To taskkiller or not? - HTC Inspire 4G

So I've seen a lot of tossing back and forth on the issue. So having the task killer running less battery efficient than just closing out of some programs?

Many people will tell you "of course!" while other will say "how could you!?" This is a pretty long read, but it gives you many good reasons why you should not be using one. Personally I do not, but I'll occasionally kill poorly written apps that don't close and use the processor/battery.

Android is doing a great job managing tasks on its own, no need for battery-draining apps.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

The thing to do is do some extensive reading and decide for yourself. I have decided against it. Android does a good job of memory management. If you have a problem app, you can stop it with the device's own method.
Via the XDA app for the HTC Inspire

I personally do not use one, but I can say if I found an app to easily force close one app at a time I would probably use it. Maybe one with a favorites list or something. The stock method to force close a troublesome app is rather annoying IMO because it takes forever to find the right one in the huge list of apps, and I have some apps, Pandora is the most common, that occasionally will freeze when going out of range of WiFi while trying to connect, or when the app is in the recently used list for a long time.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

tjb433 said:
I personally do not use one, but I can say if I found an app to easily force close one app at a time I would probably use it. Maybe one with a favorites list or something. The stock method to force close a troublesome app is rather annoying IMO because it takes forever to find the right one in the huge list of apps, and I have some apps, Pandora is the most common, that occasionally will freeze when going out of range of WiFi while trying to connect, or when the app is in the recently used list for a long time.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use "Where's my droid power" (without quotes, of course). In this, it's rather easy to find any app you've run.
Hit the app you want, and hit details. That opens the screen to force close, clear cache, etc.
Via the XDA app for the HTC Inspire

Simba501 said:
I use "Where's my droid power" (without quotes, of course). In this, it's rather easy to find any app you've run.
Hit the app you want, and hit details. That opens the screen to force close, clear cache, etc.
Via the XDA app for the HTC Inspire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this, I just got it and will try it out, it has a pretty simple UI which I like, and the percentages seem to make sense although I kinda wonder how it figures them out lol, still would prefer a favorites list. But it definitely does make it easier to find the app u want to force close.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

tjb433 said:
Thanks for this, I just got it and will try it out, it has a pretty simple UI which I like, and the percentages seem to make sense although I kinda wonder how it figures them out lol, still would prefer a favorites list. But it definitely does make it easier to find the app u want to force close.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. Yeah, I'm not sure how it figures the percentages either, but it does seem roughly accurate.
Via the XDA app for the HTC Inspire

Not. No task killer will ever manage android memory as good/efficiently as the Linux kernel. If you want to make the kernel more aggressive at killing off processes and apps, you can very easily put an echo script in Init.d to change the minfree values. Some kernels(like mine) already do this. I have set so it will pretty much never drop to below 90-100 mb of free ram. Sense seems to run pretty good like this, and never bog down

Is there anyway to easily force close an app other than going thru a bunch of menus? I don't know of any other way to completely wipe the cache and history from the browser other than to force close it. Without force closing you can still use the back arrow to see where you have been. If i'm done browsing then the next time I browse I like to open the app with a brand new session and have it go to the home screen.
Thanks,
Ho'okani

There are two options I can think of off the top of my head. One is to use a different browser that will let you clear the cache on exit. I believe both Mirren and Firefox do this. Dolphin might also.
The second way is to use something like Process Monitor Widget which brings all running processes as close as two taps.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App

re:
Active Apps is a pretty nice Task Killer program. It similar to the Samsung line, in that it only allows you to close apps that you specifically open. This prevents you from closing the apps that will automatically (behind your back) re-open, and therefore use more battery life. It has 4 screens - 1 for task killing, 1 for quick uninstalls, 1 for RAM clearing, and 1 for storage capacity. Ad-filled version is Free from market, non-Ad version is like $2, but well worth it.
Set up a widget to monitor how many apps are running straight from your home page.

I've used a task killer for a long time, and I always thought it was great. I always noticed that my phone always ran more quickly than anyone elses comparable device. My battery however suffered. It seemed that where the task killer kept my phone flying through processes, when it was running it took the battery down. Now that I'm rooted and running gingerbread with sense3.0 I don't use it and my phone not only fly's but the battery is decent (as it can be).

