Why does Android use so much RAM? but not iOS? - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

On a Vibrant with Froyo, the amount of free RAM is roughly 130-140 MB out of total 304 MB accessible to applications after using the End All command.
For comparison, my iPod 3G with total of only 256 MB can have the same 130-140 MB free on average and 170-180 MB with a similar "End All" on a jailbroken device. BUT Vibrant has twice the physical memory 512 MB vs 256 MB. (I know a big part of it is reserved for system, please read below).
So my question is why does android OS have twice the footprint of iOS (in terms of memory)? Especially if you consider the fact that Vibrant even with only a fraction of its total RAM available to application still have more RAM than the iPod Touch. (304 MB vs. 256 MB)
It just makes no sense, I upgraded to a device with twice the amount of physical RAM but end up with less RAM for use?!?! I know that part of it is reserved for the system, but if there's already part of it reserved for system (208 MB) then why does Android still take up a big chunk of memory after booting up? What could it possibly be running that needs twice the amount of RAM? Is it because Apple Programmers are better? or ?!

PaiPiePia said:
On a Vibrant with Froyo, the amount of free RAM is roughly 130-140 MB out of total 304 MB accessible to applications after using the End All command.
For comparison, my iPod 3G with total of only 256 MB can have the same 130-140 MB free on average and 170-180 MB with a similar "End All" on a jailbroken device. BUT Vibrant has twice the physical memory 512 MB vs 256 MB. (I know a big part of it is reserved for system, please read below).
So my question is why does android OS have twice the footprint of iOS (in terms of memory)? Especially if you consider the fact that Vibrant even with only a fraction of its total RAM available to application still have more RAM than the iPod Touch. (304 MB vs. 256 MB)
It just makes no sense, I upgraded to a device with twice the amount of physical RAM but end up with less RAM for use?!?! I know that part of it is reserved for the system, but if there's already part of it reserved for system (208 MB) then why does Android still take up a big chunk of memory after booting up? What could it possibly be running that needs twice the amount of RAM? Is it because Apple Programmers are better? or ?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android (especially customized skinned versions) have lots and lots of background processes running doing different things. syncing gmail, rss feeds, tweets, facebook updates, not to mention data services. your ipod touch only syncs things when on wifi and probably not as frequently nor to the extent of android. and web browsing using flash requires lots of RAM. many aspects of android that we all love eat through ram. in a nutshell. its more extensive then this but im sure you get the jist of it

What exactly are you running? Are you taking this reading after loading everything on your phone or after a fresh wipe? I have adwex running, wp live wallpaper, swype, among other many other services/widgets and still have on average 185- 201mb free.
Edit: actually, running services shows 190 free and the vibrant internal task killer shows 225 free?
I know this doesn't address your main question, but I think your comparison might be a little skewed and filled with end user variables.

PaiPiePia said:
On a Vibrant with Froyo, the amount of free RAM is roughly 130-140 MB out of total 304 MB accessible to applications after using the End All command.
For comparison, my iPod 3G with total of only 256 MB can have the same 130-140 MB free on average and 170-180 MB with a similar "End All" on a jailbroken device. BUT Vibrant has twice the physical memory 512 MB vs 256 MB. (I know a big part of it is reserved for system, please read below).
So my question is why does android OS have twice the footprint of iOS (in terms of memory)? Especially if you consider the fact that Vibrant even with only a fraction of its total RAM available to application still have more RAM than the iPod Touch. (304 MB vs. 256 MB)
It just makes no sense, I upgraded to a device with twice the amount of physical RAM but end up with less RAM for use?!?! I know that part of it is reserved for the system, but if there's already part of it reserved for system (208 MB) then why does Android still take up a big chunk of memory after booting up? What could it possibly be running that needs twice the amount of RAM? Is it because Apple Programmers are better? or ?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. android uses memory efficiently. That actually means that android uses up your memory available. Free memory is wasted memory - especially on a mobile device. This isn't windows where a lot of free memory is a good thing, and a page file is inexplicably necessary no matter how much ram you have.
2. Multi-tasking. It takes memory to have efficient multi-tasking.
It's a common misconception that loads of free memory is a good thing. Kinda like the misconceptions about task killers. They're based off of very old android (pre 1.5) on underspecced devices (g1).
Additionally, if you really want android to manage memory differently, you can tell it to use more or less aggressive profiles. The sgs tools apps have that capability.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Sorry to hijack the post but just wondering..Would more free ram result in smoother game play? ? I'm sad that dungeon defenders ask for 256 mb of free ram at runtime in description and I can't get that amount on my galaxy
Can't help but assume that us causing the lag on dd.
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dearmiju said:
Sorry to hijack the post but just wondering..Would more free ram result in smoother game play? ? I'm sad that dungeon defenders ask for 256 mb of free ram at runtime in description and I can't get that amount on my galaxy
Can't help but assume that us causing the lag on dd.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Before playing end everything launcher etc through stock task, killer.
Then open game see if it works, if it does theres a rogue app using more memory because my vb phone handles dungeon defenders wonderful. No lag no nothing, I'm running nero, but every 2.2 rom has acted same

xriderx66 said:
Before playing end everything launcher etc through stock task, killer.
Then open game see if it works, if it does theres a rogue app using more memory because my vb phone handles dungeon defenders wonderful. No lag no nothing, I'm running nero, but every 2.2 rom has acted same
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Click to collapse
I have a froyo vibrant and an ipod touch 4. every same app that i run on both android and ios runs better, lag-free, smoother, doesn't close by itself on ipt4. i have my vibrant rooted and tweaked using sgs tuner, toolbox, etc. i don't have widgets on my homescreen. my ipt4 is jailbroken with many tweaks and it still runs smooth. ios is just a better made os.

