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Hello All,
I wanted to see what everyone thinks is the best application manger for Android.
Also is anyone familiar with the Getjar free app store?
Thx All,
Force
What do people think of "Advance Task Killer"
It seems to me it shows all tasks, not jsut the open ones.
Regards,
Force
FYI,
Many people say talk killers are not necessary, as that is a windows phenomenon, Linux & android treating background processes differently.
Regards,
Force
I personally use Advanced Task Manager for $0.99. I have read the articles about how Android does not need task Managers because it is built in, but I know from personal experience that without it if there are running programs in the background my phone gets really sluggish especially when I get a phone call and it makes it difficult to answer etc. Take in account, this experience was mainly with the Hero (slower) but I use on my Evo now.
You know people will argue either way, because there is evidence to support both sides of the argument. so with that in mind- i honestly havent had the need for one with my evo, but it you truly are considering one- i actually have a pair to suggest.
one is OS Monitor- free on the market- great app for pinning down process that could be an issue- also supports dmsg repporting- and logcat is built in to- so if your testing something and it goes all wonky you can export the log to view on a pc and send it to the developer too.
the second is AMM- or Auto Memory Manager- free and donate versions on the market. There are pretty much a couple of sliders and you set it how you want android to handle the process. I have had great success with this app on my other device- normal free memory was around 30-35 and using this set aggressively i saw gains of 50mb at most times keeping my freememory to around 75-80mb range.
Hope this helps.
I take both sides. I have task manager installed, but use if ONLY when needed. Aka, I used it when I want to kill the browser after I'm done with it so next time I launch it I won't be seeing old pages.
I like EStrongs Task Manager.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/nextapp.systempanel.r1 is nice, it can kill processes, monitor system stats, uninstall apps and more. There is also a free version.
TREYisRAD said:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/nextapp.systempanel.r1 is nice, it can kill processes, monitor system stats, uninstall apps and more. There is also a free version.
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Click to collapse
i installed that last night, cool app
why someone who know don't explaine exactly how android works and do we need killers and if yes which one is best...
Everyone of us using something but question is that which one is best for our needs.
quick system info pro (free)
I only use the manual task killer widget when memory gets down around 100. Spikes it right back to about 250.
Whats your guys' normal memory range? I see someone on here saying 50 was normal for them but that seems REALLY low to me.
frifox said:
I take both sides. I have task manager installed, but use if ONLY when needed. Aka, I used it when I want to kill the browser after I'm done with it so next time I launch it I won't be seeing old pages.
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Does the stock Sense browser not have an option to kill the windows by hitting menu? On CM, I do menu, windows, and X them out
Hi guys,
what is the best task manager/killer app for galaxy tab?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
None. Why do you need averting more than the samsung provided one? I haven't seen any need to kill apps on the tab.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Task killers are the devil. Don't use them. They haven't been needed since Android 2.0
If you need to kill an app, use the Task Manger that comes with the Tab.
Thanks guys for the advice.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Quick question...because I'm confused and curious as well about Task Killers...why would devs and users alike think Task Killers are so bad if GB 2.3 includes an enhanced Task Killer for managing apps, seeing which apps take up memory, and kill battery life? The SGT including one as well. What gives?
All of the things listed above seem like a good reason to me, right? Again, I just want to understand that's all.
Thanks for teaching.
cramjammer said:
Quick question...because I'm confused and curious as well about Task Killers...why would devs and users alike think Task Killers are so bad if GB 2.3 includes an enhanced Task Killer for managing apps, seeing which apps take up memory, and kill battery life? The SGT including one as well. What gives?
All of the things listed above seem like a good reason to me, right? Again, I just want to understand that's all.
Thanks for teaching.
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Click to collapse
Some Task Killers (TK) are quite extensive in that they willl allow you to close down all manner of objects, Apps, etc. It is these TK's that are risky or should be treated with care.
However, the one provided on the Tab and alike are designed to only show running Apps and services that it feels you can stop if you so wish without causing any effect to the Tab's running.
I use both the built in TK and a third-party named SystemPanel.
If you look at both you will see that although the built in TK does it's job it is nowhere near as fierce as SystemPanel.
Again, provided you know what you are doing TK's such as SystemPanel can be of benefit. I use mine for a great number of tasks including obtaining detailed information of any App or object running to see how much of the processor it has been using, or Archiving any App prior to upgrading the App (just in case the updated App has issues I can then easily use the archive).
That's too funny...System Panel is the one I've been using for a while now. I like how it will give you MANY details about system apps as well as a ton of others information, makes me feel better!
Thanks for taking the time to share, much appreciated!