Related

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.

[Q] how do you close apps?

so i found out how to force close apps under settings but theres gotta be a better way.
for example lets say i have browser, market, and facebook apps open. all showing under the window selection button. after time i get a ton of windows there and i don't want all of them open. how do i close them selectively without going through all the settings menu crud?
some apps let me close from within, most don't though and leave me stuck with a ton of windows (apps) open.
What you are asking isn't necessary unless an application has malfunctioned. There is no other way to close applications other than using the force close button in settings. Android handles this itself -- if this doesn't satisfy you download a task manager.
I don't think there is a way yet.
What Google needs to do is make those preview windows in the multitasking bar long-pressable for a menu to be able to close them.
modru2004 said:
so i found out how to force close apps under settings but theres gotta be a better way.
for example lets say i have browser, market, and facebook apps open. all showing under the window selection button. after time i get a ton of windows there and i don't want all of them open. how do i close them selectively without going through all the settings menu crud?
some apps let me close from within, most don't though and leave me stuck with a ton of windows (apps) open.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no need to manually close out apps. Since 2.1, Android has done an excellent job managing memory. It's been written many times (some directly from Google) that micromanaging your apps will actually hurt battery performance. You'll essentially be working against the system as opposed to helping it.
I am not sure if my task manager is working on this device. I use AutoKiller and when I killed task it doesn't appear as though anything closes. Can somebody confirm?
atoy74 said:
There is no need to manually close out apps. Since 2.1, Android has done an excellent job managing memory. It's been written many times (some directly from Google) that micromanaging your apps will actually hurt battery performance. You'll essentially be working against the system as opposed to helping it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
id like to point out thats NOT the issue.
the issue is the ton of windows you end up having to sort through unless you close them. its a quality of life thing, i don't like having unused unnecessary windows open that i have to sort through to get to the stuff i am using. its just bad form.
foldog22 said:
I am not sure if my task manager is working on this device. I use AutoKiller and when I killed task it doesn't appear as though anything closes. Can somebody confirm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will most likely not work until its rewritten. The way 2.2 and now 3.0 allow access is completely different then 2.1 and below. Plus as said about 200 million task there is 0 reason to run a task killer. If you wanna clear them out, even though there is 0 reason, reboot.
Okay, I get the memory management issue, but as the OP pointed out, I've got all sorts of icons in the "task bar area" (bottom right hand corner) that just sit there or keep coming back.
For example, I haven't listened to any music on my Xoom since yesterday morning, yet I've got an icon down there for Music and Rhapsody. Also, there's no way to clear some notifications.
There's got to be a way to at least clear out the notification isn't there?
you tap on the little icon music for example and you will see a little x on the right of it, click that and it closes it from the notification system
There is absolutely no reason to use a task killer or manually kill tasks. 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, etc. handle memory and tasks extremely well. In many cases, task killers will only cost you more battery and more slowdowns than letting tasks just run out and sit in memory. Unless you're seeing rogue or malfunctioning tasks in the background causing slowdowns, there is no need to kill them.
I do wish you could scroll through the recent running apps rather than only being able to access the latest 5, but spam closing background apps doesnt help at all.
arrtoodeetoo said:
I don't think there is a way yet.
What Google needs to do is make those preview windows in the multitasking bar long-pressable for a menu to be able to close them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I haven't used a task manager since I started learning how android actually works last year when starting to make apps, I can't help but want the same thing in honeycomb for malfunctioning apps. I think google left it out intentionally to discourage task-killing rampages by oblivious users.
Every time I read "you do not need to close apps" I want to scream. first hour of usage I had a second browser installed and it and the stock browser were conflicting with each other... all I wanted to do was a quick close of one of the browsers.
There are always a multitude of good reasons to want to close a background app. I completely understand the technical reasons why an app does not need to be closed, but from a user experience point of view, it should be made simple.
mjpacheco said:
Every time I read "you do not need to close apps" I want to scream. first hour of usage I had a second browser installed and it and the stock browser were conflicting with each other... all I wanted to do was a quick close of one of the browsers.
There are always a multitude of good reasons to want to close a background app. I completely understand the technical reasons why an app does not need to be closed, but from a user experience point of view, it should be made simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is exactly why in my first post I said "...isn't necessary unless an application has malfunctioned" otherwise such a thing is barely necessary. And in your case, the classic "Settings > ....... > Force Close" would have easily sufficed.
So what you are saying is that a method to kill tasks is necessary, just not often. I, for instance, just had the xda app stuck on the splash screen. I killed it and restarted the app and all was good. There is a potential for harm if used over zealously but at times it would be nice if there was a more convenient way to close an app when necessary.
Applications do not always behave as they should so to say there is no need to kill am app is making a naive assumption that every android app is perfect.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
martonikaj said:
I do wish you could scroll through the recent running apps rather than only being able to access the latest 5, but spam closing background apps doesnt help at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oddly enough, if you turn to portrait, you get a few more. So, technically its not a hard limit on 5, but rather (literally) limited by space on the screen.
Anyone want to place a bet as to what rev we see scrollability?
Sent from my Evo using the XDA App
JanetPanic said:
So what you are saying is that a method to kill tasks is necessary, just not often. I, for instance, just had the xda app stuck on the splash screen. I killed it and restarted the app and all was good. There is a potential for harm if used over zealously but at times it would be nice if there was a more convenient way to close an app when necessary.
Applications do not always behave as they should so to say there is no need to kill am app is making a naive assumption that every android app is perfect.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this happens use the built in task killer, settings/applications/running tab.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
bwcorvus said:
If this happens use the built in task killer, settings/applications/running tab.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did and it worked. As I said it would be nice to have a more convenient way of force stopping apps that are not behaving.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Closing apps isn't necessary for two reasons.
1. Android does a good job at managing apps on its own.
2. You have 1GB of RAM to work with.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
Watchdog does a considerable job since it only lets you know when an app is misbehaving. And since being on 2.3 its barely given me any alerts. Perhaps further proving the awesome memory management.
Sent from my Xperia X10 using XDA App
delete please

