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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...
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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.
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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
I installed a task killer and noticed that when killing certain apps, the phone just lags real bad. I discontinued use of it and now the phone has no serious pausing. I was killing unknown apps with Android box icons.
heygrl said:
I installed a task killer and noticed that when killing certain apps, the phone just lags real bad. I discontinued use of it and now the phone has no serious pausing. I was killing unknown apps with Android box icons.
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yeah I uninstalled it as well. I heard Android does great job of managing ram and as soon as it gets low, it will start killing other apps automatically.
you need to learn what apps need to stay running, but some apps are just fluff and worthless... you may need to set up you task killer to ignore certain apps like handcent and clock... killing any android processes is usually a bad idea.. I just kill my 3rd party apps that open for no reason or use it to close apps when I am done using my phone for a while...
You should not need a task killer with this phone. Android has been managing its own memory and background services quite nicely for a while now.
SkOrPn said:
You should not need a task killer with this phone. Android has been managing its own memory and background services quite nicely for a while now.
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Thats what i was told but when i uninstalled the task killer my phone lagged with everything i did. Even when closing programs properly it still lagged. Im keeping my task killer.
acjames said:
Thats what i was told but when i uninstalled the task killer my phone lagged with everything i did. Even when closing programs properly it still lagged. Im keeping my task killer.
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yeah maybe its not as good as most people say it is at controlling its own memory usage.
Task Killers = meh,
Android has a way of doing things and that means keeping apps open for some time, I tried using app-killers and it did not seem to make my phones run better, and auto kill everything is even worse...
heygrl said:
I installed a task killer and noticed that when killing certain apps, the phone just lags real bad. I discontinued use of it and now the phone has no serious pausing. I was killing unknown apps with Android box icons.
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idk if youre rooted or not, or if this app works on the vibrant cuz it does an amazing job on the g1, but you could try autokiller, tho it requires root. what it does is change the android memory management settings and will kill apps more frequently depending on the settings you choose.
speedysilwady said:
idk if youre rooted or not, or if this app works on the vibrant cuz it does an amazing job on the g1, but you could try autokiller, tho it requires root. what it does is change the android memory management settings and will kill apps more frequently depending on the settings you choose.
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I still need to use it for those unruly apps but I got so used to it because my old phone would lag with Slacker even in the background and I had to kill it. I've stopped using it and I've stopped having major problems. Just an FYI for those out there that still use one, it's not needed here on a regular basis really.
I noticed that I can't use the "kill all" function in Advanced Task Manager by Arron La any more without making my phone freeze up. My brother suggestion Task Manager by Rhythm Software (he has a MyTouch Slide). This program doesn't give me any problems when killing files and also doesn't list system files (that I've noticed).
The people who are having problems with task killer are the ones that are not setting it up correctly or don't have enough apps installed for it to make any difference.
If you don't setup the ignore list correctly your phone will freak out or make your existing problem worse.
Android 2.2 is a different story though, Froyo is faster without a taskiller
Buddy here's what .....
Download AutoKiller from the market , then go to the dev's webpage ,there he has a lot of information about android and memory management .... then you can make an informed decision .... the lag issue you continue to have .,.,..., you might have to do a hard reset to clear the system of that poorly coded task/app killer ....
Here's some more information http://androidforums.com/samsung-vibrant/124542-constant-apps-restarting-themselves.html
I hope that here on xda we can help people to understand Android and memory management , so they are not fooled by these task/app killers that work against the system ......
heygrl said:
I still need to use it for those unruly apps but I got so used to it because my old phone would lag with Slacker even in the background and I had to kill it. I've stopped using it and I've stopped having major problems. Just an FYI for those out there that still use one, it's not needed here on a regular basis really.
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I used to have the original my touch 3g, lag central, even on custom roms. Task killer was handy, so I got in the Babbitt if killing tasks. I then got me a nexus, and it seemed to have not needed one, but I still used it out of the Babbitt and being paranoid of my plbattery being wasted with apps on the background and lag lol. Well, I'm now done with them, seriously, no need for task killers. I think on this phone it does more damage then good, most apps need to be running on the background, killing them just lags your phone. Like you'd lose signal, or it would run time and date update again, etc.
Task killers may not be necessary for memory management, but it will help save on battery by killing 3rd party apps that stay running in the background. I use Advanced Task Manager myself, and never get any lag when I run it. The main thing you need to "exclude" if you havnt already, is the TWLauncher(or whatever launcher you're running).
Hi,
When i kill all the running applications on my Experia X10 mini pro using Advanced Task Killer, it sometimes makes me reenter my pin. I've found that this is caused by killing "Backup & Restore". So i want to add this to my ignore list, but it's not in my list of running apps.
Is there a way to add apps to the ignore list, if they are not currently running? Or is there a way to force this to be running?
I'm running stock everything, straight out of the box.
You don't have to auto-kill. In fact you shouldn't with 2.1. Android will auto-kill if it needs more memory for apps you launch.
I just use advanced task killer to selectively kill running apps if I need them to die.
Having said that, advanced task killer does have auto-kill functionality and an ignore list to do what you're asking.
nobodyAtall said:
You don't have to auto-kill. In fact you shouldn't with 2.1. Android will auto-kill if it needs more memory for apps you launch.
I just use advanced task killer to selectively kill running apps if I need them to die.
Having said that, advanced task killer does have auto-kill functionality and an ignore list to do what you're asking.
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This phone has android 1.6. Also, I like my batterylife, so i regularly manually kill all open apps.