saquibs2004 said:
I have a froyo vibrant and an ipod touch 4. every same app that i run on both android and ios runs better, lag-free, smoother, doesn't close by itself on ipt4. i have my vibrant rooted and tweaked using sgs tuner, toolbox, etc. i don't have widgets on my homescreen. my ipt4 is jailbroken with many tweaks and it still runs smooth. ios is just a better made os.
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Click to collapse
When you don't know anything about Android, I can see how the uninformed like yourself may come to such a silly conclusion.
The Vibrant is hamstrung by Samsung's proprietary file system. That file system is a root cause for the lag that we see on our devices. How do we know this? Because other similarly specced devices by HTC are much smoother. And because the IP4 uses the exact same Samsung-made Hummingbird SoC, but simply used a slightly slower graphics processor, and then renamed it the "A4".
Moreover, the example that you're giving has little-to-nothing to do with the topic at hand.

saquibs2004 said:
I have a froyo vibrant and an ipod touch 4. every same app that i run on both android and ios runs better, lag-free, smoother, doesn't close by itself on ipt4. i have my vibrant rooted and tweaked using sgs tuner, toolbox, etc. i don't have widgets on my homescreen. my ipt4 is jailbroken with many tweaks and it still runs smooth. ios is just a better made os.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Next time you use an iPod Touch/iPhone pay attention to the UI animation/application transition screen. Apple device appears smoother because their transition is really slow, and pages scrolls less "distance" than they are on Android.
Just try it. Load the same webpage on your Vibrant and iPod Touch, scroll both using the same strength, I can guarantee you that Android scrollls farther and thus loads more contents and appears to be laggier.
Same can be applied to the UI transition animation, when you got from on page to the next, the "page flip effect" is really really slow but smooth, Android is more practical by speeding up that animation which gives the appearance of less smoother change.
*owner of iPod Touch 4G and Vibrant.

PaiPiePia said:
Next time you use an iPod Touch/iPhone pay attention to the UI animation/application transition screen. Apple device appears smoother because their transition is really slow, and pages scrolls less "distance" than they are on Android.
Just try it. Load the same webpage on your Vibrant and iPod Touch, scroll both using the same strength, I can guarantee you that Android scrollls farther and thus loads more contents and appears to be laggier.
Same can be applied to the UI transition animation, when you got from on page to the next, the "page flip effect" is really really slow but smooth, Android is more practical by speeding up that animation which gives the appearance of less smoother change.
*owner of iPod Touch 4G and Vibrant.
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No such thing as ipod touch 4g just 4.
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hitman818 said:
No such thing as ipod touch 4g just 4.
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I wouldn't say it's incorrect calling it that, it's probably more correct including 4G in that case than in any other case ;p currently.
OP: And I wouldn't worry about not having gobs of free memory, again like others have said memory not in use is memory wasted. Android is very good about allotting memory as it's needed, so the user should never have to manually manage memory usage.

Arkasai said:
I wouldn't say it's incorrect calling it that, it's probably more correct including 4G in that case than in any other case ;p currently.
OP: And I wouldn't worry about not having gobs of free memory, again like others have said memory not in use is memory wasted. Android is very good about allotting memory as it's needed, so the user should never have to manually manage memory usage.
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Why would you call it 4g if it doesnt have 4g speeds?
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hitman818 said:
Why would you call it 4g if it doesnt have 4g speeds?
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Yeah.. it doesn't even have a cellular data radio...
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hitman818 said:
Why would you call it 4g if it doesnt have 4g speeds?
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because its the 4th generation are you dumb or something?

xriderx66 said:
because its the 4th generation are you dumb or something?
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Click to collapse
No, I don't think hitman818 is the dumb one here. He is accurately describing the device in question. 4g refers to the technology behind the internet connection and has nothing to do with the generation of the device specifically, hence phones like the HTC Vision/G2 are advertised as 4g but are not 4th generation phones. The 4g refers to their ability to utilise HSPA+. The iPod Touch does not have a 4g radio, like reuthermonkey said, and therefore cannot rightly be called the iPod Touch 4g. Apple certainly does not call it the iPod Touch 4g.
I know I'm new but seriously, no need to be like that.

