Related
I just discovered that you can get rid of apps from the recent apps menu (the square button next to the home button) by swiping them to the side. I don't know why this makes me so retardedly happy, but I am sure that SOMEONE else out there will also appreciate this tidbit of information.
Anyone else have any nuggets of joy to share?
I liked that trick also when I first found out. Another thing too is that you can hold down the app in recent menu and a quicksetting will come up to let you remove it from list or look at app info.
Remember though, this only removes it from recent apps list. It doesn't close down the app itself.
Does it really matter though performance wise? I Always thought Android puts background apps into an "idle" state where they dont take up any resources until used? Although it is cool for people with OCD like me
demandarin said:
I liked that trick also when I first found out. Another thing too is that you can hold down the app in recent menu and a quicksetting will come up to let you remove it from list or look at app info.
Remember though, this only removes it from recent apps list. It doesn't close down the app itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does close the app. It just doesn't close background processes of the app.
Swiping an app from recent apps menu removes the app from cached memory, but keeps the background sync's (if it has any) still running. So you can kill off Facebook, but it's background sync (that would be started during system boot up anyway) remains.
You can test it, if you swipe browser from recent app's memory, it has to reload the page it was on. Same with Facebook app. But Facebook app's background process keeps running until you 'force stop' it.
Android application architecture runs in two layers, foreground and background processes. UI and the things you can use are written to memory when focus is lost from those apps, clearing them from recent apps also clears the memory those apps take at the time.
Is it useful? Yeah, for some things. But it won't improve your performance in any real noticeable way. Best you can do is swipe away apps that you don't need, keeping only apps that you want to keep in memory should you re-open them again. But that's usually too much micro-management to be worth it.
kristovaher said:
Yes it does close the app. It just doesn't close background processes of the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps, BUT, not every app in the recent apps list is actually running. That's why many times (most of the time?) the screenshot isn't what you actually see when you select an app from the list--you're really restarting it.
I think it's safest and easiest to just assume that you're really only removing apps from the recent apps list, not actually managing what's running in any way.
DroidHam said:
Does it really matter though performance wise? I Always thought Android puts background apps into an "idle" state where they dont take up any resources until used? Although it is cool for people with OCD like me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it doesn't make any difference performance wise, but it makes the menu much more useable for me =D
Thanks for this message, this is my first android device and I've been trying to figure out how to "close" applications. Did a search in here (I think), prime manual search and googled it. I am slightly OCD and like to "close" thinks that I'm not using. Harkens back to my early Windows days when you closed apps to conserve memory.
In the manual it says to close application by clicking on an X in the recent apps menu. Though unless it is super tiny, there isn't one.
redandblack1287 said:
I just discovered that you can get rid of apps from the recent apps menu (the square button next to the home button) by swiping them to the side. I don't know why this makes me so retardedly happy, but I am sure that SOMEONE else out there will also appreciate this tidbit of information.
Anyone else have any nuggets of joy to share?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have the dock, 2 finger gestures on the touchpad act as screen swipes. i.e. swipe two fingers across the tab, the tab changes screens. Also, if you want to actually kill the apps, add teh asus task manager widget to a screen. works great!
elybug said:
In the manual it says to close application by clicking on an X in the recent apps menu. Though unless it is super tiny, there isn't one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was an ASUS Honeycomb customization. It went away in ICS...
redandblack1287 said:
I just discovered that you can get rid of apps from the recent apps menu (the square button next to the home button) by swiping them to the side. I don't know why this makes me so retardedly happy, but I am sure that SOMEONE else out there will also appreciate this tidbit of information.
Anyone else have any nuggets of joy to share?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have the dock, 2 finger gestures on the touchpad act as screen swipes. i.e. swipe two fingers across the tab, the tab changes screens. Also, if you want to actually kill the apps, add the asus task manager widget to a screen. works great!
kristovaher said:
Yes it does close the app. It just doesn't close background processes of the app.
Swiping an app from recent apps menu removes the app from cached memory, but keeps the background sync's (if it has any) still running. So you can kill off Facebook, but it's background sync (that would be started during system boot up anyway) remains.
You can test it, if you swipe browser from recent app's memory, it has to reload the page it was on. Same with Facebook app. But Facebook app's background process keeps running until you 'force stop' it.
Android application architecture runs in two layers, foreground and background processes. UI and the things you can use are written to memory when focus is lost from those apps, clearing them from recent apps also clears the memory those apps take at the time.
