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Sure fire way to stop background programs from running?

I'm attempting to try to increase my battery life so it lasts longer than 12 hours (~13 seems to be my limit). (I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of those who can run the phone 24+ hours) Though it's somewhat painful, I'm shutting down most the programs I have running in the background. However there seems to be a number that like to restart even after I think I've disabled their startup, widgets, notifications, etc.
Is there a way to make sure programs that you install don't run? Or at least don't launch during start up? Perhaps something like msconfig in windows?
Thanks.

Raleran said:
I'm attempting to try to increase my battery life so it lasts longer than 12 hours (~13 seems to be my limit). (I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of those who can run the phone 24+ hours) Though it's somewhat painful, I'm shutting down most the programs I have running in the background. However there seems to be a number that like to restart even after I think I've disabled their startup, widgets, notifications, etc.
Is there a way to make sure programs that you install don't run? Or at least don't launch during start up? Perhaps something like msconfig in windows?
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Killing background tasks will only decrease your battery life. When an application goes to the background, it sits in memory but does NOT consume any CPU power. since the memory is in solid state, it requires no power to stay in that state. By constantly killing background applications, it will need to start up, reinitialize, and consume more power then if you had just left it alone. Also, long term performance will be negatively affected, even if you do expereince a small short term performance gain. the Android OS is designed at the core level to have applications behave this way, and modifying that behavior will make for a worse experience.

asrrin29 said:
Killing background tasks will only decrease your battery life. When an application goes to the background, it sits in memory but does NOT consume any CPU power. since the memory is in solid state, it requires no power to stay in that state. By constantly killing background applications, it will need to start up, reinitialize, and consume more power then if you had just left it alone. Also, long term performance will be negatively affected, even if you do expereince a small short term performance gain. the Android OS is designed at the core level to have applications behave this way, and modifying that behavior will make for a worse experience.
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Eh, this is the first I've heard this. I don't remember reading this in the various battery optimization guides.
Still is there a was to stop things short of uninstalling? For example, I want to stop using the Yahoo Mail app but don't want to install yet. I went through all the options I could to disable checking/notifications, etc but it still pops back into memory constantly.

I assume youve tried the obvious, turn off WiFi (3G) and screen when not actively using it?! Those are the big batt.-eaters
Sent from my HTC Magic using XDA App

asrrin29 said:
Killing background tasks will only decrease your battery life. When an application goes to the background, it sits in memory but does NOT consume any CPU power. since the memory is in solid state, it requires no power to stay in that state. By constantly killing background applications, it will need to start up, reinitialize, and consume more power then if you had just left it alone. Also, long term performance will be negatively affected, even if you do expereince a small short term performance gain. the Android OS is designed at the core level to have applications behave this way, and modifying that behavior will make for a worse experience.
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Documentation? As far as I have read an application does not go into any type of dehydrated state when running in the background / minimized. It can do anything it wants including using CPU cycles.
I do agree that most applications do not need to be killed with a task killer but leaving 3D games (for example) running in the background could hurt your battery. Also not all applications are progammed with ther same fore thought and skill level.
I get about 33% more runtime out of my battery using a task killer to kill specific applications that I know I do not want running in the background.

Streaker said:
I assume youve tried the obvious, turn off WiFi (3G) and screen when not actively using it?! Those are the big batt.-eaters
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I leave wifi on since I'm usually in range. It's more efficient than 3g right? I alway sleep the device when I'm done. I still have huge percentages on the screen when looking at the battery usage. I'm trying a completely black screen now.

Mainly your widgets and icons and stuff still cover large portions of it, so: a black screen will help, not but alot.
Also, to keep items in RAM, to the second poster... What do you think is keeping those items in RAM?
Ummm... It's the CPU.
Task Killers won't help you on RAM usage at all (Because Android will automatically shuffle them out if it has to, or so I've read... I've yet to hit max memory). Task Killers DO help you as far as battery use goes, though... Keeping the browser killed if you aren't using it, etc.

