Related
I'm no developer, scripter, or any type of person with a thorough understanding of software but I will try to offer a suggestion to those who wish to give me the time of day.
After flashing countless ROMs looking for the fastest and most simple platform to use everyday I have discovered a few things that might help if people agree with me or not. After loading every ROM and first booting... I realize that Advanced Task Manager shows the available system memory at less than half and i haven't even started running apps or installing programs yet. Processes start when the phone boots up that are running in background (asleep but still using system resources) and i believe that a fair percentage of them are not required by the everyday user.
Why is Alarm Clock running in the background when i haven't started it? Why is Email client running and i haven't setup exchange or an email account? Messaging, Maps, Settings, Gallery, these all start up without being physically executed and are using resources. If there is a reason for them to be there like not being able to receive SMS if Messaging is not running, then that is fine and im an idiot... But if there is no need to startup the application from boot then why do it?
My second point is when packages are installed as the ROM is flashed, they cant be uninstalled right? well what if we didnt want tethering apps and facebook apps and proprietary software (Moto apps)? Most of these are available in the market and if not, a 5 min Google search will find an .apk on the net anyway.
So how about a bare bones install with the essentials and nothing else? Youtube, Phone, Messaging, Gmail, Contacts, MT Browser , Maps, Calculator... then anything else can be added at the users will.
If anyone else has something to say... or prove me wrong, then please elaborate.
If you delete the alarm clock task, you're likely to sleep into the morning as the alarm won't go off in the morning. Mail is probably needed for pop3 checks (I rely on my google account).
Anyway, I usualy remove the apps widgets from the ZIP which I don't need prior to flashing, resulting in a liter ROM and less processes which I don't need running in background.
I also used to add the apps I use (ASTRO...) directly into /system/app prior to flashing, putting them to the system partition and ... at this point I am not sure.... this leaves one with more space (internal memory) accessible for apps from market (if you do not use APP2SD). I stopped however doing so, as this makes ROM upgrading painful, as you do have to prepare each .zip before flash.
With regard to operating memory you preferably use either Taskkiller or have your systems autokill file optimized as many ROMS do (CursorSense). Refer to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622666
I'm not Linux-guy but I know that Android does this to put those programs in memory ASAP because those are usually the first few apps many people use once they boot up their phone -- meaning those apps, when opened, will quickly open and run faster.
Remember, Linux is made to handle all those opened apps and resources; "Unused RAM is useless RAM".
hol17 said:
I'm not Linux-guy but I know that Android does this to put those programs in memory ASAP because those are usually the first few apps many people use once they boot up their phone -- meaning those apps, when opened, will quickly open and run faster.
Remember, Linux is made to handle all those opened apps and resources; "Unused RAM is useless RAM".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct!!
People have to stop comparing Android (linux) with WinMo devices, they handle RAM completely different.
dione1200 said:
Correct!!
People have to stop comparing Android (linux) with WinMo devices, they handle RAM completely different.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, true.... and well known. However Linux was developped for servers and not mobile phones.
Launching an application into free RAM is slower than pulling it from a suspended state. So much is true.
But first having to free up up RAM (by killing tasks) before launching the application into the freed up RAM is certainly slower than launching into free RAM. Probably that's why guys are tweaking around, as noted in the link of my post above. Also in my opinion the default settings are not optimal, that's why I use tweaked settings. Probably that depends on how you use your phone.
But I agree. Coming from Windows the whole LINUX concept is a f**** nightmare. There are thousands of different methods (Cache/Compcache/ Ext Cache)...
So it's good to have an expert around. Could you please enlight me, whether the system partition is of fixed size or size is been alocated during flashing. In other words, is the Userdata size fixed or depending on the system size? .... and is there a benefit of putting apps to the /system/app as they will go to system parition and I will have more internal storage available?
Thanks in advance.
feicher said:
So it's good to have an expert around. Could you please enlight me, whether the system partition is of fixed size or size is been alocated during flashing. In other words, is the Userdata size fixed or depending on the system size? .... and is there a benefit of putting apps to the /system/app as they will go to system parition and I will have more internal storage available?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Android Device is divided Into partitions -> (Device memory)
1. Hboot (spl)
2. Radio
3. Data (Where u store ur data apps / passwords / other thing)
4. Cache (temp)
5. System (system dump)
6. Boot (to start the device)
so on
Now partition of memory card is important becoz
1. EXT2/3/4 More Amount of Data Section -> if device memory is less
2. Swap -> To fast up the system
*I m Not best Explaination giving person but i think this is understandable language in which i hav written
I think I side with the OP on this one, I would rather have a rom with less in it and then choose to install Amazon MP3 or whatever by myself. Generally speaking you could argue less apps = better performance, as there will be less happening in the background. That said, I have included Facebook in my rom.