[Q] True Multitasking?

I'm wondering if there is an app that allows true backgrounding or multitasking in Android. In other words, whenever I switch an app and go somewhere else, and then return back to a previous app, I would expect that app to be in the same state as when I left it.
This currently only happens with a few apps, it's hit or miss. So far I haven't found a fix or an app that resolves this issue. Not to create a fight, but the iPhone had background apps that kept apps in memory so that when you returned the app was in the same exact state as when you left it. Thanks all.
I use the home key in order to do this and it works for the apps that i have done it with. Was just using it this way the other day to jump between file explore and an online post. I would use file explorer hit the home key go back to my browser. Then hit the home key while in the browser and would go back to file explorer and everything in both apps was as i left them. Try that see how it works for you.
Carlrobling said:
I use the home key in order to do this and it works for the apps that i have done it with. Was just using it this way the other day to jump between file explore and an online post. I would use file explorer hit the home key go back to my browser. Then hit the home key while in the browser and would go back to file explorer and everything in both apps was as i left them. Try that see how it works for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you hold down the Home key and it will show you your last 8 used apps.
ThEiiNoCeNT said:
Make sure you hold down the Home key and it will show you your last 8 used apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did not know that.
ThEiiNoCeNT said:
Make sure you hold down the Home key and it will show you your last 8 used apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I forgot to mention that although I don't usually go that far back in apps lol.
If you hit the back button to exit the app, it will usually exit it- hit the home button and it will background it. Android DOES 100% true multitasking, realize if you run low on ram, the kernel will kill old processes and start killing your oldest used apps as it needs to.
Yes i already knew of the home button function, but that DOES NOT always work! For example lets say im was in the middle of writing a tweet in Tweetcaster and i leave the app (by pressing home) to reference somthing in the Browser. If I then bring up the recent apps and reselect Tweetcaster, my unfinished tweet will be gone as the app will instead be in its starting screen.
Likewise another app that doesnt truly multitask is the WatchESPN app. You'll lose your video if you leave the app no matter what.
There are many other apps that behave like this. I was hoping there was a seperate app that offered "TRUE" multitasking or backgrounding, which keeps apps in memory so that u can return to an app in the exact state as you left it, but for ALL APPS and not just some. Thanks
99% of the apps I've used and use pick up right where I left off, sometimes even days later. There probably is a few that wont as you described, which is probably due more to how the programmer coded the app to exit.
I'd say most (all of my apps do) truely multitask
Don't try the recent apps just try clicking the app itself.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
Webos is the only one
sent from planet snarf
Carlrobling said:
Don't try the recent apps just try clicking the app itself.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't make any difference I don't think. Recent apps is just a list of those same program icons listed in a convenient pop-up window, ordered by usage.
Inspired Ace 1.0.1¦ XDA Premium
Scott_S said:
That doesn't make any difference I don't think. Recent apps is just a list of those same program icons listed in a convenient pop-up window, ordered by usage.
Inspired Ace 1.0.1¦ XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be not sure. It's just the way I do it and always works for me.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
Carlrobling said:
Could be not sure. It's just the way I do it and always works for me.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever your preference, I was just mentioning I don't think there's any functional difference that would make one way any more effective than the other.
Inspired Ace 1.0.1¦ XDA Premium
Scott_S said:
Whatever your preference, I was just mentioning I don't think there's any functional difference that would make one way any more effective than the other.