Bjd223 said:
Documentation? As far as I have read an application does not go into any type of dehydrated state when running in the background / minimized. It can do anything it wants including using CPU cycles.
I do agree that most applications do not need to be killed with a task killer but leaving 3D games (for example) running in the background could hurt your battery. Also not all applications are progammed with ther same fore thought and skill level.
I get about 33% more runtime out of my battery using a task killer to kill specific applications that I know I do not want running in the background.
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I should clarify. I guess the term I meant to use is "suspended." If a program is actively "running" in the background, it will use CPU cycles. But if you simply stopped using a program, say for example the xda app, and returned to your homescreen, the application stays "suspended" in the background and consumes no CPU cycles until you go back to it. Now services that are updating, such as email or SMS, will use CPU cycles in the background because they are still actively running. But if you want to conserve battery life you can simply disable the notifications from most of these programs.

asrrin29 said:
I should clarify. I guess the term I meant to use is "suspended." If a program is actively "running" in the background, it will use CPU cycles. But if you simply stopped using a program, say for example the xda app, and returned to your homescreen, the application stays "suspended" in the background and consumes no CPU cycles until you go back to it. Now services that are updating, such as email or SMS, will use CPU cycles in the background because they are still actively running. But if you want to conserve battery life you can simply disable the notifications from most of these programs.
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The app itself at that point may not be but the Android OS still does to maintain that suspended state.

I have some applications I rarely use or even some that I've never used but may want to in the future. I see absolutely no benefit in keeping these applications in the background. Further more, I've noticed a signficant drain on the battery when extra applications are running in the background. I'm sure it's not all of them, but I've yet to discover who exactly the culpit is. Right now I suspect it's the NPR app, perhaps due to data use?
The point is, there are perfectly good reasons to keep some apps in the background, and perfectly good reasons to kill others - or perferrably not have them start up at all unless I do it myself. Could be due to data usage (especially if you do not have unlimited data), could be due to concerns about excessive cpu usage. There really should be a clear method in which you can stop applications from opening on their own.

You can use the program "Autostarts" to keep applications from starting at startup. With it you can also prevent things from launching under a number of other situations. That might be what you are looking for. Just do a google search for the APK as I don't think it is in the market.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Shuggins said:
You can use the program "Autostarts" to keep applications from starting at startup. With it you can also prevent things from launching under a number of other situations. That might be what you are looking for. Just do a google search for the APK as I don't think it is in the market.
Wouldn't tasker also help?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Sent from my AOSP on XDANDROID MSM using XDA App

To me, it's not a matter of "task killer or not", but rather when and where to use one. And I think it's simple: Don't bother, unless you suspect a specific app is doing something you don't want it to do in the background. Then, just kill that specific app and leave everything else alone. A Task manager that shows CPU% for each process can be handy for this as well.
I generally try to avoid killing tasks, but one night I had 50% battery on my phone and after about 2 hours or so I took it out of my pocket to make a phone call, and it was very hot and had about 12% of batter left -- something was running wild that shouldn't have been (I think it was Pandora, even though it was not currently playing any music!) So, background apps do occasionally run out of control, and you do need to occasionally kill them, but do it on an "as needed" basis.

Raleran said:
I'm attempting to try to increase my battery life so it lasts longer than 12 hours (~13 seems to be my limit). (I'll admit I'm a bit jealous of those who can run the phone 24+ hours) Though it's somewhat painful, I'm shutting down most the programs I have running in the background.
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Unless the background process is syncing data, it won't eat your battery. So instead of wasting your time, you should focus on other energy hogs. Things like screen brightness, bluetooth, wifi, and gps.