However Linux was developped for servers and not mobile phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really true, Linux is just the kernel and can be ported to anything, it's been in embedded small devices for years and not just installed on servers.
ahmgsk said:
Your Android Device is divided Into partitions -> (Device memory)
1. Hboot (spl)
2. Radio
3. Data (Where u store ur data apps / passwords / other thing)
4. Cache (temp)
5. System (system dump)
6. Boot (to start the device)
so on
Now partition of memory card is important becoz
1. EXT2/3/4 More Amount of Data Section -> if device memory is less
2. Swap -> To fast up the system
*I m Not best Explaination giving person but i think this is understandable language in which i hav written
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the feedback! Most appreciated and helps me to improve my general understanding . I find it really hard to come by information, that is not absolutely basic or high level expert.
Thanks again.
Ive got a clock radio that wakes me up... if i have lagging issues with my phone what i do is use advanced task manager to stop all processes im not using (alarm clock, maps, messaging, email, etc) and everything runs fast again.
No use in reboot cause all the apps start again from boot.
ive tried removing zips from rom before flashing... when i goto upgrade the update stops cause of the missing files > incomplete manifest. is this cause you have to re-zip and sign it?
You can either do that and re-sign the zip file.
OR you could just close this thread and use adb to remove things that you dont want from the ROMs.
PS. root explorer also works wonders.
feicher said:
If you delete the alarm clock task, you're likely to sleep into the morning as the alarm won't go off in the morning. Mail is probably needed for pop3 checks (I rely on my google account).
Anyway, I usualy remove the apps widgets from the ZIP which I don't need prior to flashing, resulting in a liter ROM and less processes which I don't need running in background.
I also used to add the apps I use (ASTRO...) directly into /system/app prior to flashing, putting them to the system partition and ... at this point I am not sure.... this leaves one with more space (internal memory) accessible for apps from market (if you do not use APP2SD). I stopped however doing so, as this makes ROM upgrading painful, as you do have to prepare each .zip before flash.
With regard to operating memory you preferably use either Taskkiller or have your systems autokill file optimized as many ROMS do (CursorSense). Refer to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622666
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i try to remove an app from a ZIP it wont let me flash the ROM. even when i replace an app with a newer version renaming it to match the one im replacing, it still doesnt work. what do i have to edit in order to allow the update to go through?
You need to sign the zip file again. Google signing ROMs, its the first thing that pops up.
So which is it?
In my opinion, startup auditor is the easiest to use and has a friendly UI.
Autostarts on the other hand allows you to do much more and is also fairly easy to understand..
I made a poll, check em out, and leave your vote!
Best startup manager ?
Best startup manager
Do you think any startup manager is best than MSconfig :shifty:
Its free guys , well it has many flaws like user can't add any new
program into it , Many applications in market provide u the best
solution to manage the startup programs. That's why user has to go for
other utilities.Well I can suggest u one of them which I found really
useful namely Advanced system optimizer , basically it boost ur PC
performance by optimizing it.U can use its startup manager that manages
your startup program on win7 as well as vista no matter 64 bit or 32 bit
OS. It is available on CNET & Tucows
Download it & have a look on other applications including startup manager
embedded in it as well.
Lemme know how it goes
Thread moved to General.
dred.lukes said:
Best startup manager
Do you think any startup manager is best than MSconfig :shifty:
Its free guys , well it has many flaws like user can't add any new
program into it , Many applications in market provide u the best
solution to manage the startup programs. That's why user has to go for
other utilities.Well I can suggest u one of them which I found really
useful namely Advanced system optimizer , basically it boost ur PC
performance by optimizing it.U can use its startup manager that manages
your startup program on win7 as well as vista no matter 64 bit or 32 bit
OS. It is available on CNET & Tucows
Download it & have a look on other applications including startup manager
embedded in it as well.
Lemme know how it goes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he talk from Android and not from PC.
Back to topic
Why any startup Manager?`Android kills the apps if RAM is needed for another Apllication. So why you want to deactivate them from starting?
Right, i was talking android apps.. In the android apps sections
I find that on my Evo if I don't do "some" kind of management (stock or root) I get slowdowns when it reaches <50MB free ram.
Many ways to fix that.. The best is probably adjusting the low-mem "killer" that android already comes with.
However, I find that also using a startup manager not only speeds up boot and prevents things like the Launcher from closing when say I click the camera button and about 5 applications run code (leaving little RAM and killing off the hog, Launcher).
Apps like autostarts let you disable everything except say, the camera..
There are such triggers all over android such as screen turning off, audio becoming too noisy LOL, different buttons, bootup that apps can register for.
If you disable the app from being accessed everytime one of those actions occurs, then you are in control of everything that runs code when you are unaware.
I am against task managers and auto task killers, but this is a viable way of making sure nothing runs without your knowledge.
