is generally smart enough to know what to run and what not to run. Apps that are loaded into memory aren't necessarily "running" in the traditional sense, they're just in memory. It doesn't take any extra battery to have something in memory (memory is either powered on or not).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unless causing wakelocks or syncing/updating when you don't want them too, I tend to just turn my Radios on and off as I need them.

thebobmannh said:
Sorry, didn't mean to be a douche (or, I did mean to, but shouldn't have been).
If you say you've "never opened" them, why do you even bother having them installed? You've been given a solution to this "problem," (Greenify), but honestly any benefit you see will more than likely be placebo. The OS is generally smart enough to know what to run and what not to run. Apps that are loaded into memory aren't necessarily "running" in the traditional sense, they're just in memory. It doesn't take any extra battery to have something in memory (memory is either powered on or not).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont be sorry, never took it offensively lol
I cant really uninstall system apps such as notes, tasks, social manager (even though i dont even have facebook or twitter installed). Trust me ive disabled all the apps in greenify and uninstalled all the apps i could that i didnt want.
I also have another question, When i open the "recent" app interface, does swiping to the right mean the app is closed or just taken off the list? is there a way to "kill" an app using the recent app menu?

mominn8266 said:
Dont be sorry, never took it offensively lol
I cant really uninstall system apps such as notes, tasks, social manager (even though i dont even have facebook or twitter installed). Trust me ive disabled all the apps in greenify and uninstalled all the apps i could that i didnt want.
I also have another question, When i open the "recent" app interface, does swiping to the right mean the app is closed or just taken off the list? is there a way to "kill" an app using the recent app menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure but there's an easy way to find out.
swipe it away then check in settings, apps, running. If it's still there then no, if it isn't then, yes.
If that doesn't work then no there isn't a way to kill in recent, if it does, then yes there is and you discovered how.