Inspired Ace 1.0.1¦ XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree it probably doesn't matter which way. Could just be the app he is using. Some apps are set up to shut down with the back button and/or the home key. So at this point if either of those don't work then I'm out of ideas. I do know that android caches the apps you use so they should be saved in there current state. If they are not then maybe try a restart as your memory may be low so android is closing out these apps to compensate. One last question are you using a task killer/manager.
jaw2012 said:
I'm wondering if there is an app that allows true backgrounding or multitasking in Android. In other words, whenever I switch an app and go somewhere else, and then return back to a previous app, I would expect that app to be in the same state as when I left it.
This currently only happens with a few apps, it's hit or miss. So far I haven't found a fix or an app that resolves this issue. Not to create a fight, but the iPhone had background apps that kept apps in memory so that when you returned the app was in the same exact state as when you left it. Thanks all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Taskswitcher from the market for exactly this on Atrix. Had no problems yet and didn't drain the battery either.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
di11igaf said:
If you hit the back button to exit the app, it will usually exit it- hit the home button and it will background it. Android DOES 100% true multitasking, realize if you run low on ram, the kernel will kill old processes and start killing your oldest used apps as it needs to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that Android CAN offer true multitasking, but thats NOT 100% always the case.
As others have said, some apps don't behave for those times when you minimize and not exit the app because you want to return to the app. WatchESPN, TweetCaster, native Android music app, and in-browser streaming video are only a few of the Apps that fail to multitask or "background".
For those instances, it seems Android offers a setting to the developer to either have the app behave in the background for easy multitasking, or it also allows developers to basically kill the app once its in the background, making "True Multitasking" anything but!
So thats why I was hoping there was an app that took this "backgrounding" option out of the apps hands and instead stored all apps into memory that you wanted to be backgrounded. For instance you could background apps either by a hotkey action or you could kill an app so that it doesn't background, this way not all opened apps get backgrounded and use up all system resources.
Anyway, thats what I've been looking for and haven't found an implementation like this. Hopefully I've just overlooked and someone can enlighten me?! Thanks all.
Yea would like to know as well. Blackberry playbook does true multitasking like a PC. Games and youtube video run in backgroud without pausing when we switch.
Havent come across that in android. Maybe i missed it somewhere. I think. Android has task switching' instead of multitasking?
Sent by Satan from Mordor using XDA Premium App
So you would actually want a video to keep playing when something else had fullscreen focus? That just doesn't make sense. As a developer, I'll tell you that it is certainly possible, but FFS why? Now if I'm listening to music, that makes sense. Run it in the background while I'm looking up stuff on the web or something, but most audio apps DO do that.
It's not a matter of the device being incapable, it's a matter of what's practical.
Gene Poole said:
So you would actually want a video to keep playing when something else had fullscreen focus? That just doesn't make sense. As a developer, I'll tell you that it is certainly possible, but FFS why? Now if I'm listening to music, that makes sense. Run it in the background while I'm looking up stuff on the web or something, but most audio apps DO do that.
It's not a matter of the device being incapable, it's a matter of what's practical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel that we should be able to run youtube videos / games running in background just like a PC. I mean our phones are as powerful as PCs from few years back. Say I have one tab running email/browsing and other a video. There may be a time where you want to quickly switch to another task/app and move back to watching the video. It may sound impractical but there should be an option to have this.
Else its just 'task switcher' like ios > 4. I like the way BB playbook has TRUE multitasking.
Sent by Satan from Mordor using XDA Premium App
I may get some flak for this but webos is the shizznit at true multitasking and the way all these companies steel from each other these days and the palm people that went to Google they should implement the card stile multitasking on Android some how. That would be killer. Don't make it look just like webos but something like it.