I know it has an ignore list to do what i want, but the problem lies in getting this app on the ignore list. Most of the time, it's not listed in ATK.
I have never had the need to auto kill anything since android 1.5. The only time there really is a need to kill something is if it hangs or leaks memory (in the later case you really should contact the developer of the app).
Most of the times if you auto kill everything it gets started directly due to schedule or service. Give it a try for a week without using any atk and you will probably see an improvement.
Okay so my battery life is amazing and this is not the reason for wanting to kill running apps. Sometimes I feel my phone getting a little sluggish (still pretty responsive tho) and after looking into this issue I found that I have so many third party apps that keep starting up and running in the background. I close them but they just keep coming back. I dont want to uninstall them because I use them often. I installed Advanced Task Killer to do the job but it only kills them and then they come back. Also I heard Task killers do more harm than good. Can anyone help me or give me some suggestions on how to stop these apps from constantly running? The built in task killer doesnt kill all the apps in the background. Hardly kills any of them. Just opened apps. Please help, this is really annoying me.
Unfortunately the only app I can think of that would be able to do what you need is an app called "Autostarts" and it requires root. So if you wanted to temp root your phone and purchase the app and set it up on every boot that's your best option.
Mouahmong said:
Unfortunately the only app I can think of that would be able to do what you need is an app called "Autostarts" and it requires root. So if you wanted to temp root your phone and purchase the app and set it up on every boot that's your best option.
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Ill root and check it out. Thanks.
I definitely recommend AutoStart as well. I have it running on my phone as we speak and, not only does it improve on the already impressive battery life, but it keeps apps from self-loading in the background due to certain conditions being met by the phone.
Okay I got it rooted and installed autostarts. Now I need to play around with it cuz it looks complicated. Any tips?
Is there a task manager that'll kill apps and permanently kill tasks processes? I've noticed that some will kill the task then the task will automatically start back up again...
Looking for the best that'll actually purge the memory and all that.
You should never use a task killer. Android manages memory on its own. Killing tasks will only lead to instability.
Tapatalked from Desire S running Andromadus
They say that but I've yet to ever see it happen! LMAO
I've seen "so called" task managers handle memory better than that this nonexistent invisible task manager android speaks of.
What are ya supposed to do when ya have 20 something app's running in the background, just leave them running and let this unknown task manager "supposedly" handle them...
How bout managing startup app's and what not? Furthermore if android has a built in task manager where is it and why isn't it working or why not make it better?
n1nj4Lo said:
They say that but I've yet to ever see it happen! LMAO
I've seen "so called" task managers handle memory better than that this nonexistent invisible task manager android speaks of.
What are ya supposed to do when ya have 20 something app's running in the background, just leave them running and let this unknown task manager "supposedly" handle them...
How bout managing startup app's and what not? Furthermore if android has a built in task manager where is it and why isn't it working or why not make it better?
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I'd suggest a little more reading on the subject.
If there's something you really don't want running then freezing or removing it is a more efficient alternative than repeatedly killing it only for it to restart over and over.
Sent From My Fingers To Your Face.....
I use All-In-One Toolbox. Yes, I use a task manager, I have been using it since I got my LG Optimus One. I have been a developer for 9 years on both windows and linux platforms. It is true that linux manages memory better than windows, therefor Android benefits from this being build on the linux kernel. The fact remains, an app that doesn't run, doesn't use memory. Applications on android behave much like applications do on Windows Mobile, the don't exit but remain in memory in order to have quicker start up times. Unfortunately, killing an up does cause to restart, but I have noticed from personal experience that in that case, since the UI haven't shown yet, it uses less memory. I have no problem waiting for an app to start up, as long as while it runs, it runs smoothly. For that reason I disable many apps from start up that I don't need to run on a day to day basis but only when I need the app. AIO Toolbox handles all of that, task killer with whitelist, start up management, file manager, apk backup and restore and a slew of features I hardly ever use.
moving to Q&A section
conantroutman said:
I'd suggest a little more reading on the subject.
If there's something you really don't want running then freezing or removing it is a more efficient alternative than repeatedly killing it only for it to restart over and over.
Sent From My Fingers To Your Face.....
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What are some good articles on the subject then?
cornelha said:
I use All-In-One Toolbox. Yes, I use a task manager, I have been using it since I got my LG Optimus One. I have been a developer for 9 years on both windows and linux platforms. It is true that linux manages memory better than windows, therefor Android benefits from this being build on the linux kernel. The fact remains, an app that doesn't run, doesn't use memory. Applications on android behave much like applications do on Windows Mobile, the don't exit but remain in memory in order to have quicker start up times. Unfortunately, killing an up does cause to restart, but I have noticed from personal experience that in that case, since the UI haven't shown yet, it uses less memory. I have no problem waiting for an app to start up, as long as while it runs, it runs smoothly. For that reason I disable many apps from start up that I don't need to run on a day to day basis but only when I need the app. AIO Toolbox handles all of that, task killer with whitelist, start up management, file manager, apk backup and restore and a slew of features I hardly ever use.
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Yea I'm the same way when I used winmo I loved HTC CleanRAM, Pocket Mechanic and SKTools I really wish I could find a tool for android like SKTools, that was one powerful app. LoL
But I'm the same type of user you are it seems, right now it's at a toss up for me between Go Task Manager and ES Task Manager, but if anybody askes me for a good task manager to use I tell them ES Task Manager, cause it's startup list editor is a lot more newby user friendly telling ya whats safe to remove from the list and what isn't.