Hey Everyone,
Just got my Droid Eris yesterday and I'm having fun exploring the phone and checking everything out.
One question, I noticed that many apps (in fact, almost all) don't have a direct "Quit" or "Exit" command. So I'm usually pressing "back" or "home" when I'm done with something. This left me wondering though... when I use "back" or "home", does the app actually exit? From what I can tell, it doesn't... so does the OS automatically clean up these apps from time to time? I came from WinMo 6.1, and it was irritating that everything defaulted to running in the background. How does Android treat it? Is there something special in this regard with the HTC Sense UI? I've seen there are some third-party task manager apps you can get... are they worth getting? Or just "let the phone do it's thing" and i will be fine?
Thanks!
I use a Task Manager from the Market called "Taskiller." But I'm still trying to figure out how the Hero handles the apps because sometimes it gets sluggish and taskiller helps out but then theres other times when I have all sorts of apps open and it runs smoothly, lol, I guess it just works sometimes.
I wonder if it's like the iPhone, where it kills the task when you hit the "Home" button. It doesn't seem like it, as some apps seem to just come up instantly when go back in them, as if I was "switching" to them, and no re-opening them...
false_apology said:
I wonder if it's like the iPhone, where it kills the task when you hit the "Home" button. It doesn't seem like it, as some apps seem to just come up instantly when go back in them, as if I was "switching" to them, and no re-opening them...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I dont think thats the case because Android has a special way of "Multitasking," though I'm not completely informed so you might have to research that on your own. But like I said download a Task Manager from the market so you can see how much available memory there is.
By default, Android applications never really "close" as their components can be called upon at any time. (Android applications are structured to be very modular, allowing individual components to be used from each.) When an application needs memory immediately, and another hasn't used it for a while, it shoves the old app into what's called swap space (presumably it's on your SD card) while the new one takes over. This is why you'll occasionally see a delay while performing a "hard" operation (like opening an app) while the system is under heavy load. That's the old app's memory getting written out to temporary storage and the other one taking it over.
At least this is my understanding of the situation.
From what I've heard Android (linux) does a much better job of managing the memory used by our apps. And, that we "...shouldn't have to use a task killer..." to close out apps that are running in the background, especially on our phones.
For instance, the myTouch 3G usually only gets about 20-30 MB of RAM freed after a full clean up of background apps, the Eris will have about 80+ MB after a cleanup and they both feel about the same to me.
I still use Task Panel to close my apps sometimes because I just like starting fresh in an app from time to time. Also if things start getting fishy (screen stuttering, touch screen not working properly) I'll kill all running apps to see if it fixes the problem which in some cases it just does not and a reboot is still required.
I have found that by holding the home key it will bring up all the apps so you can switch to the one that you want so it is still running them in the background.
refthemc said:
I use a Task Manager from the Market called "Taskiller." But I'm still trying to figure out how the Hero handles the apps because sometimes it gets sluggish and taskiller helps out but then theres other times when I have all sorts of apps open and it runs smoothly, lol, I guess it just works sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use a Task application called Task Manager. It gives lists of all Applications running, all process and even has an uninstall feature. It also has a auto end application feature but on my eris it's greyed out(maybe Pro only?)
Here are a couple of links that I found on this subject. Don't mind that it says Hero in the thread title it talks about android phones in general. Also something to look into once we get the Eris rooted in the second link.
Task Managers and your Hero by romeosidvicious @androidforums.com
How to configure Android's *internal* taskkiller by androcheck @xda-developers.com
When the vibrant first came out, the first thing that caught my attention was no matter how many apps I was running, they were going to be there waiting (in memory) for me to come back, multitasking at its best. This happened especially with the web browser. If you were browsing the web and needed to grab something from another app, take call or message; once back in the browser, everything was there in the same place (and up to 8 tabs/windows). My previous phone was the Mytouch 3g, which needed to reload all tabs when back into the browser, or even worse, just the home page.
After the froyo update was released (I not sure if this happened as well on the update that supposedly fixed the gps back on October), all apps started to be killed by the system after you switch from them even for a few seconds. This is especially annoying in the web browser. No matter how long you are away from the browser, once back all tabs/windows start reloading. I know that at this point all task-killer-lovers would say why I am complaining about this. Basically is that I would love to decide which app stays and which app goes. I know that if you leave an app running for a long time, the system would kill it eventually when in need of resources, but that doesn’t mean leaving the browser for 2 seconds and everything starts to reload.