dkmdlb said:
No, I don't think hitman818 is the dumb one here. He is accurately describing the device in question. 4g refers to the technology behind the internet connection and has nothing to do with the generation of the device specifically, hence phones like the HTC Vision/G2 are advertised as 4g but are not 4th generation phones. The 4g refers to their ability to utilise HSPA+. The iPod Touch does not have a 4g radio, like reuthermonkey said, and therefore cannot rightly be called the iPod Touch 4g. Apple certainly does not call it the iPod Touch 4g.
I know I'm new but seriously, no need to be like that.
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Click to collapse
I probably shouldn't have called him dumb but its common sense.
The first ipod is known as 1G the second 2G etc. they mean generation, and not obviously 4G radio.
Its a music player. people should learn to use common sense.

xriderx66 said:
I probably shouldn't have called him dumb but its common sense.
The first ipod is known as 1G the second 2G etc. they mean generation, and not obviously 4G radio.
Its a music player. people should learn to use common sense.
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Click to collapse
This is exactly what I meant. 4th Generation.
dkmdlb said:
No, I don't think hitman818 is the dumb one here. He is accurately describing the device in question. 4g refers to the technology behind the internet connection and has nothing to do with the generation of the device specifically, hence phones like the HTC Vision/G2 are advertised as 4g but are not 4th generation phones. The 4g refers to their ability to utilise HSPA+. The iPod Touch does not have a 4g radio, like reuthermonkey said, and therefore cannot rightly be called the iPod Touch 4g. Apple certainly does not call it the iPod Touch 4g.
I know I'm new but seriously, no need to be like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple users call the devices by generations, 1G. 2G 3G 4G.
as stated before I own serveral iPods so I got used to it.
Edit: /rant Also common sense tells you iPod doesn't have a cellular radio. It's funny how Android owners has to nick pick everything. OH no I said 4G instead of 4 on a ****ing Apple Product, it's the end of the world.

PaiPiePia said:
This is exactly what I meant. 4th Generation.
Apple users call the devices by generations, 1G. 2G 3G 4G.
as stated before I own serveral iPods so I got used to it.
Edit: /rant Also common sense tells you iPod doesn't have a cellular radio. It's funny how Android owners has to nick pick everything. OH no I said 4G instead of 4 on a ****ing Apple Product, it's the end of the world.
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Click to collapse
Considering the technical competence of most Apple product owners, it's a fairly frequently recurring theme.
When I stop seeing people refer to the iPhone4 as the iPhone4g, I'll stop nit-picking Apple owners who don't know the difference between MB and mb, 4g and 4th gen, wifi and cellular, etc.

reuthermonkey said:
When I stop seeing people refer to the iPhone4 as the iPhone4g, I'll stop nit-picking Apple owners who don't know the difference between MB and mb, 4g and 4th gen, wifi and cellular, etc.
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Click to collapse
I will group you together with that guy who got pissed over an iPhone link at the top of the forum claiming passion for Android in an originally WinMo forum.

PaiPiePia said:
I will group you together with that guy who got pissed over an iPhone link at the top of the forum claiming passion for Android in an originally WinMo forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea who that guy is. I stick to the Android forums and prefer not to troll iPhone and WinMo forums. I've owned iPhones and Androids, so I have no ill-will towards Apple users in general. Just the delusional ones.

Related

Still no 512 MB ram in any rom.. curious why?