Shuggins said:
You can use the program "Autostarts" to keep applications from starting at startup. With it you can also prevent things from launching under a number of other situations. That might be what you are looking for. Just do a google search for the APK as I don't think it is in the market.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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I installed Advanced Task Killer from the Market. It lets you kill all running applications including itself.
durrence

jsmith8858 said:
To me, it's not a matter of "task killer or not", but rather when and where to use one. And I think it's simple: Don't bother, unless you suspect a specific app is doing something you don't want it to do in the background. Then, just kill that specific app and leave everything else alone. A Task manager that shows CPU% for each process can be handy for this as well.
I generally try to avoid killing tasks, but one night I had 50% battery on my phone and after about 2 hours or so I took it out of my pocket to make a phone call, and it was very hot and had about 12% of batter left -- something was running wild that shouldn't have been (I think it was Pandora, even though it was not currently playing any music!) So, background apps do occasionally run out of control, and you do need to occasionally kill them, but do it on an "as needed" basis.
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Or an auto-killer would've killed it before it killed your battery by 38% lol

Task Killings are bad, mmmkay...

Slightly off topic:
To help conserve battery power,
Use an all black desktop background since the black areas dont use battery power.

Hmm, people in this thread have said a few things that I haven't heard or seen much before. Specifically that killing apps could decrease battery life. When I first downloaded advanced task killer I tended to kill most things. I slowly backed off and now I've been watching what launches and what tends to come back and not kill those (mail apps, widgets, performance watchers, etc). The second is that not having a black background doesn't necessarily improve battery life. Makes sense considering I have icons everywhere on my screen.
@Shuggins - Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for. I've downloaded it but now I have to, er charge my battery a bit before I can take a close look at it.
@jsmith8858 - Are you running setCPU? A couple days ago I noticed my battery running pretty hot. I stopped using setCPU and the battery cooled down a lot. I've used setCPU since them without the heat issue so I'm not sure what was going on.
Well during todays iteration I ran for about 12 hours (typical). I had a couple short phone calls, 2 email accounts syncing as well as other bg syncing processes. I did eat up 30% in an hour messing with a game. I'd probably have 13-14 hours if I didn't play anything (but if I didn't what's the point of the phone . Still, as much as I love it the screen is killing me. Guess there's nothing to do about it though (usually brightness is all the way down, turn it off when I'm not using it, using a darker background). I didn't kill any of my background processes today. I'm going to set up that Autostarts program and start auto-killing various programs tomorrow.

You can try using autokiller and art it to extreme, but I don't recommend this
Sent from my HTC Dream using XDA App

actual battery management app that works

SuperPower (I got it on AppBrain) is an advanced power management app. It does cool stuff like allow you to schedule your phone to shut off data when the screen is off WHILE scheduling the data to come on for a couple minutes every hour to sync your email AND leave data on if your screen is off but you're downloading something. It didn't seem to play too nice with setcpu but has literally doubled my battery life without a noticeable change in performance. There's a thread on xda about it somewhere, but this is currently an unsupported beta so use at your own risk.

austontatious said:
SuperPower (I got it on AppBrain) is an advanced power management app. It does cool stuff like allow you to schedule your phone to shut off data when the screen is off WHILE scheduling the data to come on for a couple minutes every hour to sync your email AND leave data on if your screen is off but you're downloading something. It didn't seem to play too nice with setcpu but has literally doubled my battery life without a noticeable change in performance. There's a thread on xda about it somewhere, but this is currently an unsupported beta so use at your own risk.
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of course it did it shut data off. any app that does that will extend batt life

So basically it is Juice Defender?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

dsEVOlve said:
So basically it is Juice Defender?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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sounds like.

Ya, it's a similar concept to JuiceDefender. Less about task management and power profiles, though - isntead of setting up profiles you basically just enable levels of control over your phone for the app. And yes, 94tbird, I am aware that "of course it did it shut data off. any app that does that will extend batt life " but the impressive thing is that it didn't just turn data off, but it managed it so that I didn't notice it was off. If I wanted a phone with no data connection and great battery life, I'm sure I have an old nokia around here somewhere. The point was that it is a smart enough app to turn data off when I don't need it and on when I do, while still keeping my email box synced and all without me noticing a difference (besides the battery life). You could accomplish the same thing with the stock widget to turn your data connection on and off, but you would actually have to turn it on and off. This app does it for you, and seamlessly enough that you don't notice it working. But hey - do as you like. I don't have any connection to the developer(s) of this app, I just dl'd it and it worked really well, thought I would share.