I have tried dolphin and opera with the same result. This has happen to me when running the stock froyo update from Tmobile, Nero V, Axura 2.2.7 & 8, Ginger Clone Final and Bionix V 1.2.1. I have tried without any luck killing the task manager process, remove the jobmanager.apk and even used other task killers to see if the ignore list feature had some effect.
Searching the web for an answer only shows a few posts about this, everybody since to like the app-killing way or thinks is not a problem for what it’s worth.
A note about the app-killing term, I don’t know if what is happening in my system is actually the app being terminated. I say this because it doesn’t show on the native task manager, but once you go back to the browser or apps like Google reader usually the page is there, of course, after all reloading is done (time, time and more time) and the information you were trying to fill out or the news you were reading is gone.
Ive been trying out numerous web browsers and am finding that every time I go back to the home screen to do whatever and then decide to open up my browser again, its opening up a new tab every time. I press the home button to go back to my desktop if that helps any. Im finding I have about 10 tabs open. It never used to do this, and want to know how to get it to stop. Every browser I have tried recently does this. Im not rooted and just running the regular rom.
Im also noticing when I use the stock browser it always refreshes every time I open it.
itsLYNDZ said:
Ive been trying out numerous web browsers and am finding that every time I go back to the home screen to do whatever and then decide to open up my browser again, its opening up a new tab every time. I press the home button to go back to my desktop if that helps any. Im finding I have about 10 tabs open. It never used to do this, and want to know how to get it to stop. Every browser I have tried recently does this. Im not rooted and just running the regular rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to browser settings and there is an option called "open in background" it needs to be UNCHECKED
Open browser-hit menu key-scroll down to settings-scroll down to "open in background"
It is unchecked. But im still getting new tabs popping up every time I open a browser.
All of the browsers I use are opening up a new tab every time I go to use them. Plus, the regular stock browser keeps refreshing every time i open it. this all started this morning.
any ideas?
itsLYNDZ said:
any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the problem.
The problem was the enabled option "SiteAdvisor" in McAfee Mobile Security.
menu..settings...applications..manage applications...find browser..clear cache and force stop. try that
I am new to Android - just got a Droid 3.
How do I stop the system from auto-killing a certain app? When I play Angry Birds, if the phone goes to sleep on timeout, when I turn it back on, the App has to re-load from scratch (rather than opening to where I left off last time). I'm assuming the system decided to kill it for lack of memory, but how do I STOP it from doing that (like an ignore list)?
Will I need a third party app?
Any help is appreciated!
not really. the Android system does a pretty good job of reclaiming unused memory. ive been dealing with this for a while trying to keep a replacement lock screen in memory
Sounds like Verizon installed a task killer. I know their employees do that saying you need one. But you don't. Make sure you uninstall it. It is most likely set to kill apps off ever x minutes. Usually Android keeps foreground apps in memory for a long time unless the system needs it. But doesn't sound like it would. I wonder what the Droid 3 memory settings are for stock now. I have the Evo 3D and they are set at a higher threshold(as I'm kills unused apps sooner) compared to my older HTC phones(Evo and Hero). How long do you let the phone sit idle before coming back?
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger GeeBees.
notasimpleway said:
Sounds like Verizon installed a task killer. I know their employees do that saying you need one. But you don't. Make sure you uninstall it. It is most likely set to kill apps off ever x minutes. Usually Android keeps foreground apps in memory for a long time unless the system needs it. But doesn't sound like it would. I wonder what the Droid 3 memory settings are for stock now. I have the Evo 3D and they are set at a higher threshold(as I'm kills unused apps sooner) compared to my older HTC phones(Evo and Hero). How long do you let the phone sit idle before coming back?
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger GeeBees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not obvious which program that would be - there's nothing called Task Killer. Plus, most of the VZW bloatware can't be uninstalled anyway. Apart from rooting (locked bootloader on Droid 3), what can I do to force it to stay open?
Also, it gets killed immediately on turning off the phone. As in, I start the game, hit sleep, hit wake a second later and the game reloads from scratch. Very irritating.
Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks!
jbroses said:
It's not obvious which program that would be - there's nothing called Task Killer. Plus, most of the VZW bloatware can't be uninstalled anyway. Apart from rooting (locked bootloader on Droid 3), what can I do to force it to stay open?
Also, it gets killed immediately on turning off the phone. As in, I start the game, hit sleep, hit wake a second later and the game reloads from scratch. Very irritating.
Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tested this with Angry Birds from the time I posted till just now and it was right where I left the game. It may be called Advanced Task Manager. Or something like that. And you should be able to uninstall it. It would have been installed by the person selling the phone and not at the factory.
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger GeeBees.
Go to the Market, download Spare Parts. Open and scroll down to Activity/Process Management. Select normal. It may not have been the problem, but worth a shot. Are you hitting the home button before putting the phone to sleep? What do you see immediately upon turning the screen on and unlocking the phone? Angry Birds? The home screen?
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger GeeBees.
When you haven't used an app for a long time, Android automatically recycles all open activities from the app, except the root activity.
By default, every application runs in its own Linux process. Android starts the process when any of the application’s code needs to be executed, and shuts down the process when it’s no longer needed and system resources are required by other applications.
[...]
If the user leaves a task for a long time, the system clears the task of all activities except the root activity. When the user returns to the task again, it’s as the user left it, except that only the initial activity is present. The idea is that, after a time, users will likely have abandoned what they were doing before and are returning to the task to begin something new
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/ (sorry I can't make a link yet)
Shinigami20 said:
When you haven't used an app for a long time, Android automatically recycles all open activities from the app, except the root activity.
From geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/ (sorry I can't make a link yet)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it actually happens instantly. in other words - open angry birds, begin level. sleep phone, wake phone. angry birds reloads from the beginning. this is all within the span of 5 secs.
i thought it might be my lock screen - widgetlock, but i disabled that and it just happened again, this time with opera mini as i was writing this. I was writing this post, went to a text, came back to opera within 30 secs and it had shut down and reopened (no tab with my partially composed message).
is the droid 3 just shutting things down more aggressively? is there a way to tweak that? maybe too much other crap is running and I should get a task killer? thoughts?
jbroses said:
it actually happens instantly. in other words - open angry birds, begin level. sleep phone, wake phone. angry birds reloads from the beginning. this is all within the span of 5 secs.
i thought it might be my lock screen - widgetlock, but i disabled that and it just happened again, this time with opera mini as i was writing this. I was writing this post, went to a text, came back to opera within 30 secs and it had shut down and reopened (no tab with my partially composed message).
is the droid 3 just shutting things down more aggressively? is there a way to tweak that? maybe too much other crap is running and I should get a task killer? thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do not sleep your device, try entering level then return to home switch to other apps. Then open angry bird again and see what happen
On my desire Z, it kill the app every time i sleep the phone. Keep the phone alive then I have 3 apps running at same time without being killed. But it's not likely that I have RAM shortage. 3 apps is constant no matter what apps
Flipz explains that well. Autokiller is a great little app to adjust those settings. Used it for over two years now. I actually got to watch that app evolve. Great dev. Only works if you are rooted.
Shinigami20 said:
When you haven't used an app for a long time, Android automatically recycles all open activities from the app, except the root activity.
From geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/ (sorry I can't make a link yet)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger GeeBees.
Thanks for all the responses. I've tried to address them all:
Spare Parts - I installed this and set the Activity to Normal (it WAS set on aggressive). Unfortunately, this didn't help.
Press the Home key - Pressing the Home key and then going back to Angry Birds DOES work. It picks up right where you left off. Unfortunately, when the phone goes to sleep, it restarts Angry Birds on waking.
What do I see when I wake the phone - It goes to my WidgetLocker lock screen. Once unlocked, the very first thing that shows up is the Angry Birds "Rovio" loading screen. No home screen in between.
Any other thoughts are much appreciated! Is there any way to simply exempt Angry Birds from being closed by the system automatically? It seems like this should be possible!
Can you try something out for me? I want to give evidence to my theory.
Download another 3d game, load a level, then sleep the device. See if there's a lot of stuttering/reloading when you wake the device back up.