Startup Cleaner 2.0
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
I think Startup Manager
im using Startup manager it's easy to use + it's free
Refine Efficiency Pro (http://refineandroid.doodlekit.com/)
Refine Efficiency Pro.
It has 2 approaches for rooted and not rooted devices. As you know it's quite long to load booting settings of apps on a device. Refine Efficiency caches this info during a launch and show it quite quickly second time and after.
The approach for rooted devices is reliable. 100% the app will not run on boot.
The approach for not rooted devices is just a killing of the app on boot.
The first time Refine Efficiency can not turn on/off booting settings of the app it proposes to switch to the not rooted version.
It's pretty usable to manage startup settings in Refine Efficiency Pro.
- start up manager (root and non root(no guarantee));
- cache cleaner (root and non root(individually)), no sd card cache support;
- market history cleaner;
- task killer;
- task scheduling.
Also browser history cleaner.
Please see Google Android issue 14889
Thanks for this excellent thread.
I've heard good things about Autorun Killer.
Here another issue:
Issue 15707: Allow choosing the startup applications - Startup manager
I can`t imagine some Desktop OS without any user "autorun control".
Would it be acceptable a Windows without msconfig?
Maybe google wants to have its apps running whenever they want, and this is a privilege too for corporations as Amazon, Verizon, etc.
Best regards!
Autorun Manager
autorun killer is the best.
I tried them all
autorun manager for me.
easy to stop startup processes (and for those who say android auto frees up memory theres a world of difference between starting with 110mb free memory, and starting with 40mb free memory)
But it also has a lot more in the advanced view when you can disable as many of the recievers as you want. My galaxy ace boots up with 110mb free and nothing major is disabled
topdnbass said:
So which is it?
In my opinion, startup auditor is the easiest to use and has a friendly UI.
Autostarts on the other hand allows you to do much more and is also fairly easy to understand..
I made a poll, check em out, and leave your vote!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Autostarts
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
i think..
the best is when u use Creed ROM...
the StartUp Manager is Awesome..
My vote goes to Autostarts. I tried tinkering the two highest voted startup cleaner apps in the poll. Sure, the Startup Manager was really easy to use but it's so straightforward that it kinda missed a lot of what Autostarts can do. Startup Manager simply does what it says it can do--stopping unnecessary apps that starts up during boot, nothing more, nothing less. Autostarts, on the other hand, does more. It can stop apps from running during startup and a lot more. It can control apps from running too on some events that happen on your device like when you turn WiFi on, when you change the date and time, etc. I was able to stop widgets from showing up on the Add>Widgets menu. Don't quote me on this though. This is just based from my limited knowledge on evaluating stuffs.
I chose Startup Manager.
I deleted v3.8 to install 4.1. The trouble is that when I try to choose the custom application that I already had disabled with your Startup Manager, it weren't there. It was not on the list of the applications in Startup Manager. Can you help me?
download magic locker and the steve jobs magic locker theme it is a steve jobs lockscreen and i love it
I tried top startup managers but I finally settled with the option which is in 'Clean master' app called Autostart manager (this feature appears if the device is rooted) and i think it is working very well.
What are some must have apps for our phone after being rooted and making phone quicker? Plz give details of what app will do if you post any and thanks.
I would love to see some replies to this as well! I think most people use advanced task killer to speed up their phones but hey we will learn maybe.
Speeding up Apps
I am convinced that task killers do not work as you might expect. The way that Android works with memory is that for most apps there is little use to killing an inactive task. Most apps don't leach memory in the phase where they are unused, and are deleted from memory after being unused the longest. If there is a sudden need for additional memory, the built in garbage collector in Android kills old processes, otherwise the app sits dormant in memory. If you want to start up that app again, the memory is just reactivated. Task killers just kill apps that are sitting dormant for no real reason--they don't gain you speed for certain. They MIGHT help if an app doesn't play properly with memory, but generally you won't notice an advantage to doing this, in fact things might slow down(you'll have to relaunch that app to use it again rather than reactivate it). The only "speed up" apps I use are:
Quick Settings--To quickly access commonly used dettings rather than digging through the list.
SetCPU--WHich allows you to overclock or underclock your CPU. In reality, I used this more to underclock than overclock(preferring battery to speed).
and Swiftkey X--Which speeds up your data input through its wicked cool prediction of what I want to type next. Other than that you have a Tegra II dual core beast. Its already fast. Find a good EXT4 based system(ext4 is the system's internal drive format...ext3 is the standard buil, but ext4 is faster(somewhat). Also use a good ROM and enjoy. How fast do you need it to be? I don't experience much lag at all with my phone.
setcpu for speed and improving battery life.
Autokiller memory optimizer (optimum is a good setting to start at), autorun manager, sd booster & juice plotter.