I've had my vibrant since it came out. They have 512 of ram hardware. I know we've gotten up to 344 or so with tweaking, but why can't we get the full 512 at all?
I have a feeling it has to do with Samsung or drivers, but with everything I've seen devs overcome I can't see why this is still a problem.
I have a nook color which has inferior hardware overall, but the biggest reason I see it as more stable is it never has memory management issues(running any rom). My biggest reasons to dump my vibrant for a Hercules or comparable is because of the constant ram issues the vibrant has that they wont, along with better hardware.
Maybe the answer is out there, but I haven't seen it in a whole year(so answers could be outdated), nor it brought up for a very long time.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
That 512 MB is shared ram. So some of it is dedicated to the video processor which is built into CPU. Phones have to be slim and light I don't think well be seeing dedicated videocards and soundcards anytime soon.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
The simple answer is that our system needs to set aside a certain amount of ram for the actual OS to use, nothing that we can necessarily touch. Certain apps occupy memory at all times and we're left with whatever memory hasn't been allocated by OS. I'm not the most technical but that's the general consensus from what I've read over the last 2 years of running Android.
If you want to really push the limits of what free ram you can achieve, I would highly suggest reading the OP of this thread. In there you'll see how you can adjust the way your system handles recently opened and closed apps. My phone feels a million times better, just using those simple to use tweaks/scripts.
Let me know if you need any help.
- Mat
dardani89 said:
That 512 MB is shared ram. So some of it is dedicated to the video processor which is built into CPU. Phones have to be slim and light I don't think well be seeing dedicated videocards and soundcards anytime soon.
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I know the nook has no dedicated gpu, but it makes use of most if not all of that ram.. unless I am playing a graphically intensive game, it rarely drops below 100mb available ram, usually staying around 150+ until I've opened a ton of apps. Oh, and many phones that are coming out have a dedicated gpu, such as all of the variants of the samsung galaxy S II. it has a Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset.. and awesome battery life I have heard.
Either way, my nook color doesn't experience the laggyness that my vibrant does until I have used so much it makes sense, but considering my vibrant stays around 60mb of available ram +/- most of the time..
Mattymat said:
The simple answer is that our system needs to set aside a certain amount of ram for the actual OS to use, nothing that we can necessarily touch. Certain apps occupy memory at all times and we're left with whatever memory hasn't been allocated by OS. I'm not the most technical but that's the general consensus from what I've read over the last 2 years of running Android.
If you want to really push the limits of what free ram you can achieve, I would highly suggest reading the OP of this thread. In there you'll see how you can adjust the way your system handles recently opened and closed apps. My phone feels a million times better, just using those simple to use tweaks/scripts.
Let me know if you need any help.
- Mat
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Click to collapse
You have no idea how hard I have been trying to find that app, I was going to try it when I was running simply honeyv5 because the memory issues were so horrible, but I couldn't find it again, and minfreemanager was the next best thing.. so I am VERY glad you posted it.
Are you using a specific set of pre-made settings, a specific script, or some custom setup, and which?
I am just trying to get my vibrant as usable as possible until the hercules and other comparable phones come out, so I can weigh them against each other. I don't regret my vibrant, but I wish I had waited a little longer so I had made a more informed choice.. if I can make it kickass again, at least for a few months, I will be a happy guy. Thanks again.
Silentbtdeadly said:
I know the nook has no dedicated gpu, but it makes use of most if not all of that ram.. unless I am playing a graphically intensive game, it rarely drops below 100mb available ram, usually staying around 150+ until I've opened a ton of apps. Oh, and many phones that are coming out have a dedicated gpu, such as all of the variants of the samsung galaxy S II. it has a Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset.. and awesome battery life I have heard.
Either way, my nook color doesn't experience the laggyness that my vibrant does until I have used so much it makes sense, but considering my vibrant stays around 60mb of available ram +/- most of the time..
You have no idea how hard I have been trying to find that app, I was going to try it when I was running simply honeyv5 because the memory issues were so horrible, but I couldn't find it again, and minfreemanager was the next best thing.. so I am VERY glad you posted it.
Are you using a specific set of pre-made settings, a specific script, or some custom setup, and which?
I am just trying to get my vibrant as usable as possible until the hercules and other comparable phones come out, so I can weigh them against each other. I don't regret my vibrant, but I wish I had waited a little longer so I had made a more informed choice.. if I can make it kickass again, at least for a few months, I will be a happy guy. Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
No problem man. I'm actually using option #9 in V8 right now and it's been a dream. It stops holding apps in memory after not using them a few seconds, which is great for what I'm looking for. What you'll find is that it manages the memory and how quickly things are slotted around (different priorities that android gives particular applications; Launcher, Dialer, Messaging, etc.). You can actually try every option and see which you find the best.
I started out with option #2 and then moved all the way down as I found things I didn't like in some, but liked in others.Give it a shot man!
- Mat
Mattymat said:
No problem man. I'm actually using option #9 in V8 right now and it's been a dream. It stops holding apps in memory after not using them a few seconds, which is great for what I'm looking for. What you'll find is that it manages the memory and how quickly things are slotted around (different priorities that android gives particular applications; Launcher, Dialer, Messaging, etc.). You can actually try every option and see which you find the best.
I started out with option #2 and then moved all the way down as I found things I didn't like in some, but liked in others.Give it a shot man!
- Mat
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Click to collapse
I'm actually using number 2 now in the allandroidv8 script, and if anything maybe it is too aggressive, but it has it's snappiness back. Looking at how they set the rom I'm using and the one before it, it looks like they didn't tweak it at all from stock cm7.. if anything I think they've made tweaks it more recent nightlies better than those roms! Simply honey(who brags about how great they are) and Biff ron both need some tweaking.. I'm gonna play with it, but thanks for posting what I was trying so hard to find
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