Croak said:
Task killers are the devil. Don't use them. They haven't been needed since Android 2.0
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Click to collapse
Yep. See this post for a partial explanation:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9681544&postcount=21
The only time you need a task manager is if you have a rogue app that won't exit and which is taking up the CPU. The SGT seems to be pretty good at killing such apps but I've had a couple of old programs with problems. (They have the same issue on my N1, so not surprising).
I've got OSMonitor installed anyway so I can check things, I just use that when I need to kill a "stuck" app, or if I really aren't too fussed I just reboot with QuickBoot.
well i use the tab a lot and when browsing any site with flash and graphics the avail memory drops to 40mb or less then thats when its gonna crash especially if you get a call at the same time.. i use advance task killer froyo just to free up memory here and there but since froyo the task killers can't really force close the tasks thats why the stock manager works well but doesn't show what background services are taking up memory and thats a major problem im still looking for a good task killer that will show and kill but not take up a large footprint in the memory , a program that seems to work well with my ATK is Fast Reboot its restarts all the apps running and frees up memory greatly helps a lot , for some reason the pro version disappeared that allows you to exlude certain tasks from restarting on click.
I really don't think if you use the tab a lot and as a phone you can't live without a one click task killer, don't really trust android os managing my ram, as well noticed when something such as yahoo mail eats up ram and cpu, it doesn't get closed automatically by android , big alternative i've noticed was uninstall it and use the stock email app and works so much better on memory and cpu.
i use the tab lots, as a phone too. I survive great without a task killer. I trust android to manage my free memory. I don't trust all apps to respect the os tho.
Read this: http://www.droid-den.com/android-guides/android-guide-should-i-use-a-task-killer
Hi all,
How many of you all used task killer on nexus s ?
Was asking this because i was playing RealFootball 11 and it lags real bad.
Thus, im thinking if it might have to do with insufficient memory.
What task killer is good?
I will never use a task killer on Android. Task killers create more problems than they solve.
Mate I was a task killer user. But I have learned that is not necessary on android (unless its an antique version) I put all my faith in the app 'watchdog' personally as this works far more efficiently than a task killer. Apps do turn themselves off and I believe a traditional task killer does more harm than good regarding performance.
I see...
Heeding you guys' advice man
Anyway, still feel abit wasted that Nexus S cant run Real Football 11 lagfree
dplate07 said:
I see...
Heeding you guys' advice man
Anyway, still feel abit wasted that Nexus S cant run Real Football 11 lagfree
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Has the game been updated for gingerbread? Dunno if that would matter but may be worth asking the Dev.
I used to but overall they don't really work. 2.3 is pretty good at managing memory anyway.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Man, my NS was butter smooth the first day I got it, but after using it for a month plus and installing that many applications, almost every game will lag a little, even angry birds! I still haven't figured out how to use the WatchDog app properly though. I will either uninstall the stuffs one by one to see which one is the culprit or just factory reset my phone.
shrivelfig said:
I will never use a task killer on Android. Task killers create more problems than they solve.
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Click to collapse
why do you say that?
Proteus27 said:
why do you say that?
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Click to collapse
In Android, free memory is wasted memory. People not knowledgable in how Android manages memory think that they're accomplishing something by killing tasks in the hopes of freeing up memory. It doesn't work that way.
Android has a threshold of what amount of free RAM should be maintained, and then does its best to fill up the remaining RAM with apps and stuff you might want to use later; it's like pre-loading your stuff so it loads faster.
The irony of people using task killers to free memory up to "improve performance" and "save battery" is that in most situations they're doing just the opposite. If you kill an app with a task killer, Android will frequently just re-open it in the background to frill up that empty memory space back to its thresholds, thus using up more cpu and juice to reload it.
There are apps or even terminal commands (for root) that let you change that threshold number, and on other devices (2.2 and lower) for me, tweaking that number did sometimes make the phone feel snappier, but it was real trial and error to get it right. I haven't felt the need for it on the Gingerbread Nexus S.
If you're interested in trying something like that, check out AutoKiller Memory Optimizer. Don't let that name fool you, it's a poorly named app, this is NOT a task killer app, it's just a GUI interface to the minfree settings that tell Android's own memory manager what thresholds to use.
There's another one I used to use MinFreeMgr or something like that, but I can't find a link.
And finally, there are limited times that killing tasks is beneficial, one would be if you have an app that's run amok and won't exit on its own. I'm sure there are others, but it's usually a good idea to avoid that practice.
willcpfc said:
Mate I was a task killer user. But I have learned that is not necessary on android (unless its an antique version) I put all my faith in the app 'watchdog' personally as this works far more efficiently than a task killer. Apps do turn themselves off and I believe a traditional task killer does more harm than good regarding performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watchdog sucks, I used it for a week and my NS battery consumption was the same.