[Q] Q: Battry

pls I have purchased Desire S. in fact, i face a problem with battry life
could you advice me for any solution?

Settings>Sound>Pocket mode off (uncheck) that will help a bit.
Oh and don't try task killers they are useless.
And leave only syncing of essential programs on(like mail, weather, facebook/twitter..) and stop the stocks, news... useless stuff.

Thank you for your early reply

Also turn off auto brightness adjustment, set it to 30% (very good when inside) and add brightness widget to your home screen (to adjust when outside, bcs of sun)

are task killers really useless?> but how can I exit all of the apps that are running in the background? I think they drain a lot of battery juice on my desire S.

ghuk said:
are task killers really useless?> but how can I exit all of the apps that are running in the background? I think they drain a lot of battery juice on my desire S.
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Thats what i tought at first...well is not how you think.
1. The memory uses same amount of battery even if used 99% or 5%.
2. When you "exit" one app, even if it doesn't close, it will use 0% cpu, and only stay in memory for quick start the next time you start it.
3. If you run out of memory, android will take care and close background apps to free up memory.
No need for task killers. Anyway, if you use task killers it will only use more battery because, some apps autorestart, using battery.

Background apps (not services, but apps you closed recently) run in background mode and only for some time, Android has it's own memory management.

ghuk said:
are task killers really useless?> but how can I exit all of the apps that are running in the background? I think they drain a lot of battery juice on my desire S.
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Click to collapse
It's just how latest Android works thus making task killers useless.
If you're still paranoid, install System Panel app. With it, you can see a crapload of apps running in the background, but none is using the CPU which is what drains the battery. You can still end tasks with it, but you'll notice some of it will be back up instantly.
So if you're constantly auto killing those background apps which then instantly comes back up and then killed again and then up again and on and on, it will end up using more battery than leaving it in the background.
I even see some games in the background apps lol. But does it drain my battery? No.
Don't worry about the memory, it'll never run out.

There is a section regarding extending battery life within this extremely helpful guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097538
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App

Once I have the syncing under control, and resist the urge to spend hours playing games, I find the biggest drain is the screen.
I'm using Screen Filter to reduce the backlight level in situations where the automatic brightness is just too bright. This is especially useful in the evenings.
Only problem with Screen Filter is it sometimes interferes with the touch-screen in places, like when installing an .apk - the Install button doesn't respond until I switch Screen Filter off. Weird.

Rather than use an application or the Auto setting which I think aims far to high.
I just simply switch screen brightness down to about 25-30% and then turn it up when I'm outdoors in bright sun light if and when needed.

I recommend what friend above said. You can add widget to your desktop and switch brightness by one tap.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk

Power Saver Mode of S5 using SOS Launcher

Playstore link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.webzler.soslauncher
Description
This is a homescreen replacement that has an Ultra Power Saving Mode for your phone to help you extend battery life when you are running out of charge. This launcher allows up-to 4 apps on the home-screen.
What this app does:
1. Kills all running apps and services.
2. Disables WiFi, Data.
3. Shows Missed Calls and Missed Messages.
Ultra Power Saving Mode:
4. OLED Mode for AMOLED devices.
5. Changes governor to Powersave mode. (requires ROOT Access)
6. Disables 2 cores of a Quad core phone. (requires ROOT Access)
7. Reboot during exit. (requires ROOT Access)
When your phone goes below 15% battery, the app shows alert to clear the defaults for your current launcher. After clearing, set SOS Launcher as the default homescreen, and the app would take care of the battery. Once you quit the app, it would clear itself as the default launcher and you can start using your favorite launcher back.