Ram usage

I noticed while I was using the supercharger script that it recommended to use option 8 which is 768hp and not option 9 1000hp. I've read some threads before about people asking why in the task manager it only shows we have 733mb of ram on the phone and that its supposed to have 1gb. I know the system takes up a lot of ram and that's why it shows that. So my question is, does touch wiz use up that much ram? I thought tw was a "light" overlay. I remember when I had a rezound the recommendation for the supercharger script was 1000hp. Sense is supposed to be a "heavy" overlay right? Could it actually be lighter than tw? When I had an inspire it said to use 768hp, the same as now with the Note. But the inspire is "last year's" tech. I would expect the Note to be up there with the Rezound. Maybe this is why we are seeing lag sometimes? ICS seems worse in the ram usage department (600-something in the task manager). It just seems to me that the system is using up an incredible amount of resources that I haven't seen happen on other phones even with sense on them. Whenever I use the script and it recommends 768 it makes me think something is wrong and that's why we have the lag that we do. Thoughts?
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SkizzMcNizz said:
I noticed while I was using the supercharger script that it recommended to use option 8 which is 768hp and not option 9 1000hp. I've read some threads before about people asking why in the task manager it only shows we have 733mb of ram on the phone and that its supposed to have 1gb. I know the system takes up a lot of ram and that's why it shows that. So my question is, does touch wiz use up that much ram? I thought tw was a "light" overlay. I remember when I had a rezound the recommendation for the supercharger script was 1000hp. Sense is supposed to be a "heavy" overlay right? Could it actually be lighter than tw? When I had an inspire it said to use 768hp, the same as now with the Note. But the inspire is "last year's" tech. I would expect the Note to be up there with the Rezound. Maybe this is why we are seeing lag sometimes? ICS seems worse in the ram usage department (600-something in the task manager). It just seems to me that the system is using up an incredible amount of resources that I haven't seen happen on other phones even with sense on them. Whenever I use the script and it recommends 768 it makes me think something is wrong and that's why we have the lag that we do. Thoughts?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
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Click to collapse
I have the same question.
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My wifes samsung galaxy s2 shows 832mb that's weird?....ours is lower?....good question ?
I heard the same that touch wiz was the lightest... I haven't really messed with my note just yet, but that is a good question hopefully someone has the answer...
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Free ram is wasted ram.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
no, touchwiz doesnt use up all that portion of ram. these reserved memory, as u mentioned already, is reserved for the system. for instance, your graphical display and other devices etc
i know nothing about the supercharger script, coz i don use that, but i can tell u touchwiz does eat more memory than other launchers. on the other hand, the huge memory usage in the galaxy note or android 2.3+ (esp 4.0+) devices is a result of the tasks triggered by the system like google mail service and the like, and thus slower operations due to limited free memory availability
may be i didnt get to the point, but hope this helps u understand more
SkizzMcNizz said:
I noticed while I was using the supercharger script that it recommended to use option 8 which is 768hp and not option 9 1000hp. I've read some threads before about people asking why in the task manager it only shows we have 733mb of ram on the phone and that its supposed to have 1gb. I know the system takes up a lot of ram and that's why it shows that. So my question is, does touch wiz use up that much ram? I thought tw was a "light" overlay. I remember when I had a rezound the recommendation for the supercharger script was 1000hp. Sense is supposed to be a "heavy" overlay right? Could it actually be lighter than tw? When I had an inspire it said to use 768hp, the same as now with the Note. But the inspire is "last year's" tech. I would expect the Note to be up there with the Rezound. Maybe this is why we are seeing lag sometimes? ICS seems worse in the ram usage department (600-something in the task manager). It just seems to me that the system is using up an incredible amount of resources that I haven't seen happen on other phones even with sense on them. Whenever I use the script and it recommends 768 it makes me think something is wrong and that's why we have the lag that we do. Thoughts?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
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Click to collapse
Our phones do have extra features that those phones do not. I have no idea if this is right or not, but maybe the extra RAM usage comes from the system needing to recognize when we are using the S Pen at any given time. That would explain the difference between GSII and Note.
prayii said:
Our phones do have extra features that those phones do not. I have no idea if this is right or not, but maybe the extra RAM usage comes from the system needing to recognize when we are using the S Pen at any given time. That would explain the difference between GSII and Note.
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This has always been my thought on the subject as well.
Ics uses more memory than GB. Thats why its only 624 mb of Ram free not to mention the S pen configuration loaded into the OS.
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
SKyRocKeting727 said:
Ics uses more memory than GB. Thats why its only 624 mb of Ram free not to mention the S pen configuration loaded into the OS.
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
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Click to collapse
We're trying to understand why that is like that on our phone and not other newer phones
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I think its because the Note uses the Tablet platform. Certain apps and programs run in tablet mode automatically. Then again, im just taking a stab at the dark.
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
SKyRocKeting727 said:
I think its because the Note uses the Tablet platform. Certain apps and programs run in tablet mode automatically. Then again, im just taking a stab at the dark.
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
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Click to collapse
I see what you're saying
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Actually, I cant find the post right now but a developer has already explained that the 250 MB that you are not seeing (750+250 = 1GB) is shared video memory being utilized by the GPU.
The resolution on the Note is significantly higher than most which is why it needs 250 MB dedicated for video alone.
littlewierdo said:
Actually, I cant find the post right now but a developer has already explained that the 250 MB that you are not seeing (750+250 = 1GB) is shared video memory being utilized by the GPU.
The resolution on the Note is significantly higher than most which is why it needs 250 MB dedicated for video alone.
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^ this...it works just like cheap laptops that don't have a dedicated video card. Some of the RAM is "stolen" and allocated towards VRAM.
I think we have our answers. Thanks guys for the posts.
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Doubt regarding ram