Those are good tools for performance, battery life and understanding how much time you have left. Depending on your preference, juice defender also. I love it, adds hours of life to my phone, but some people don't like it, all depends on your preference I guess.
I agree with gpmartinson also on task killers, their are tools to manage your phone without using such a raw and possible hurtful or annoying app.
Don't forget, their are many threads identical to this one also.
Eh, if your interested, here's a list of my apps: http://www.appbrain.com/user/bmann_420
I'm just posting this cause I like to see other peoples lists also (at least somewhat android educated users' lists) lol =)
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
simi clock
set cpu
go sms
launcher pro
player pro
quickpic
camera 360
Root Explorer and SetCPU! Root explorer can really do it all.
Power Amp music player(obviously free)
That's all I can think of
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
GO SMS
GO Launcher
Root explorer
Picsay Pro
Quick Pic
Setcpu
Vidtrim Pro
Beautiful Widgets
1) Titanium Backup
2) SetCPU or Pimp my CPU
3) App Remover
4) Root Explorer
5) QR Droid Private
6) Camcard
The only way to make the phone "quicker" is to install an efficient rom along with an overclocked kernel.
1. Titanium backup
2. SMS backup
3. LG 2X/Black/#D Notofications
4. Launcher Pro
5. Beautiful Widgets
6. Skype
7. Tune-in radio.
8. Soundhound
1. Handcent
2. Meebo
3. Soundhound
4. Pandora
5. Minimalistic Text
6. Myweather
7. Google Reader
Newsrob Pro (std is fine too)
Handcent SMS
Tweetdeck
Beautiful Widgets
LauncherPro Plus
SMS Backup+
Titanium Backup
Rom Manager
Dolphin Browser
Wapedia (wikipedia app)
Spare Parts+ is one I did not see anyone list. I use it to speed up windows animations a transitions. Set the speed to fast and it is like having a new phone.
Juice Defender - free edition was enough for me
DSP Manager - a must if you love music (but then who doesnt love music)
gpmartinson said:
I am convinced that task killers do not work as you might expect. The way that Android works with memory is that for most apps there is little use to killing an inactive task. Most apps don't leach memory in the phase where they are unused, and are deleted from memory after being unused the longest. If there is a sudden need for additional memory, the built in garbage collector in Android kills old processes, otherwise the app sits dormant in memory. If you want to start up that app again, the memory is just reactivated. Task killers just kill apps that are sitting dormant for no real reason--they don't gain you speed for certain. They MIGHT help if an app doesn't play properly with memory, but generally you won't notice an advantage to doing this, in fact things might slow down(you'll have to relaunch that app to use it again rather than reactivate it). The only "speed up" apps I use are:
Quick Settings--To quickly access commonly used dettings rather than digging through the list.
SetCPU--WHich allows you to overclock or underclock your CPU. In reality, I used this more to underclock than overclock(preferring battery to speed).
and Swiftkey X--Which speeds up your data input through its wicked cool prediction of what I want to type next. Other than that you have a Tegra II dual core beast. Its already fast. Find a good EXT4 based system(ext4 is the system's internal drive format...ext3 is the standard buil, but ext4 is faster(somewhat). Also use a good ROM and enjoy. How fast do you need it to be? I don't experience much lag at all with my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watchdog Task Manager works. If you set it up right, all it does is monitor, never autokills. If an app starts using excessive cpu cycles it alerts you. It is very useful in finding apps that kill your battery.
Sent from my Incredible 2
Launcher Pro
Titanium Backup
Tasker
Battery Notifier
GEICO BROSTACHE
I made this for people who saw that they're phones can do lot better!
For example, I have an Optimus One, and I get performance lot better than nexus one!
Things market with "*" need root!!! At your own risk, blahblah (wevall know the disclaimer!)
Please help if you know something else...
Here it is:
1. Storage place
If you have an app on SD, it will have the worst performance, because SD is hard to read... if you have no place for it (e.g. a game) just increase the SD speed* to the highest you can... (I get lot better performance when set to 4096 than on 2048)
Here is performance based on storage location:
SD<Internal<ROM (This is why stock browser is so fast on some devices)
So, if you have enough space on your ROM* memory, use apps2rom from market, or move the apps to internal, then take the apk from /data/app/ and move it to /system/app/, reboot and enjoy!
2. Overclocking*
This is well known, so nothing to say here...
Some devices, like the Optimus one, have same voltage at 122-480 and same voltage for 600-806, so overclocking will be actually better, because tasks finish faster.
3. Never clear cache, unless you need to!
Gonna make it simple: no cache, loading speed 100%... with cache, 140%,
Speed may vary from website to website!!!!
But, if apps have problem with checkboxes or something, clear it!
E.G.: a checkbox wouldn't open on browser, cleared cache and it worked...