Proteus27 said:
why do you say that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://lifehacker.com/#!5650894/and...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them
http://androidspin.com/2010/05/25/why-you-dont-need-a-task-killer-app-with-android/
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to collect some very rough data on how people use task killers.
If you use one, can you please do me a favor and take this survey? It is only 5 questions, and will only take you a few minutes to complete.
I'm not trying to start another debate in this thread: there are plenty of those. I'm just trying to collect data.
Thanks!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8GD2F2H
Just answered. Using my Arc 2.3.2 "Advanced Task Killer Froyo" doesn't really seem to free up mem when killing apps, so I'm not sure that it actually works. I know that Gingerbread is suppose to not need it, but I like to "kill" all the apps that keeps turning them self on, for no apparent reason...
I did it. Taskiller free and watchdog, no autokill, only to kill internet and such.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I did it as well.
I did it as well
Done.
^^"
done 10char
Answered as well.
done !!! ;-)
I took it even though I don't use a task killer. It is actually hard to explain to people why they shouldn't use task killers. And those who work at Verizon/Tmobile/ATT stores just tell customers to install them without understanding how the OS manages RAM and using a task killer on makes things a lot worse.
I don't use any task killer. I leave it to Android to manage it. I use AutoKiller Memory Optimizer though.
I use a TasKiller Pro to kill application which consumes a lot of RAM, like Games etc.
All done here!
Done.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
I don't use task killer, just left it to Andriod to do the work. So far so good as long as press back key to exit the apps. Otherwise, use the stock task manager to end the apps. My understanding is Froyo2.2 and above does not require task killer.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Thank you all for your participation: I really appreciate it. There have been enough responses that I'm now closing the survey.
Thanks again!
I let Android do the work.
But I tell it what to do
I don't like how gingerbread manages memory so I fixed it, but good
I used to used ATK till a few days ago but then after some research online, decided to let Android run on its own. Still have the SystemPanel app for those rogue apps that arent coded properly
Hi all, ive had my play for a few months now and im having problems with battery life as most seem to have had at some point. Ive tried a bigger battery but it turns the phone into something from the 90s lol....so i then tried some task killers but ive noticed they seem to kill a few tasks, then 5 mins later the tasks have started themselves up again so i spend my time going in and out of the task killer hitting optimise which is a total pain and im thinking pointless? Ive heard these newer builds of android manage tasks anyway but i think there are still some tasks/processes i could do without... My question is, would it just be better to uninstall the task manager and then manually force close tasks/processes i dont need and if i do do this will they stay closed/killed till i manually open them again or reboot, or will they automatically restart themselves? Im mainly talking about preloaded stuff i dont need like timescape and data monitor and other battery eating rubbish.
Rooting is an option but now being on 2.3.3 and awaiting 2.3.4 it seems like alot of agro just to clear some running bloatware (downgrading to uk generic firmware 2.2 then gingerbreak then upgrading then removing bloatware then reinstalling removed bloatware for every update, sigh)... If the damn tasks would just stay closed im sure my battery would last a bit longer...
So any difference force closing tasks manually vs task killers and would it help with battery life?
This is a great phone with 2 flaws one is battery life the second is small internal memory... Rooting seems to help fix these problems from what i have read. Why cant sony release a small app/program to let us clear the bloatware without the hassle of rooting.
This has turned into more of a rant, whoops!
Any ideas...?
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Right understand this. There is no point closing apps or using task killers in android. It makes no sence. This isnt windows, android handles ram in a totally diffrent way to windows, In windows the more free ram you have the faster the pc/phone right? well it's the oposite in android, the less free ram the better, It means android is managing it's own workload, unlike windows application are split into 2 catagories, Applications and process, Now android can have an application running in the background but it will freeze the active process if your not using it, It will keep the ram that application is using a keep it save, so when you relaunch the app it's fast and smooth, Kill the app and you may reclaim the ram but you have to wait for the application to reload and restart. I think life hacker tells it better then me. Read this!
"Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn’t Use Them
Android task killers improve your phone's performance while also boosting battery life—or at least that's the much-debated promise. Here's a look at how task killers actually work, when you should (or shouldn't) use them, and what you can do instead.
A task killer is an app from which you can (sometimes automatically) force other apps to quit, the hope being that the fewer apps you have running in the background, the better your Android's performance and battery life will be. Not everyone agrees with this premise, though. The argument about whether task killers are effective rages all over the internet: Android forums are full of threads with constant bickering and conflicting anecdotal experience, making it difficult for most users to make sense of the situation.