I don't seem to understand that why do the sIII has too less free ram, it doesn't have HTC sense either, but so what's the problem
Comparison on normal basis:
Free Ram on:
-HTC explorer = 240
-SIII = 340
-Optimus one = 330
Q1
Can someone tell me what app or the list of useless apps that are ram hungry?
Q2
Why do all devices have less ram example, Optimus one has 512 mb ram and available 421 with cm9
S3 has 1Gb and available around 760
Why, and if it is system reserved then why do we see system apps in taskillers
Press the "Thanks" button below if I've helped.
Free RAM is wasted RAM in Android.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
S3 has 1Gb and available around 760
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'free' shows 778MB after conversion from KB to MB (1MB = 1024KB)
That 1GB includes hardware-reserved locations suche as for the GPU which, unlike mid- to high-end desktop computers has no real dedicated memory. Additionally there are the camera app (especially video encoding is notoriously high on RAM due to the codec specifications), the modem, ...
I'm also not sure if that 1GB is, as hardware manufacturers often tend to do, 1'000'000'000 Byte (1 GB according to hardware manufacturer'sIEC definition) or 1073741824 Byte (as defined by SI and adopted by software manufacturers)
That would reduce the capacity by a further 7.37% on RAW storage.
why do we see system apps in taskillers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't be using Task Killers. I still remember them being a de-facto requirement in Eclair, but since Froyo they are obsolete and cause more harm than they can do good.
(At least in theory, memory management only recently with ICS got reliable and performant enough to completely get rid of them)
ijeff said:
Free RAM is wasted RAM in Android.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have very less free ram your phone will start lagging and your phone will become a waste phone. Is that alright for you?
Press the "Thanks" button below if I've helped.
d4fseeker said:
'free' shows 778MB after conversion from KB to MB (1MB = 1024KB)
That 1GB includes hardware-reserved locations suche as for the GPU which, unlike mid- to high-end desktop computers has no real dedicated memory. Additionally there are the camera app (especially video encoding is notoriously high on RAM due to the codec specifications), the modem, ...
I'm also not sure if that 1GB is, as hardware manufacturers often tend to do, 1'000'000'000 Byte (1 GB according to hardware manufacturer'sIEC definition) or 1073741824 Byte (as defined by SI and adopted by software manufacturers)
That would reduce the capacity by a further 7.37% on RAW storage.
You shouldn't be using Task Killers. I still remember them being a de-facto requirement in Eclair, but since Froyo they are obsolete and cause more harm than they can do good.
(At least in theory, memory management only recently with ICS got reliable and performant enough to completely get rid of them)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way what thing takes up so much ram
HTC phones has memory hungry sense so it's understood but what's the problem here?
Press the "Thanks" button below if I've helped.
rishabho1 said:
By the way what thing takes up so much ram
HTC phones has memory hungry sense so it's understood but what's the problem here?
Press the "Thanks" button below if I've helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchwiz is by far more memory hungry than sense.
joshnichols189 said:
Touchwiz is by far more memory hungry than sense.
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Click to collapse
I see
But touchwiz has nothing special, and no flipping clock no cool widgets and no sense like cool launcher
Press the "Thanks" button below if I've helped.
haha there is far more to Sense and Touchwiz than just a few widgets dude!
By the way what thing takes up so much ra
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get houmiak Task Manager from Market and look for yourself. Many useful features are completely unnecessary for most of us, so you can freeze them to gain memory. (Don't uninstall since you can defrost frozen apps instantly if you ever needed it)
Those included for me the Exchange service, Allshare, ... . There's a whole list of apps which are safe to remove.
(Note that 'safe to remove' does not mean you won't need it: that depends on what you actually use)
But touchwiz has nothing special, and no flipping clock no cool widgets and no sense like cool launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both Touchwiz and Sense are horrors in terms of coding standards and resource consumption. If all you care about in Touchwiz is the launcher and widgets then by all means get rid of Touchwiz (I recommend CM9) and install a customizable Launcher such as Go Launcher, Apex, ...
If you have very less free ram your phone will start lagging and your phone will become a waste phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Free" memory is a very interesting defition. What do you call 'free' memory?
If an app is closed, should Android immediatly remove it from Cache? You'll probably say yes to increase free memory.
However there are multiple reasons why it's not done
- free memory is wasted memory. If the phone doesn't use it, what's the point of having it?
- it doesn't cost anything in terms of CPU-cycles to "remove" cached apps from RAM whenever the space is needed [*]
- Should you multitask back in the app, it's immediatly available. Depending on the app, even with everything exactly as you left it
[*] Well it does, but not more than immediatly removing it when the app is closed.
If you work a lot within the same app, chances are that your free memory is far below 1MB since it keeps everything in Cache if it should ever be needed. By exiting or killing an app that value increases since some data is always freed. But that does not mean the phone will magically get faster. If you still don't believe me; what if I told you that there is NO major operating system (Mac OsX, Windows NT, iOS, Linux, BSD, ...) that does not cache. You just don't see the raw values Linux shows on most of them, but faked values where the cache is substracted.
If you want details, I recommend reading about Paging ("Swap") and In-Memory Caching on Wikipedia. They have some excellent articles.
Here's a shortened easy versioN: http://www.linuxatemyram.com/
rishabho1 said:
If you have very less free ram your phone will start lagging and your phone will become a waste phone. Is that alright for you?
Press the "Thanks" button below if I've helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone never lags. Sometimes there is a brief delay when a screen redraws upon app change. I hardly think the phone becomes a "waste" at this point. If you want to see what lag really feels like go get a second hand HTC desire.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
It is sad that the available ram is less than on the S2 to be honest.
I'm running with 80-200mb free all the time, even been down to around 50mb when using the phone, the S2 I was never under 150mb.
But then again, the S3 is faster than the S2
extreme unstable ram usage
hawkn said:
It is sad that the available ram is less than on the S2 to be honest.
I'm running with 80-200mb free all the time, even been down to around 50mb when using the phone, the S2 I was never under 150mb.
But then again, the S3 is faster than the S2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, you lucky s3 fellow, i have been experiencing ram issues, when I say that, know that I have considered the fact that more RAM used the better - more apps in memory, improves app switching/launching speed(all that philosophical BS which people give with pride, when someone posts a query on RAM. My RAM exceeds 700 MB and goes up to 796 MB with less than 50 MB at times; and this is with 10-15 trusted lightweight apps installed, This was prevalent since the stock firmware ICS and even is present after the JB update. More RAM used is good only when it doesn't affect performance, and doesn't force apps to struggling to stay in memory, causing them to frequently restart.
though i found a partial fix, which gave a lil speed boost -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1787263&highlight=ram+problem
This helped me a lil(Disabling ripple effect in lockscreen), though to totally resolve the issue, i might have to go for a custom rom/kernel or hope for sammy boys to release an update soon -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1926380&page=3