This got nothing to do with S5, clearly missleading Title of the thread. But thanks for sharing even though i see alot of bad comments on playstore

Netuser said:
This got nothing to do with S5, clearly missleading Title of the thread. But thanks for sharing even though i see alot of bad comments on playstore
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Click to collapse
Can you test the app and let me know if there are any issues?

amitrathiesh said:
Playstore link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.webzler.soslauncher
Description
This is a homescreen replacement that has an Ultra Power Saving Mode for your phone to help you extend battery life when you are running out of charge. This launcher allows up-to 4 apps on the home-screen.
What this app does:
1. Kills all running apps and services.
2. Disables WiFi, Data.
3. Shows Missed Calls and Missed Messages.
Ultra Power Saving Mode:
4. OLED Mode for AMOLED devices.
5. Changes governor to Powersave mode. (requires ROOT Access)
6. Disables 2 cores of a Quad core phone. (requires ROOT Access)
7. Reboot during exit. (requires ROOT Access)
When your phone goes below 15% battery, the app shows alert to clear the defaults for your current launcher. After clearing, set SOS Launcher as the default homescreen, and the app would take care of the battery. Once you quit the app, it would clear itself as the default launcher and you can start using your favorite launcher back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's clearly misleading the users. If your launcher kills processes - it's not the same as S5 Ultra Power Save mode. Many services/apps will be re-spawned again due to nature of Android. S5's framework has special functions to PREVENT (not KILL) starting of non-white-listed processes which will ensure, only predefined processes will run at ANY moment. Also, S5 UPS will block internet access to many apps.
Thus, it's more complex methods than just killing the processes. Ultrapower Saving mode requires special functions in framework and cannot be implemented by application/launcher/service.

sorg said:
It's clearly misleading the users. If your launcher kills processes - it's not the same as S5 Ultra Power Save mode. Many services/apps will be re-spawned again due to nature of Android. S5's framework has special functions to PREVENT (not KILL) starting of non-white-listed processes which will ensure, only predefined processes will run at ANY moment. Also, S5 UPS will block internet access to many apps.
Thus, it's more complex methods than just killing the processes. Ultrapower Saving mode requires special functions in framework and cannot be implemented by application/launcher/service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Sorg, I'm never against what you have mentioned. Once you kill all the running services, only some of them (eg: play service) gets restarted. So you still would be clearing most of the application like Games and other Application that are minimised and are running in the background. Again, I am not trying to mislead the users. I'm only saying that the app would help you to increase the battery uptime.
Please feel free to test the same on your device and let me know the feedback. If you have any issues, I would be glad to resolve them in the future versions.

[APP][2.x-5.x] [APK] BATTERY SAVER ULTIMATE

Overview
Battery Saver Ultimate application provides the best power settings to saves the battery time of your device or your tablet. Whenever the battery runs low or goes too much down, just tap the power saver app to turn on the saving mode.
Battery savers help you to switch off all the extra functions like WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, sound and other energy consuming apps on the device. The app will notify when the power gets down in percentage and it even shows the charging stages.
Charging Stages:
Free Battery Saver Ultimate app regulates the manner in which your device is charged with a Unique 3 Stage Charging system to ensure you get the most out of your battery and reminds you not to over charge.
Types of Mode :
1. Saving Mode: (Use in lowest Battery Status)
Device Brightness set to 10%
In Activate WiFi of the Device
Stand By time to 15 seconds
2. Sleep Mode: (Use when you sleep)
Turn Off Call & SMS and turn ON the Flight Mode
Set Vibrations Off.
Airplane Mode.
Sound Off and mute media sound too.
Brightness set to 10% or minimum level.
3. Customized Mode
You can Customize app usages as your need to save Battery Power.
Can adjust the battery saving setting freely depend on your need and usage.
Can adjust WiFi, Bluetooth, vibration, sound, device brightness, synchronization and stand by time.
Features and Requirements
Accurate battery remaining time
Shows Standby Time.
Accurate charging remaining time
Schedule power saving modes for work/class/sleep and more!
3 Stage Charging system 1. Fast charge 2. Continuous Charging 3. Tickle Charging.
Wifi/Data/Bluetooth/GPS/Flight Mode toggle!
Brightness control!
Shows Battery Health, Current Battery Power in mAH, Temperature, Voltage and Battery life status.