High memory being used.

Hey what's up everyone. Anyone know why there is so much RAM being used on the phone? As soon as I bought the phone without installing any apps, I'll open the task manger and see over 430mb's of memory being used, giving me a little over 100mb's left. I'll run 3 apps, bring it into the 80-90mb's left and the phone gets laggy.
Anyone know why the phone is using so much memory with nothing running In the Task manager? I never see it under 400mb's of use.
Thanks
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Is it the same after a reboot?
For my Sensation, I've noticed that after a few times using it and playing with it, the avaliable RAM decreases even if I have no more than 5 apps running
Rebooting the Sensation gives me fresh RAM.
Also you may use a taskiller or task manager, that will show you much more running tasks than what is displayed by the stock HTC task manager
HTC's task manager is not even showing the right amount of ram. Go into menu->settings->applications->running and look at your ram there.
I just pulled the battery out and turned the phone back on. Says 468mb's are being used. Have around 110 availible.
Borodin, thanks. I'll try that. But I've noticed after 5 apps running. The phone will get real laggy. I came from an HTC HD7 and I loved how smooth it was. Not seeing that in this phone much...but still like it.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
I'm not saying that it's not ridiculous that Sense 3.0 is using that much RAM, I'm just saying that may be we have more mem available then we think.
In my phone right now:
HTC's readings are 438 used/120 free
Android's readings are 253 used/263 free.
Phone definitely needs a make over as Sense is just bogging it down.
Supposedly has something to do with the 2.3 Android system
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Yes I don't know why the two are reporting different amounts. But I have a feeling that the one in the running services is showing the correct value.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
I installed ADW ex & checked a few times to see how much ram I had and it shows a little over 200mb free(in tsk mngr). Not to mention this thing is now snappy as hell.
Sent from my HTC Feeling.
Strange, I can reach a max of 338Mb free (according to a task killer and an external task manager from the market) after a reboot and after having killed all unecessary tasks. I use settings=>apps=>running apps to kill some tasks, and taskiller to kill some other, because both of them don't display all of the running tasks and display some that the other doesn't display.
After two days of (eavy?) use, doing the same trick to kill al unwantesd tasks, I can't go over 200 or sometimes 150MB so I reboot.
Just like most modern os you don't have to worry about memory. Android will take care of it. Also remember, if you're not using the memory its useless. It's better to have 10mb of memory free always as long as you don't notice issues. Apart from apps there are cached apps, buffers and other things loaded to keep the phone speedy. Just don't look or think about it and definitely don't use a task killer.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
.....or at least, use a task killer very carefuly if you use one, set it to ignore all the system tasks, and also all tasks the OS will always keep on puting ON again indefinitly if they are killed, your wallpaper, any media related app, etc
(after each reboot, I have Gmail, the reader, news, weather, facebook, messaging, etc opened in the background for nothing, I definitly prefer killing it as they will start again normaly if I need them)
But right, except for N64oid and Fpse, I have never been bothered by too low RAM on the Sensation. And when that happened on these 2 emulators, it was after 2 days of heavy use without any reboot, so....^^
mobilehavoc said:
Just like most modern os you don't have to worry about memory. Android will take care of it. Also remember, if you're not using the memory its useless. It's better to have 10mb of memory free always as long as you don't notice issues. Apart from apps there are cached apps, buffers and other things loaded to keep the phone speedy. Just don't look or think about it and definitely don't use a task killer.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you 100%, and again with your comment about the task killer. Don't install a task killer, and don't obsess about killing about with the built in task killer. Since 2.2 android has done an amazing job at managing and using available resources. It's pre-loading services and apps into memory to have things launch sooner, etc. When the system runs out of available memory it will kill whatever apps it feels it needs to kill in order to give the smoothest experience possible.
Paging Dr B said:
