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[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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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

Available memory and tasks

This is my 4th Android phone, and I am still a little unclear on how memory works on this machine. I use AutoKiller, yet I am still confused. As I understand it, 100mb or 5mb free, it shouldn't affect the operation of the device until something needs more than the available and has to clear room. So, how does this work, exactly? I am continually running low on the Triumph, yet if I set the preset in AutoKiller higher, I begin to lose services ranging from alarm clocks to social networking notifications. Where do I begin to find balance? Am I missing something?

I haven't had a problem with starting to lose services like the alarm clock but I was seeing the system significantly slow down even as I kept all unnecessary tasks from running. So I figured that I would root my system, and get rid of all the pre-installed software that I didn't use. The funny thing is that after I rooted the system all the memory issues went away, and the system really flies now. I don't know what changed, when I rooted it. But I am not seeing the same slow responses, the constant starting of tasks that I don't use and so forth. I know that its not an answer so to say, but I thought that I would share so as to maybe help you, or see if it happened with someone else.

HitchHiker said:
I haven't had a problem with starting to lose services like the alarm clock but I was seeing the system significantly slow down even as I kept all unnecessary tasks from running. So I figured that I would root my system, and get rid of all the pre-installed software that I didn't use. The funny thing is that after I rooted the system all the memory issues went away, and the system really flies now. I don't know what changed, when I rooted it. But I am not seeing the same slow responses, the constant starting of tasks that I don't use and so forth. I know that its not an answer so to say, but I thought that I would share so as to maybe help you, or see if it happened with someone else.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. It's nice to hear other experiences. I am already rooted, and AutoKiller requires root. I'm just being patient and hoping that a custom ROM can solve problems.

Rooting shouldn't change anything except whether or not the phone is rooted. That's it. Task killers rarely help because those apps you kill just come back as soon as you look away. So I would personally recommend you only kill the miscreant apps, and ultimately remove them if you can.
Sent from my Frankenphone using Tapatalk

primetechv2 said:
Rooting shouldn't change anything except whether or not the phone is rooted. That's it. Task killers rarely help because those apps you kill just come back as soon as you look away. So I would personally recommend you only kill the miscreant apps, and ultimately remove them if you can.
Sent from my Frankenphone using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Autokiller doesn't work that way. It merely changes Android's already existing internal programming to be a touch more aggressive. It does nothing on its own, merely giving you an interface to alter Android's own values for task management and app priority.
What I really need to know is if that aggression is necessary. Android's default minimum for memory is 24mb (that is the level at which the system will kill off empty apps). I can raise that number, but is it necessary? Some one told me that free memory amount is irrelevant in Android. If that's true, what is the point in making sure my system has 100mb free as opposed to 20mb?

I wouldn't think that extra memory management app is necessary, the only problems any android 2.2 phone (or any android) has are apps that are coded porely are installed. Just use a app that shows cpu usage. If a app is porely written you will see it..... those are the ones to uninstall.....not kill, uninstall.

tsac said:
I wouldn't think that extra memory management app is necessary, the only problems any android 2.2 phone (or any android) has are apps that are coded porely are installed. Just use a app that shows cpu usage. If a app is porely written you will see it..... those are the ones to uninstall.....not kill, uninstall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, the app merely gives me a UI to alter Android's already existing internal programming in regards to service priority. I am just trying to better understand how Android does it's work.

[Q] Confused about ICS 4.0.3 running apps

I am now a ICS user and I realize when you hold the home button you'll have a list of recent apps. Cool, but I realize the list is very very long, are all those apps currently running at low usage for quick access? If so, is there a way I limit the amount of apps, I remember with 2.3.4 (whatever) cyanogenmod you could modify the number for recent apps. I ask because with so many running I imagine it will drain battery. Thanks

You can remove them from the recent apps list by swiping them away (either left or right).

I understand that, but if I let it stay because it is sort of a hassle having to deal with them individually. Will it consume a lot of battery? Am I better off leaving it, or just swiping constantly killing the task.

That, I'm not too sure of. I believe that by swiping it, it'll dismiss it from the recent apps and kill the task because there would be no point to just remove it from the recent apps list and still have it runing in the background but I think you'll need more clarification on that.
Sorry I can't help so much; I'm not running ICS yet, so I can't be too sure.

Thanks, I'll give it a Google anyways
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

You are better off leaving it as it is. It is really just a recent apps list, just with a thumbnail, exactly like the one in gb. Swiping can just resets the app, the same as 'backing' out of it. This has the effect of removing some apps from cache completely, though not all.

Thanks mate. My concern was that it would be a battery drain, but I'll let it be.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

No battery drain unless it's some kind of service (which is usually (always?)) in the notification bar. When you press the home button, the app will be put into RAM and classified as cache, so it is quicker to open up next time. Note that filling RAM uses no extra battery, RAM is powered the same regardless. If you are using an app that requires more RAM than is available that is classified 'free', it will start removing some of the apps android has put into ram as cache and fill it up with necessary data from the foreground app.
Task managers are useful, however not any more useful than Androids built in managing (system settings --> apps). There is never a need to close any app forceably UNLESS it is not working as it should, whether it be frozen, excessively slow or not loading in some way or another, etc. All other circumstances are taken care of for you and memory is used as efficiently as possible.