Does android really need 2 gigs of RAM ?

There are a few droids released this year with 2 gigs of RAM like the US/JP S3,optimus G,padfone 2 and google's own nexus 4.But is it really necessary ? or is it just for marketing like it is the case with 1080P(440ppi) screens ? As far as I know,you can open around 20 apps on an android phone with 1 gig of RAM.Who would open more than that ? I personally only run 6 apps max in the same time,opening more(like I actually need to) would just result in more battery drainage.Some people say that android apps will need more RAM in the next couple of years but I don't think this would be the case.Apps should be encoded well to actually become LIGHTER not HEAVIER.What do you guys think ?
2gb would help me run a GNU/Linux inside a chroot.
Madarox said:
Apps should be encoded well to actually become LIGHTER not HEAVIER.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bet it won't happen.
Once I downloaded a simple 3D Rally game, and it used 320 MB RAM. I only have 410 MB left after the phone booted, so it would be nice to have more.
Madarox said:
There are a few droids released this year with 2 gigs of RAM like the US/JP S3,optimus G,padfone 2 and google's own nexus 4.But is it really necessary ? or is it just for marketing like it is the case with 1080P(440ppi) screens ? As far as I know,you can open around 20 apps on an android phone with 1 gig of RAM.Who would open more than that ? I personally only run 6 apps max in the same time,opening more(like I actually need to) would just result in more battery drainage.Some people say that android apps will need more RAM in the next couple of years but I don't think this would be the case.Apps should be encoded well to actually become LIGHTER not HEAVIER.What do you guys think ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that it would be great if apps started getting lighter. It's kinda irritating that Android as a whole kinda seems to be getting more boated lately too. Just because the technology and hardware exists (such as 2 gigs of ram or quad core cpus) is no excuse for bloated coding and programs IMO.
Android is Linux based. Unlike a PC OS like windows, it uses as much RAM as it can. Its built that way. Example: Facebook, Twitter, browser, XDA app running. If you have say 200MB free, android will give more to the apps that are being used. So if browser is just sitting there idle, Facebook and Twitter which are realtime, would get more RAM for better performance. 2GB RAM would be so much better and honestly I would love to have more than that. Closer to 4GB just to have fun with. And maybe I'm crazy, but I just like the idea of it.
Sent from my SII(i777) running Task and Ktoonsez AOKP 10/28
Well nowaday it seems that more is better than less so... why not? in the future maybe 4gb ram is standard for smartphone like dual-core cpu is a standard for a medium smartphones right now. I mean that belong to the future so for now more ram more speed more storage less money is better for me ^^
At present it might not matter but........ eventually it'll needed it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Eventually I think it will be standard to have at least 1.5GB ram and a 1.5ghz processor and maybe 16GB internal storage.
Sent from my SII(i777) running Task and Ktoonsez AOKP 10/28
danishprakash said:
At present it might not matter but........ eventually it'll needed it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shawn said:
Eventually I think it will be standard to have at least 1.5GB ram and a 1.5ghz processor and maybe 16GB internal storage.
Sent from my SII(i777) running Task and Ktoonsez AOKP 10/28
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still don't see why android would need more than 1GB of RAM in the coming years.If 2gb of RAM would be a necessity for the OS to run properly then I assume google would stop updating the nexus S[512MB RAM],galaxy nexus and nexus 7 [both 1GB RAM] a year from now.If apps would need them,then mid-range phones with 1GB RAM or less wouldn't operate properly.
Shawn said:
Android is Linux based. Unlike a PC OS like windows, it uses as much RAM as it can. Its built that way. Example: Facebook, Twitter, browser, XDA app running. If you have say 200MB free, android will give more to the apps that are being used. So if browser is just sitting there idle, Facebook and Twitter which are realtime, would get more RAM for better performance. 2GB RAM would be so much better and honestly I would love to have more than that. Closer to 4GB just to have fun with. And maybe I'm crazy, but I just like the idea of it.
Sent from my SII(i777) running Task and Ktoonsez AOKP 10/28
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except that these apps don't actually need the RAM,lol.Maybe only the browser if you have 5+ tabs opened.
Browser uses about 150MB somehow for me with one tab open.
Sent from my SII(i777) running Task and Ktoonsez AOKP 10/28
The os dosnt need this much. However the more ram the more apps can be kept running thus better multitasking.
This is the case with most computers there will always be those high end specs that few really need but it some what future proofs for a few years
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Relax... having more ram is just like having more money in your pocket... and it's not like u gonna use all of the money in your pocket at the same time anyway, has to save some left for something "unexpected" to happen right? and if google stop supporting Nexus S so what? we still have a lot of devs always ready to make a cook rom for it (and personally i like cook rom more).
I'ts not the end of the world if we have more ram