I agree with you 100%, and again with your comment about the task killer. Don't install a task killer, and don't obsess about killing about with the built in task killer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason I have a task killer now is if anything is loading for no reason. With that I found that VTOK & Movies by Flixster were always running & causing the phone to never sleep & draining my battery. They were always listed as in the foreground (along with Tmobile's Wifi Calling & MyAccount apps).
Bloatware!! The sooner it can be removed, the better.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk
I've noticed that rosie uses alot of ram on every sense build. But 3.0 is a little over the top. It gets killed quite easily as well after using the xda app, browser, and download manager for example. And then sense has to completely reload... Htc obviously noticed it a little late in the game and was quick to make miniscule changes in a desperate attempt to conserve ram usage. No scrolling wallpaper? On a dualcore 1.2ghz processor? Really? Lockscreen lag? Lag at all? Can't wait fire a cooked sense 3.0 rom. The difference will be tremendous!
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Android is at its most efficient when the memory is being fully utilised. Don't think of memory usage in Windows terms.
crx4xharder said:
No scrolling wallpaper? On a dualcore 1.2ghz processor? Really?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask and you shall recieve, and that's what HTC just did. The no-scrolling wallpaper is considered a UI feature just as it is on the Galaxy S 2. It's also standard on ADW-EX and Launcher pro. I personally dig the stationary wallpaper.
what have you got so bad against task killers??
You just say "don't use it", without any explanation....
I use one, like I do on my 2 other Android devices, my Sensation is extremely stable, and I don't want to lose fps when I use Fpse or N64oid, sorry to tell you you're wrong: having less than 150MB ram, because many apps are running in the background, when starting one of these 2 emus, makes fps drop, or frameskip less efficient.
Try it yourself if you don't believe me.
i900frenchaddict said:
what have you got so bad against task killers??
You just say "don't use it", without any explanation....
I use one, like I do on my 2 other Android devices, my Sensation is extremely stable, and I don't want to lose fps when I use Fpse or N64oid, sorry to tell you you're wrong: having less than 150MB ram, because many apps are running in the background, when starting one of these 2 emus, makes fps drop, or frameskip less efficient.
Try it yourself if you don't believe me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I don't use emulators. I also don't have a sensation, so I can't comment on gaming on one. I have however played just about every game imaginable on my SGS1 and have never had to worry about closing an app to play any game. The main reason why I tell people like the OP to not use task killers is because they tend to begin automatically killing tasks(the people using them, not the app on it's own), and since the newer versions of android behave they do, those tasks just end up starting again which then leads to an endless loop of task killing, and battery drains for no reason. I also make it a habit of restarting my phones once a day or two, so I never really give the devices to get bogged down with extra crap running. I'm just saying that's my experience. If you like it, then so be it. Kill away.
Another thing you may want to try is, backing out of all of your running apps instead of being addicted to the home button. Home leaves the apps running and using resources; Backing out closes them and keeps the universe in a zen like state. I love the home button, when I know i'm going back to use a certain app immediately. If not then I back out.
allright, I agree with what you say.
Luckilly, I've set my Taskiller not to endlessly kill tasks that always start again (and actually, Taskiller doesn't display them, or don't kill them automatically or in one click on the widget, only if you go to the app itself and select force kill, what I never do knowing they will start again asap).
I mainly use it, from its widget, to kill everything related to messaging, gmail, facebook, reader, tutorial, etc, that tend to start automatically and never stop when I connect datas or reboot the Sensation.
I also most of the time try to back out instead of home button, but for a few apps, it may be loooonng because it will display a lot of pages back before killing the app.
As for newer versions of RAM management, it also depends on the ROM I suppose.
With my stock SFR/Vodafone french ROM, after, let's say, 2 days of use, the RAM goes under 170Mb, even if I close all tasks, I don't know where RAM is drained, I'm pretty sure my stock ROM is responsible for it, so I reboot every day or every 2 days too.