E.G.²: the es file explorer showed me wrong icons... cleaned cache and enjoyed!
'4. No background tasks, but no task killers!
I use app swipe from market, it shows me what apps are open, in running tab... I swipe and it gets me to fc android settings window (I force stop the app from app details)
Task killers don't work for android 2.2+, it will just be an epic failure to your battery and system!
5. Autostarts*
IMO, this is the best app I have!
6. Clean up of useless apps (may need root)
On my Optimus one, the bloatware could be uninstalled, with an error, but it was uninstalled!
I used to have 150 apps, now I have 90 and I am happier! Performance rocks, nothing lost, awesome!
What system apps to uninstall... if it is not in the list, it is safe to uninstall!
7. Custom ROM and kernel*
Custom ROMs get rid of all the bloatware crap, is tweaked, and trust me, it is worth it!!
Kernels can make, actually, too much influence! They will simply simplify, or make it better, don't hesitate to use them!
vlt96 said:
I made this for people who saw that they're phones can do lot better!
For example, I have an Optimus One, and I get performance lot better than nexus one!
Things market with "*" need root!!! At your own risk, blahblah (wevall know the disclaimer!)
Please help if you know something else...
Here it is:
1. Storage place
If you have an app on SD, it will have the worst performance, because SD is hard to read... if you have no place for it (e.g. a game) just increase the SD speed* to the highest you can... (I get lot better performance when set to 4096 than on 2048)
Here is performance based on storage location:
SD<Internal<ROM (This is why stock browser is so fast on some devices)
So, if you have enough space on your ROM* memory, use apps2rom from market, or move the apps to internal, then take the apk from /data/app/ and move it to /system/app/, reboot and enjoy!
2. Overclocking*
This is well known, so nothing to say here...
Some devices, like the Optimus one, have same voltage at 122-480 and same voltage for 600-806, so overclocking will be actually better, because tasks finish faster.
3. Never clear cache, unless you need to!
Gonna make it simple: browser speed with cache 100%
Browser speed without cache: <80%
But, if apps have problem with checkboxes or something, clear it!
E.G.: a checkbox wouldn't open on browser, cleared cache and it worked...
E.G.²: the es file explorer showed me wrong icons... cleaned cache and enjoyed!
4. No background tasks, but no task killers!
I use app swipe from market, it shows me what apps are open, in running tab... I swipe and it gets me to fc android settings window (I force stop the app from app details)
Task killers don't work for android 2.2+, it will just be an epic failure to your battery and system!
5. Autostarts*
IMO, this is the best app I have!
6. Clean up of useless apps (may need root)
On my Optimus one, the bloatware could be uninstalled, with an error, but it was uninstalled!
I used to have 150 apps, now I have 90 and I am happier! Performance rocks, nothing lost, awesome!
7. Custom ROM and kernel*
Custom ROMs get rid of all the bloatware crap, is tweaked, and trust me, it is worth it!!
Kernels can make, actually, too much influence! They will simply simplify, or make it better, don't hesitate to use them!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sort of generalization but still helpful. Nice work !
shad0wboss said:
sort of generalization but still helpful. Nice work !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad I helped, but it is not full...
It is as simple as it can, because I am trying not to get this for one device only...
Sent from my LG-P500 using xda premium
INTRODUCTION
This is a guide made to with help from Xperia X10 users and developers for Xperia X10 users enjoyment but most of the tips contained here are suitable for any phone running Android. The tips contained here focus on WHAT to do to improve the performance of your phone and not HOW to do it, after all, once you know what must be done is to find simple tutorials on how to take these actions.
For some of the tips contained in this guide I assumed that you have just installed a new ROM or formatted / bought your phone recently and have root access but even without these prerequisites this guide can still be useful to most users.
It’s important to say that although most of the tips some are quite basic, some require a little more work and deal with the more delicate parts of your phone, they should be made at your own risk. These more advanced tips often use very specific terminology which you can find more about on XDA Developers or even Google.
Finally I would like to remind that even machines that are made within a few standards can operate in different ways: some phones take better advantage of certain adjustments and settings and not others so it’s impossible to guarantee one hundred percent efficiency for all of you but still I that you make good use of this guide.
Sincerely,
Guilherme "XOT" Oliveira
- Install a good ROM and a good Kernel
Official ROMs are good but custom ROMs are usually faster and in many cases as stable as official ROMs. This is because ROMs are released and thereafter rarely change, custom ROMs are already made by developers who are constantly improving their job to get the most out of your phone. It's very important to research before installing a new ROM, searching always for the one that meets your expectations and relates well with your device since the same ROM can work very well on my x10 but not as well on x10 my brother’s for example.
The same goes for Kernels, but with Kernels take extra care to make sure that the Kernel is compatible with your desired ROM and your phone.