Poor ram?

Ok, we got 2 gb ram now but often barely have more available than the s3
That's bs to suck it up with bloatware we never use or open.
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
I seem to remember the S3 having 2GB of ram too, also used up by the OS.
You must have had the international version... Only 1gb in the US.
I should never have to manually free up ram when I gave 2gb.
I suppose when we get 4gb, they will eat that up too?
My phone is not their private platform for running spam software... If so, the phones should be free.
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
As the phones become more powerful with even faster cpus and more ram, I'm sure they will find more bloatware to suck it up
Sent from my rooted S4 blessed with Cleanrom 1.2
Before I moved to CM, I never had RAM issues. The most I ever saw used was 1.2, and that was only once. Most of the time, my phone sat around 800-900 MB in use.
Also, bloat aside, Linux has a habit of filling and using all available RAM, but in an efficient way. You can't look at your Android phone the same way you look at a Windows PC. Low available RAM isn't definitely a problem, because a lot of that may be idle.
SonicJoe said:
Before I moved to CM, I never had RAM issues. The most I ever saw used was 1.2, and that was only once. Most of the time, my phone sat around 800-900 MB in use.
Also, bloat aside, Linux has a habit of filling and using all available RAM, but in an efficient way. You can't look at your Android phone the same way you look at a Windows PC. Low available RAM isn't definitely a problem, because a lot of that may be idle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Android will use the RAM it has to work with. "Full RAM" being detrimental to performamce hasn't been an issue since froyo.
More RAM meens more apps can be kept cached for fast opening... Consuming neither CPU cycles nor battery.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
I agree with all that, however when using the phone intensively bouncing in and out if several apps and videos etc... The android system seems it likes to hold on to non used programs too long rather than realizing ram is getting short and shutting them down.
With casual "take your time" use its great, but when getting intense it's not.
Does android look at idle time of an app before shutting it down, or does it look at resources?
To me, it doesn't seem like it handle the latter very well.
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
If you find that its actually detrimental, then try raising your minfree value. But like others have said, with linux based systems (like android) "full" ram means an efficient system.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
windstrings said:
You must have had the international version... Only 1gb in the US.
I should never have to manually free up ram when I gave 2gb.
I suppose when we get 4gb, they will eat that up too?
My phone is not their private platform for running spam software... If so, the phones should be free.
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about the s3 only having 1gb ram? Us versions had 2gb...same with the s4.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
chrishoyt2012 said:
Are you talking about the s3 only having 1gb ram? Us versions had 2gb...same with the s4.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stand corrected you're right I had it backwards, I guess I'm updating to fast to keep up with what I have. I just got my S4 and I'm already looking towards the note 3 I hope it has more RAM.
I'm certainly not an expert on Android system and yes I've been in Windows since version 3.0.
I guess it is what it is. I have an app called clean Master, it sounds like you guys don't believe in those programs? It alerts me when it has a gig of ram that can be freed up . So you are saying it's better leave those apps open in RAM so it takes less time to activate them when opening?
I somehow have more faith in free RAM then I do and having 50 apps on standby.
Historically Android is not absolutely efficient and RAM is.
When I moved from one gig of ram to 2 gigs of ram I noticed a notable difference in the smoothness and quickness of the phone, yes the processor was faster too but it felt like the RAM was the ticket
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
This looks encouraging.
http://drippler.com/updates/share/new-galaxy-s4-software-update-brings-hdr-video-more-storage Via j.mp/getDrippler
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
windstrings said:
This looks encouraging.
http://drippler.com/updates/share/new-galaxy-s4-software-update-brings-hdr-video-more-storage Via j.mp/getDrippler
Alan.. Sent with Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And has nothing to do with what you are complaining about. The update will allow apps to be moved to external storage (sdcard).
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk HD
Hold the home button down and close down some programs. When I do that it only use 830-900mb of ram up.that leaves plenty for apps and web pages.
And I'm running stock everything really... I value the reliability and consistency for now because I use my phone for my job lol
sent from my galaxy s4

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