Any news on this? I got the same problem with CM 9.1 on my Doubleshot (aka M4GS). When I have like 10 tabs or so opened in Opera, Android kills the task. But not when I put it into sleep, but right when I'm browsing! That's really annoying since after restarting Opera I have to reopen every single tab manually from the history.
Already tried Spare Parts, but it doesn't offer some kinda whitelist for apps that shouldn't be autokilled.
It's really frustrating, Android's autokilling feature was one of the few things, that I didn't like about that OS when I switched from Windows Mobile to Android a few years ago. And I still hate that feature. Why can't I decide by myself which apps to be closed and which ones not? Give back the power to the user I say!
At least there HAS to be a solution to force Anddroid, not to kill a specified app (e.g. Opera) and kill all the other running apps instead. Any 3rd Party task killer has some kinda ignore list, so how could Android be tweaked to do the same?
Shani Ace said:
Any news on this? I got the same problem with CM 9.1 on my Doubleshot (aka M4GS). When I have like 10 tabs or so opened in Opera, Android kills the task. But not when I put it into sleep, but right when I'm browsing! That's really annoying since after restarting Opera I have to reopen every single tab manually from the history.
Already tried Spare Parts, but it doesn't offer some kinda whitelist for apps that shouldn't be autokilled.
It's really frustrating, Android's autokilling feature was one of the few things, that I didn't like about that OS when I switched from Windows Mobile to Android a few years ago. And I still hate that feature. Why can't I decide by myself which apps to be closed and which ones not? Give back the power to the user I say!
At least there HAS to be a solution to force Anddroid, not to kill a specified app (e.g. Opera) and kill all the other running apps instead. Any 3rd Party task killer has some kinda ignore list, so how could Android be tweaked to do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I was downloading a file in Opera, switched to other apps, then went back to opera and it reopened.. Needless to say the download failed. This really sucks.
Use titanium and freeze the stock task manager (if any).
Android, by default, keeps only 3 (correct me if I'm wrong) applications' sessions in memory, but that's obviously no reason for it to kill angry birds right after the display is closed.
Try installing Minfree (I think it's available on the Play Store) to understand when and why Android is killing the application. It'll give you the parameters on which the Android Auto killer operates, but you will need ROOT to be able to edit them.
And no, there isn't a way to earmark an application such that it isn't killed, at least, not that I know of.
Hope this helps.
Haters gonna hate
potatoes gonna potate.
Check out v6 supercharger and all ur questions will be answered.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=991276
sent from my DNA
jbroses said:
I am new to Android - just got a Droid 3.
How do I stop the system from auto-killing a certain app? When I play Angry Birds, if the phone goes to sleep on timeout, when I turn it back on, the App has to re-load from scratch (rather than opening to where I left off last time). I'm assuming the system decided to kill it for lack of memory, but how do I STOP it from doing that (like an ignore list)?
Will I need a third party app?
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, excuse me for not reading other posts and replying directly but wanted to share something that works for me and does not kill certain launched apps. Open any app, then come out of the app and tap on recent apps button and you will see the apps that are currently launched. Depending on your OS and model, are you able to lock an app (by slightly dragging the app icon down and then tapping on the lock icon). I did that for one of the games and surprisingly even after several minutes, I was able to continue from exactly where I left off. Hope this helps. Let me know.
Screenshot: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Bs7dxj7t3o/VZHLFAF6fdI/AAAAAAABI0Q/WXFhUv1c2gw/s1600/IMG_0023.JPG
I just got a 35it, brand new in the box off the shelf. Ran whatever out-of-the-box firmware update it needed and immediately started having issues.
In my head should be the perfect device but I keep having problems that I think might be memory related. I know this isn't a "high end" device but I'd imagine 800mhz and 1gb of memory shouldn't choke like this (pretty sure my old phone had the same specs, right down to the 2.2 android).
The browser crashes CONSTANTLY. I was attempting to browse to a site to download ArcTools and the Google Play Store APK, and almost every other page I'd navigate to would crash the browser.
Also, I installed ArcTools and the play store to get Pandora running. It seems this little guy just doesn't have the power to run Pandora reliably - it'll fire up, sit there for a second, and finally start playing - but as soon as I hit the home button it'll hang up, ask to force close/wait, and then, finally, the app will crash.
Does this sound like a defective device, or am I doing something wrong? Will Pandora run better with a full root?