- Keep clean your caches
Caches are good to keep certain information and have access to these faster but with these files and information some "garbage" is stored .
The solutions to this can be pretty basic or advanced, the most basic way is to enter your Application Manager (Settings> Applications> Manage Applications) and clear the cache for each application. It is important to clear the cache only and not application data as these may be important such as the files that resemble your progress in a game. Already the most advanced solution is to clear the Dalvik Cache and Cache Partition through your recovery.
Both solutions don’t need to be made with daily frequency, for example I usually clean my caches every 45 days or when I feel that the phone is getting slow.
- Make a full, but clean, backup
Full backups (full system backup) like those made by recovery or nandroid are great to store complete setups but when they are done with “dirty” files in the the phone’s memory restoring these files may worsen rather than help the situation of your device .
Ideally, do a full backup after completely configure your phone (configure your account, set your homescreens, install the required applications, etc.) but before using it for real.
That way if your phone starts getting slow and nothing works to reverse the situation you can easily go back to your “original” settings without the hassle of customizing everything in its way again.
- Do not touch the CPU / GPU the first day
Like people, phones also take a while to adapt to a new environment, or in our case new ROMs, so during the first 24 hours of use is important to use the settings of CPU and GPU that came with the ROM, no overclock, undervolt and things like that.
Another important step in the process of adaptation to the new ROM is really using and exploring the device in this very first day so it "get used" to the change. Do not mind the battery consumption, that should stabilize after a few days.
It’s also iimportant to remember that some ROMs already comes with overclock, undervolt and improvements in battery usage. In this case there is no problem in using these settings from the first minute because if they are there since the installation of the ROM, it is because they are part of the default settings already programmed and develop on this particular ROM and it will work better this way.
- Use the maximum your battery
Batteries seem to last less and less as time goes on, in part this is because your battery is uncalibrated and there are ways to fix it.
I will not talk much on this subject because it is very easy to find guides that teach you how to calibrate your battery so I’ll just recommend that you take a look at them.
- Applications: less is more
Having millions of apps is the glory and the doom of smartphones, the glory because you can do everything on your device and doom because of the following reasons:
As a computer your phone also slows down the as it becomes full and in most cases you can blame it on the number of apps that you have installed on it. So try to leave installed only the applications you actually use and uninstall the ones that you no longer use so you can have more free memory and consequently a faster device.
Some applications can not be uninstalled because they are system applications; in order to remove those apps you are going to need uninstallers that have root access (ex: RootUninstaller) which are capable of removing these applications but before taking such a measure is necessary to look for a safelist (a list of applications that can be removed without causing system problems).
Keeping a low number of applications but doing so by installing and uninstalling new apps every day also usually let the machine slower so if you find an application for a specific function that fits your needs you should stay with it instead of testing another 10 before returning to it.
PS: A good way to avoid testing several applications before finding the right one is reading reviews and comments before making your choice.
- Repair defective applications
Often the phone is working fine but a certain application or function is not, which can cause slowdowns and FCs (force close); depending on the situation there is not much to do but some of these solutions may take care of the problem:
The first thing to do is to uninstall and reinstall the apps via Play Store to make sure that the problem was not caused by a corrupted file when you downloaded the application, if the problem persists there are some more advanced alternatives: in the advanced settings of your recovery select fix permissions, this function should make sure that every application has the necessary permissions to work properly.
- Keep some free space
Full memory is often a problem on any device, especially in older phones like ours, after all the more files the longer it takes read all these files if it is necessary, so the tip is this: the more free space the better.
This step seems a little redundant since we already talked about having the smallest possible number of applications but this time we are also talking about other files. Anything occupying space on your phone is "bad"; too many photos, songs, text documents, etc.. can make the phone slower and lets be honest, you do not need to carry 150 photos of your last weekend with you all the time.
A solution to this problem is simple, try to keep the memory of your phone as free as possible by eliminating caches, unused files and moving applications to the SD card (Settings> Applications> Manage Applications> choose the application and select Move to SD card or use apps like Link2SD); your SD card should also be kept clean by eliminating unused files and traces left by already uninstalled applications, such traces are sometimes hard to find and applications like SD Maid can help you eliminate much of this "junk".
- Avoid keeping some applications running all the time
It’s very common to close an application and assume that it stopped running on the system but this is not always the case because it actually still cached in the memory of the device, Android makes it to be faster on reopening it later and often the system itself definitively closes the application automatically but that’s not always the case.