Below, I'm going to dig into the truth about Android task killers: that apart from maybe some older phones, Android manages tasks fairly well on its own, and how task killers present quite a few problems. I'll also take a look at the rare occasions when they're useful, and offer some alternatives you should try to improve your phone's performance and battery-life quirks.
Before we dive in, here's a quick overview of how Android handles process management by default.
How Android Manages Processes
In Android, processes and Applications are two different things. An app can stay "running" in the background without any processes eating up your phone's resources. Android keeps the app in its memory so it launches more quickly and returns to its prior state. When your phone runs out of memory, Android will automatically start killing tasks on its own, starting with ones that you haven't used in awhile.
The problem is that Android uses RAM differently than, say, Windows. On Android, having your RAM nearly full is a good thing. It means that when you relaunch an app you've previously opened, the app launches quickly and returns to its previous state. So while Android actually uses RAM efficiently, most users see that their RAM is full and assume that's what's slowing down their phone. In reality, your CPU—which is only used by apps that are actually active—is almost always the bottleneck.
Why Task Killers Are (Usually) Bad News
Apps like Advanced Task Killer, the most popular task killer in the Market, act on the incorrect assumption that freeing up memory on an Android device is a good thing. When launched, it presents you with a list of "running" apps and the option to kill as many as you want. You can also hit the Menu button to access a more detailed "Services" view, that lists exactly which parts of each application are "running", how much memory they take up, and how much free memory is available on your phone. This set-up implies that the goal of killing these apps is to free up memory. Nowhere on the list does it mention the number of CPU cycles each app is consuming, only the memory you'll free by killing it. As we've learned, full memory is not a bad thing—we want to watch out for the CPU, the resource that actually slows down your phone and drains your battery life.
Thus, killing all but the essential apps (or telling Android to kill apps more aggressively with the "autokill" feature) is generally unnecessary. Furthermore, it's actually possible that this will worsen your phone's performance and battery life. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to aggressively remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't—killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place.
In fact, some of the processes related to those apps will actually start right back up, further draining your CPU. If they don't, killing those processes can cause other sorts of problems—alarms don't go off, you don't receive text messages, or other related apps may force close without warning. All in all, you're usually better off letting your phone work as intended—especially if you're more of a casual user. In these instances, a task killer causes more problems than it solves.
What You Should Do Instead
That said, not all apps are created equal. Many of you have used task killers in the past and actually found that after freeing up memory, your phone works a bit better. It's more likely that this is because you've killed a bad app—one that was poorly coded, and (for example) keeps trying to connect to the internet even when it shouldn't. Any performance increase you experience is more likely because you killed the right app, not because you freed up loads of memory (or, in many cases, it's just placebo). Instead of killing all those apps, find out which ones are actually causing the problems. If you really know what you're doing, you may benefit from using a task killer to stop the one or two inefficient-but-loved apps on your phone.
Note, however, that this is still a contested notion. A lot of developers (including ROM builder extraordinaire, Cyanogen) will not even look at your bug reports if you're using a task killer. In this humble blogger's opinion, your best bet is to stay away from regular task killer usage entirely. If you absolutely have to have that one battery-killing app on your phone, though, kill away—just be aware that when you experience a recurring Android bug later on, the task killer may be at fault. Of course, you can just stop using it to determine whether that is or isn't the case.
With task killers firmly in the better-off-without box, there are still a number of other things you can do to fill the void, improving your performance and battery life:
Watch for Runaway Processes: Previously mentioned Watchdog is a slightly different kind of task killer, in the sense that instead of telling you your phone's out of memory and it's time to go on a task killing spree, it alerts you when the occasional app starts eating up CPU for no reason. You can then kill the app with Watchdog and get on with your day (though honestly, at that point, I usually just reboot my phone). If it happens often with the same app, however, you may want to move on to the next step.
Uninstall Bad Apps: Worse than the occasional, one-time runaway app is the poorly coded, always-eating-CPU app. If you find (with Watchdog or through some other method) that a particular app seems to drain CPU and battery life whenever it's running, confirm your suspicions by uninstalling it and seeing what happens. If an app is causing problems on your phone, you're probably better off without it.
We advocate rooting Android devices a lot at Lifehacker, but that's because it really is as useful as everyone says it is. You can over- and underclock your phone with SetCPU, install custom ROMs that noticeably improve performance and battery life, and use the ever-useful, crapware-thwarting Autostarts utility to stop apps from starting up on your phone in the first place. Honestly, with one-click rooting apps like previously mentioned Universal Androot available for most phones, rooting only takes a few minutes to do, and you'll be much happier for it.