Thank you Harbb for the very detailed explanation. That is exactly what I was looking for. I thought myself the same but needed clarification simply because the list was so long, I semi feared it could be running. Cheers mate!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

No problem mate, just happy to help. Always good to clarify these things.

i disagree Harb. RAM management is sometimes pretty poor without using a task manager.
For example some apps that use a lot of RAM such as Real Racing 2, could force close because of lack of RAM.

I've never experienced something genuinely FCing because of a lack of RAM, but will try out the RR2 demo and see how it gets on, i'll try and get it to crash or FC. 768mb of RAM would've been really nice on the NS though as a good chunk is used by the system.

Just a tip instead of going to settings/apps..ect
Just go to recent apps hold down on the app and click app info much quicker
also most of the top recent apps are not using any resources but the lower ones are swiping will close and free up the RAM
Its a built in taskkiller that Google put into ICS even though they always said one was not needed.

question about stopping apps

I notice that a lot of apps run on start up and after I stop them they'll just start again 5 or 10 mins later. I use adv task killer and the stock task manager. Is there an app I can download to manage them better or is there something in settings ive missed.

Task killers, especially automated ones, went out of favor when better memory management came in over the last couple Android releases.
Something like Titanium Backup will let you "freeze" apps/services that you don't think you need and, perhaps more importantly, easily unfreeze them when you realize you really did need them. Root is generally required.

The more you stop an app, the more it's going to keep trying to run. Don't use task managers. Let your phone do what it wants. When you need the memory to do something, just do it! You're phone will know how to allocate the RAM and freeze tasks. If you want an app to never run, that you can't get rid of, freeze it with Titanium Backup. Be careful with that, though.
Edit: Damn jeff, posted at the same time!
Edit 2: Of course, this would be common knowledge if he would bother to do the basic research I thought most people do when they first get a device. I knew task killers were bad before I even knew about custom roms.

I use Gemini to stop apps from auto starting when the phone boots up
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda app-developers app

The problem is that my phone doesn't allocate. I play a game called peggle and when I run it , it runs really slow and laggy but if I clear all of the processes running in the back ground the game runs fine. I was hoping to get more control over my phone once I rooted it. Don't get me wrong I can flash roms and use Titanium Backup to uninstall the stuff I couldn't. But it feel like thats where it stops. I use gmail and facebook but I only want them to run when I'am using them, kinda like my computer. But we can't alway get what we want.
P.S sorry I couldn't find the sticky on why task managers are bad to use, finding stickys on this site is sometimes like trying to find a pirate's buried gold

I'll admit that there is a lot of "old" information out there on task killers and things like Juice Defender. It can be pretty confusing. It took me a good year before I realized that the Android world had changed from the times of those posts and reviews. Basically, as I understand it, prior to Froyo, memory management was pretty poor in Android. Task killers were a "user-land" way of making up for OS-level deficiencies. Froyo and certainly GB have much better memory management, making task killers more of a source of system instability than the benefit they once were.
There isn't a good way to be able to say "I don't want this, that, and the next service to not be running while I'm running this game/app." Those things are running services generally because they need to stay in contact with the mother ship to do something you want, like keeping abreast of changes, or sometimes something you don't want, like tracking your surfing habits or location. A service also runs when the app needs to keep track of or respond to something else happening on your phone, like battery/bandwidth monitoring tools, or notifiers of various sorts. A well-designed app will try to restart its services when it detects they have stopped.
You might be able to freeze things with TiBackup or the like, kill the services, play the game, unfreeze, then continue. I've never tried anything that fancy. I seem to recall that TiBackup could use the tagging from Apps Organizer to select things for batch operations, but I haven't tried it myself.

falcons2 said:
I use Gemini to stop apps from auto starting when the phone boots up
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to this. I've tried everything from killing apps to freezing them. I finally stuck with using Gemini to stop apps from auto-opening. Apps such as Maps, DSP Settings, etc. This allows you to stop the apps from turning on until you turn them on.

To add to what jeff said, another thing even if it says facebook is running it might not be. But it could be a service that facebook borrows from android so you dont need fifteen instances of gps running simultaneously. Instead android gps is used by fifteen different apps. And if it happens to turn on to update your locations facebook thinks it needs to also update so if you want to tell you friends your at the local brothel automagically you can.
That is why it appears when you kill a process and 10 seconds later it is started back up. Something is using it for some reason.

Maybe you can try this one.. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...vbS5lbHNkb2VyZmVyLmFuZHJvaWQuYXV0b3N0YXJ0cyJd... i've been using it and it works great for me..

Warrenforfree said:
Maybe you can try this one.. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...vbS5lbHNkb2VyZmVyLmFuZHJvaWQuYXV0b3N0YXJ0cyJd... i've been using it and it works great for me..
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Click to collapse
Thanks! I flashed a new rom hoping it would use less system rescources. I use valhalla final , before valhalla my system used around 225megs sysyem ram after it droped to around 186. then I unistall some stuff i didnt use that came with it and it got to around 178. Now peggle plays fine. but when I kill apps running in the background the system only uses 156megs. then my emulators run fine. It drives me nuts when programs run rampant. They should only run when I use them, like my computer. My gf reminded me that its just a phone and maybe iam asking too much

Glad you are up and going! If you like Valhalla Final, you might want to try FB's trimmed-down version of Raver's Valhalla Black. It comes with one of AntonX's kernels and is a little snappier and leaner version than the "Valhalla Final" version, in my opinion. You can try later versions of AntonX's kernels as well. (Links for both in my sig).
Your phone is a computer. It's just that Windows is a lot better at "hiding" all the crap that is running in the background!

[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?
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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.