Firstly it is important to prevent certain applications from even opening and to do this we use apps known as Startup Managers, there are several options in the Play Store but I particularly like Autostarts. Once inside your Startup Manager you can choose which applications will be opened as the system is started or any action is taken (for example changing the state of your Wi-Fi); the ideal is to minimize the number of self-starting applications, leaving only the truly necessary ones without forgetting to be very careful to avoid stopping system applications because if they are unable to open themselves it can cause instability. Another way to prevent applications from opening or stay on cache all the time is to disable automatic updates of apps such as email clients and social networks but this is a more personal matter that varies from user to user, just remember that the more constant the updates are, the more time these applications will be running in the background and more power (CPU and battery) will be consumed.
Now that we’ve already took care of the self opening apps it’s time to find out when you really need an app to be closed for sure.
It's easy to know when to quit an application completely but it is necessary to first understand a basic concept about the system: applications and processes cached in memory are not always a bad thing, in fact as stated at the beginning of the topic they are a good thing because the application should open faster when launched again (hence the use of Task Killers usually worsens more than help if not done properly) but if you use an application to view the weather every morning and will only use it again the next morning this application can be closed without problems.
In our current official version of Android (2.3) already have a task manager that can be used to do this action (Settings> Applications> Running services > select the desired process and press Stop) but if you want a more advanced option there are several Task Managers that monitor processes and can be used to close them too.
PS: Again about the Task Killers: although its use is discouraged for the day-to-day because of the reasons already explained, if you plan on haevy gaming they can be the great saviors since these games need a lot of free memory to run without lags.
- SMS: clean your inbox
Message apps, both native and third-party tend to take quite some time to open if you have many messages on your mobile because everytime you run your message app it needs to load a large list of conversations, so cleaning your inbox periodically helps performance, the same goes for call log.
A tip for those who want to clear the messages inbox and call log without losing your information is backing up with applications like SMS BackUp + that emails you both your conversations and call logs, all within a specific marker so they won’t end up messing the inbox of your email or if your intention is to save only one or two most important message the native client and most ones available at Play Store have the option of forwarding SMS, simply by holding your finger over until the action menu opens up.
- Give your device a break
Like conventional systems for computers, Android also collects information in its memory and despite the “dumping information system” some of it is left in cache , which ends up requiring more processing on your device.
To end this there is a very simple solution: give a rest to the phone. Once a day or when you feel like the machine is running slow give it a reboot or shut down and leave it off for a minute or two before restarting, it should get rid of the cache and it can boost the speed of the phone, but attention: restart the machine and making it open up various apps on boot has no point so keep your boot clean (see related topic).
- About some specific applications:
Task killers (that goes for any app of this kind) are good for a heavy gaming experience (eg: GTA, Dead Space, Asphalt...) because those games need a lot of free RAM but for everyday use is preferable to don't use task killers and keep some of the apps in the cache so they open faster when they are requested again.
Deep sleep is an important part of the ROM performance when it comes to battery usage, applications like CPU Spy can check if this function is working correctly or No-frills CPU Control which in addition to monitoring provides the ability to adjust the frequencies and governors you want to use in your phone.
Chainfire3D is an useful app to change the way your GPU will work and customize it to gain performance or quality , notice that these values tend to be inversely proportional.
Try always to use the lightest possible applications, it helps in memory. I for one think the galleries and music players of almost all default ROMs are too heavy and prefer apps like QuikPic and UberMusic.
Finally I would like to thank: XDA Users: Oodie, x10forevers, Vasishta Reddy, DiKeJ, 9Lukas5, FeraVolt, alzbac, Websites: lifehacker.com, limitlessdroid.com , doctor-android.com, androidcentral.com for helping with the tips on this guide and say that if you have a tip that is not in this guide feel free to share with us!
PS: I'm sorry if I made some grammar mistakes, English is not my first language and this is a pretty big article.
thanks...nice one..
Dude I screwed my music thing on x10 . Please help . Tried flashing xperia s music player . Now music icon has dissapeared . N power button seem to reboot all the time . Will updating binary files of xrec n then flashing again help ?
Please tel . Desperately.
Rooted x10 2.3.3 stock Rom
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
theMoiz94 said:
Dude I screwed my music thing on x10 . Please help . Tried flashing xperia s music player . Now music icon has dissapeared . N power button seem to reboot all the time . Will updating binary files of xrec n then flashing again help ?
Please tel . Desperately.
Rooted x10 2.3.3 stock Rom
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
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Hey dude, I don't really know how to help you because I haven't had any similar problems but I'm pretty sure that you should try the basics: clear caches (dalvik included) and fix permissions.
Since I'm not a developer I can't really help you with the binary files but try reaching your ROM's developer and he might help you
I hope you get your phone fixed
Dude u sure that I should clear off dalvik cache ? I tried fixing permission but still nothing . The power button rebooting the phone is more irritating than not having a default music PLAYER . Im asking in this forum but havent got the solution yet :'(
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
Excellent post Buddy . Hope you update the thread with other power users opinions & Tips .
Thanks.