Update: Many of you also mentioned the root-only app Titanium Backup, which will help you get rid of the pre-installed crapware that comes on most phones, which are one of the worst offenders of phone lag. Thanks to all of you that sent this in!
Seriously, Use the Power Control Widget: This may sound ridiculously obvious, but if you aren't already using some form of the Power Control widget, you should. The things that drain the most battery on any smartphone are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and your screen. Turn them off when you don't need them and you'll find that you can eke out considerably more battery life.
Charge Your Phone: Even more obvious yet rarely heeded advice: Charge your phone often. This isn't as hard as it sounds for most people. While you're sometimes stuck going out for 14 hours with no place to charge your phone, the majority of us spend our days in our homes, our offices, and other places rife with electrical outlets. Buy a few extra chargers and place them strategically around your home, car, and office. Whenever you're sitting around at home or working away at your desk, you can use that time to dock your phone and give it some extra juice without worrying about battery or performance drains. Before I upgraded to Android 2.2, my battery life was pretty awful, but just having a charger in my car and next to my computer made a huge difference in how often I got the dreaded "low battery" message."
Theres no way to remove the bloatware without root access. I rooted my xplay yesterday using the new zergrush method, you dont need to downgrade or anything you just type in a bunch of stuff in the command promt and its done.
Just to add on to AndroHero's post. In short, Task Killers actually REDUCE your battery life. Just leave it alone, turn off bluetooth and wifi, etc when youre not using them, keep your text message conversations low, and your email inbox clear. Thats about all you can do.
Also the battery life may be related to your coverage area. My phone will last all weekend at home, but is dead in 8 hours at my office due to all the interference and poor cell service coverage, its always searching for signal.
Very interesting thank you for the detailed explanation and tips. Im gonna remove my task killer and try watchdog if i can, to keep an eye on my cpu. I am also going to look into rooting my phone, its just the constant android updates and horror storys of rooted phones with removed bloatware bricking after OTA thats putting me off.
I can understand how having an app in memory ready to go keeps your phone quick (in the same way a cookie in your browser cache makes a page load faster?) but if the app is monitoring data or connecting to the net then they are using some cpu and need to be terminated or stopped from starting. It looks like the only way to do this is to root and then as said in your post ill beable to stop them starting up in the first place.
Thanks again for your time and info
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
b4d5h0t said:
Very interesting thank you for the detailed explanation and tips. Im gonna remove my task killer and try watchdog if i can, to keep an eye on my cpu. I am also going to look into rooting my phone, its just the constant android updates and horror storys of rooted phones with removed bloatware bricking after OTA thats putting me off.
I can understand how having an app in memory ready to go keeps your phone quick (in the same way a cookie in your browser cache makes a page load faster?) but if the app is monitoring data or connecting to the net then they are using some cpu and need to be terminated or stopped from starting. It looks like the only way to do this is to root and then as said in your post ill beable to stop them starting up in the first place.
Thanks again for your time and info
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Rooting is not going to do this for you. Rooting WILL allow you to remove apps that have no use to you whatsoever. But apps, even ones you aren't using are still going to behave like this. Not only that, but those actions are part of what keeps them snappy. And if you kill them, all you would be doing is making it harder and slower to run them when you need to as it will do all those things you wanted it to not do while it was in the background. That drains the battery more. The path you are following with this isn't gonna solve your problem. Android manages its memory on its own better than any of us can.
As I mentioned about coverage area, for example do you have poor service where you are? If you have WiFi keeping it on will prevent the phone from searching for data service which will help.
b4d5h0t said:
Very interesting thank you for the detailed explanation and tips. Im gonna remove my task killer and try watchdog if i can, to keep an eye on my cpu. I am also going to look into rooting my phone, its just the constant android updates and horror storys of rooted phones with removed bloatware bricking after OTA thats putting me off.
I can understand how having an app in memory ready to go keeps your phone quick (in the same way a cookie in your browser cache makes a page load faster?) but if the app is monitoring data or connecting to the net then they are using some cpu and need to be terminated or stopped from starting. It looks like the only way to do this is to root and then as said in your post ill beable to stop them starting up in the first place.
Thanks again for your time and info
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may also want to try a minifree manager like autokiller in the market. Rather that acting like a task killer, it can edit androids built in process manager you can change how much ram is allocated to background and foregrounds apps and also how much memory android cache's, the cache is the minium amount of ram that android allows to be free, you could set it to 150mb if you wanted, then android will never let your free ram go lower than 150mb.
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk
Nice one ill look into it
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Just let Android manage itself, My Xperia play will last an entire day with a lot of use such as wifi, Bluetooth and other things.