Interesting app. I installed it on my tablet. Look up how it will work. Pity that application is not in material design...

Can I say dodgy app here full of ads and nothing as you say it is. Gives me to play games and full of ads. Avoid

Looks very Good though

Full of ads, nothing like advertised. Avoid.

mr_stax123 said:
Looks very Good though
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Click to collapse
Please state more

i want to prevent apps to auto start to save battery and ram, which app should i use, grrenify or autorun manager or any other?

First, you need not concern yourself with free ram on an Android device. Android manages resources better by itself. As for the apps that launch on startup, you can got to menu>settings>apps and select the "running" tab to show you exactly what is really running. Then, the easiest way is to uninstall the app in question.
Automated task killers do nothing but cause more problems than they can potentially solve.
You might find this thread enlightening.

mr_stax123 said:
i want to prevent apps to auto start to save battery and ram, which app should i use, grrenify or autorun manager or any other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The task killer discussion gets old. I think there is risk of oversimplifying both sides. ie on one side people want to treat it like pc...not correct. On the other side people seem to imply any discussion of memory management considerations is irrelevant/rejected because "android will handle it all"....which is not always entirely correct either. The latter may be closer to the truth especially for new devices, but there is still room for middle ground. Not all programs are equal, some launch "services" which takes priority over other app processes. Too many of those services can eventually crowd out cache and slow your phone down. Maybe most people with newer phones will never get there, but there are still people with older phones (including the op for all we know) and also some folks with new phones who (if they listen to the oversimplifications) may get carried away on the number and type of apps they install over the life of their phone
---------- Post added at 12:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 AM ----------
Even so, killing off those services is not the answer. If an older phone has too many running services so it taxes it's resources then it's either time to uninstall some or get a device that can handle it. If it's a problem with the app itself hogging resources, then let the developer know and find an alternative.
If you try to tow a boat with a bicycle, the answer isn't to throw away the boat's engine to make it lighter. Similarly, a task killer may make the phone's performance improve briefly, but over time it will make things worse. And it fixes nothing.

An app preventing another app from "auto-starting" is a task killer. Look at it this way: The phone boots up and runs it's processes. The auto-start blocker detects an app it doesn't want to run, so it kills it. Now, depending on what app it is, the phone may call for it again and thus running it later, which defeats the purpose of an auto-start killer, unless that app is a task killer which again kills said flagged app to keep it killed.
The way to properly manage an app you don't want to have enabled on the phone at bootup is to disable the app on the system manager (newer phones have it AFAIK), freeze the app via Titanium or similar apps, get into the app settings and disable certain features like auto-sync and set everything to manual.
However, the OP did not specify what phone and which apps. It may be apps which the phone requires to run at some level, like Maps (which several apps call for), or maybe the apps he is seeing are just RAM cached, which really don't matter at all.

Adjusting with app settings is preferred if you can, but does not always solve the problem (I referred to wakelock/battery drain problem with a certain version of Maps on my previous phone ... many people we having the same problem at the time and the only way to stop it was to block the app from starting as indicated in link below, or else to freeze it). Freezing has the disadvantage that you cannot run the program easily (requires you to launch TiBu to thaw the program). If you have blocked the program from autostarting, then it does not start at boot or other automatic time, but it remains available to manually launch the normal way (clicking the program icon). At that point (if it's a program like Maps), it will probably stay running until next reboot. It was my preferred solution when maps was giving me wakelocks and battery drain on my phone. Maps didn't run automatically on boot and never started until I manually started it. After that point I could live with the battery drain or reboot

Rom Toolbox Pro is a great app with many features and of course, there's an auto start manager that allows you to disable various receivers off the apps that start on boot. There's also a freeze/deep freeze feature as well. Great app