Oodie.
theMoiz94 said:
Dude u sure that I should clear off dalvik cache ? I tried fixing permission but still nothing . The power button rebooting the phone is more irritating than not having a default music PLAYER . Im asking in this forum but havent got the solution yet :'(
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
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I think that the only people that can help you are the ones on your device's specific forum man, try creating a topic there
Sorry but I really don't know what to do to fix your phone
Some of the tips are a complete waste of time and utter crap (mostly those related to keeping RAM usage low and task killers [EDIT: actually, you contradict yourself on these points], giving the device time to "adapt" to the environment -seriously?- and going for the lighter apps -this obviously applies if you have an outdated device, but it's not a rule).
EDIT: Forgot to say that the rest is good.
GermainZ said:
Some of the tips are a complete waste of time and utter crap (mostly those related to keeping RAM usage low and task killers [EDIT: actually, you contradict yourself on these points], giving the device time to "adapt" to the environment -seriously?- and going for the lighter apps -this obviously applies if you have an outdated device, but it's not a rule).
EDIT: Forgot to say that the rest is good.
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As I said the guide was wrote based on Xperia X10 user experience so it is kind of an old device.
About the RAM management you won't have any issues with a top device with a lot of free RAM but in our case (old device users) we have about 256mb or less RAM to work with so keeping it well managed is essential if you want your device to run smooth.
The adaptation thing seems like BS but it's not, because your device need to create/edit some files as its being used and that's what this part of the article really means. For example your battery writes a log about its own capacities (making a long story short by recalibrating your battery all you do basically is reset this log)
Thanks for the feedback, hope you found something usefull
GuilhermeXOT said:
As I said the guide was wrote based on Xperia X10 user experience so it is kind of an old device.
About the RAM management you won't have any issues with a top device with a lot of free RAM but in our case (old device users) we have about 256mb or less RAM to work with so keeping it well managed is essential if you want your device to run smooth.
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No, it's not essential. It's actually bad.
The lifehacker website seems to be down, so I'm giving you a link to this article instead (the article itself links to three more detailed articles; one of them is the lifehacker article I wanted to link; do read them): http://androidandme.com/2011/11/app...lers-still-dont-give-you-better-battery-life/
EDIT: Regarding the battery, draining the battery (to 0% or close) is actually bad for lithium based batteries and should be avoided. A discharge to 15% is usually enough.
GermainZ said:
No, it's not essential. It's actually bad.
The lifehacker website seems to be down, so I'm giving you a link to this article instead (the article itself links to three more detailed articles; one of them is the lifehacker article I wanted to link; do read them): http://androidandme.com/2011/11/app...lers-still-dont-give-you-better-battery-life/
EDIT: Regarding the battery, draining the battery (to 0% or close) is actually bad for lithium based batteries and should be avoided. A discharge to 15% is usually enough.
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Click to collapse
I get your point and I also talk about the same thing as the article in the guide: "the use of Task Killers usually worsens more than help if not done properly" , I just didn't elaborated on this very much.
Now, what I'm saying is that if you are a day-to-day user you don't need a task killer and it's recommended ONLY for a gaming experience, aka heavy games like GTA, Dead Space, etc...
"Task killers (that goes for any app of this kind) are good for a gaming experience but for everyday use is preferable to keep some of the apps in the cache so they open faster when they are requested again."
I'm not a task killer fan myself but if you check any gaming rom (DikeJ's for x10 is a good example) you can see that the developers try to maximize the free RAM because those heavy games use a lot of it.
So in order to avoid this kind of confusion I'll edit the article to solve this misunderstanding thx for the heads up
GuilhermeXOT said:
I get your point and I also talk about the same thing as the article in the guide: "the use of Task Killers usually worsens more than help if not done properly" , I just didn't elaborated on this very much.
Now, what I'm saying is that if you are a day-to-day user you don't need a task killer and it's recommended ONLY for a gaming experience, aka heavy games like GTA, Dead Space, etc...
"Task killers (that goes for any app of this kind) are good for a gaming experience but for everyday use is preferable to keep some of the apps in the cache so they open faster when they are requested again."
I'm not a task killer fan myself but if you check any gaming rom (DikeJ's for x10 is a good example) you can see that the developers try to maximize the free RAM because those heavy games use a lot of it.
So in order to avoid this kind of confusion I'll edit the article to solve this misunderstanding thx for the heads up
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Click to collapse
Cool, thanks for that
Buddy, that guide is awesome written, excellent work. And big thanks for credits - I'm very proud that I could help in that "project" ^^. It's should hit XDA Blog . Cheers .
DiKeJ said:
Buddy, that guide is awesome written, excellent work. And big thanks for credits - I'm very proud that I could help in that "project" ^^. It's should hit XDA Blog . Cheers .
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I'm the one who have to thank you
People please share your ideas so we can make this guide better!