[Q][Android] Keep app alive...?

Hello all,
Just wondering.
I know there's a load of task managers etc that kill apps, but:
Are there any apps that you can use to keep an app alive and not close in the background. e.g. If you press home, the built in memory manager won't kill it eventually.
Thanks.
If you are using a task killer this feature would be called "whitelist".
Thanks for your reply.
I'm not using a task killer, but android automatically kills tasks after a while if in the background.
I'm basically looking for an app that will bypass this, for apps I choose.
Get an app called WatchDog. It's a task killer that doesn't mindlessly kill your apps (Which actually waste more battery for those apps that instantly reboot.) and you can whitelist apps.
Got watchdog, but this doesn't do what I need. I need the option/ability to be able to keep an app in the background indefinitely, unless I choose otherwise.
I think I may have found the answer in another post. Paul22000 has stated that it's built into Android and the only way around this may be to get it built into a custom ROM.
It might help if you explain which app and why, there may be another way.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
To cut a long story short. I'm trying to build an app in app inventor that stays alive, but it's not possible within app inventor, so I'm trying to find a work around.
Right on... But why do you want too create an app that never shuts down? Have to ask because I am a little intrigued here
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
So that it works properly
it will work properly its just that android will close it if it feels it is using to much memory in the back round some of my apps stay on all day as long as it doesnt consume to much space
evilstewie23 said:
it will work properly its just that android will close it if it feels it is using to much memory in the back round some of my apps stay on all day as long as it doesnt consume to much space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But what if I don't want android to close it...? I simply want android to ignore it.
Just Me said:
But what if I don't want android to close it...? I simply want android to ignore it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that's possible. If Android decides that you app needs to be closed (e.g. cause it's idle, eats too much memory, etc.) it'll shut it down, no matter what.
You can try to build your app as a service, as services run in the "background" and are less likely to be killed by Android.
This is not possible in App Inventor, which is why I'm looking for a work around.
Haven't found a solution?
I'm trying the same thing. My Optimus 2x kills Opera and Spotify faaar too fast. Common use case: Surf->Home->Send text message->open Opera, then it has to be restarted, not loaded from memory. I'm using AutoKiller now, which is supposed to be able to keep apps alive if I manually set a variable in it (oom), but it's very temporary so I'm guessing it doesn't work too well.
frunns said:
Haven't found a solution?
I'm trying the same thing. My Optimus 2x kills Opera and Spotify faaar too fast. Common use case: Surf->Home->Send text message->open Opera, then it has to be restarted, not loaded from memory. I'm using AutoKiller now, which is supposed to be able to keep apps alive if I manually set a variable in it (oom), but it's very temporary so I'm guessing it doesn't work too well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree....
I use Dolphin Mini, and if I receive a phone call, just about every single time I go back into Dolphin Mini, it has to reload. Even if I only had one or two tabs open. It's really frustrating... This happens on my EVO 4G, I hope the Epic Touch 4G doesn't have this issue (or any devices with higher ROM storage).
I looking for a solution to..
My situation: When driving in my car I run 3 apps Copilot, FlitsNav and MySpeed.. Copilot is usually my foreground app.. FlitsNav is an app that should pop up when I'm near mobile speedcams.. Sometimes it gets killed by android (even though the icon stays present in the taskbar)
any suggestions on keeping it alive? (I though about restarting the app every 5mins or so with tasker.. haven't tried yet)
If you have root, try the v6 supercharger
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
That I'd one thing I actually miss from the iPhone. I'd keep apps open all the time and they would look the same when I opened them a week later. In Android my apps tend to shut down and I have to navigate back to where I was, open tabs again, etc. Can be annoying.
verrox said:
If you have root, try the v6 supercharger
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, I'll have to do some reading before I'll try that one..
verrox said:
If you have root, try the v6 supercharger
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is hit or miss and 90% of the time its miss

Categories

Resources