Is it useful? Yeah, for some things. But it won't improve your performance in any real noticeable way. Best you can do is swipe away apps that you don't need, keeping only apps that you want to keep in memory should you re-open them again. But that's usually too much micro-management to be worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what I meant. I should of been more clear then. just swiping it doesn't close down app "Completely", meaning no background process either. you have to use a task manager or Force stop in order to "Truly" close n stop an app from running.
elybug said:
In the manual it says to close application by clicking on an X in the recent apps menu. Though unless it is super tiny, there isn't one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't any in ICS, only in HC.
i didn't know that either until last week! ice cream is awesome :]
Conduitz said:
if you have the dock, 2 finger gestures on the touchpad act as screen swipes. i.e. swipe two fingers across the tab, the tab changes screens. Also, if you want to actually kill the apps, add teh asus task manager widget to a screen. works great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know.....that Asus task manager widget does not work on mine. It doesn't matter if I press x next to one app or select kill all - nothing happpens. I think mine is broken
I removed it from one of my home screens, no need to have it if it doesn't work
demandarin said:
that's what I meant. I should of been more clear then. just swiping it doesn't close down app "Completely", meaning no background process either. you have to use a task manager or Force stop in order to "Truly" close n stop an app from running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a bit different though, because those background processes will (likely) already be running even if you don't start the app. Most of those background processes are started by boot activity in Android and others are started by scheduling activities (such as alarms or certain notifications and sync). These will be usually restarted once app is started again too (after Force Close) and if they are not already running (and they usually are).
Force Close is unnecessary unless you know that a certain app is bad for the system and was run accidentally, etc.
There are 3 buttons at the bottom left, back,home, and recent app.
Is it possible to change the recent app button to open the task manager.
Pressing the home button for few seconds just feels too slow.
I'm rooted and on overcome rom.
I heard android is all about customization, hope this is possible.
No reply,not possible at all?
Quite a good idea
I'll have a look
It may be easy may be hard
BroBot175 said:
Quite a good idea
I'll have a look
It may be easy may be hard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, thank you!
I really dislike the recent app button. Its so useless n slow.
The task manager is the best way to switch app n close app.
Dear brobot 175
The main request is to have a instant access to the task manager.
which makes closing and switching task very fast and easy.
Eg. Playing angry birds, if wana exit, need to press back, tap the in game menu, exit, exit, a pop up appear, tap yes. Different app will have different method to exit. Very troublesome.
Press and hold the home button to fire up task manager and press the x is much faster and easier.
But its slow to wait, hope there is a faster way for it rather then touch and hold home button.
Pressing the mini tray is even slower so that's not an option.
Able to replace the recent app to task manager is great.
If that's not possible, I have another suggestion.
Is it possible to add a shortcut next to the screen shot button?
As far as i know, the screenshot button is not on stock honeycomb, its and added feature.
Seeing there's space for about 4 more shortcuts, adding a task manager will be super sweet.
What do you think?
i have had a play around a bit but i think the shortcuts for the miniapps are actually embedded in a java file
i cant understand much java so im kinda stuffed
i did however get the wifi on/off buttons to go in the taskbar but thats not really what you were asking i know :L
just on writing this i have just had an idea and i shall have another look at this tonight
cheerrs
BroBot175 said:
i have had a play around a bit but i think the shortcuts for the miniapps are actually embedded in a java file
i cant understand much java so im kinda stuffed
i did however get the wifi on/off buttons to go in the taskbar but thats not really what you were asking i know :L
just on writing this i have just had an idea and i shall have another look at this tonight
cheerrs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you manage to put a button on a taskbar to toggle wifi?
thats amazing!!
good luck with your research.
if you can make it an app, that can put shortcuts on the taskbar, it would be amazing, and make it an app in the market.
after closer observation, the taskbar can have at most 6 icons on the bottom left. since when in portrait, the space becomes small and only can accomodate 6.
right now 4 are permanently there. (back,home,recent app,screenshot)
if can add 2 more would be nice, a task manager, and one more say...volume control? (like the one in desktop window, click once and a bar appear for volume control)
ahahaha, i am already dreaming too much.
Aha yeah you are!
Well as I've said before in have no idea how to make a shortcut to taskmanager but the volume may be possible
I have tried making an app imitate the mini calculator so you can launch it from the miniapps bar but it hasn't worked so far :L overall nothing really works right now
Hi, I'm using kang ics rom now.
I saw that in the task rom,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1340064
There are some extra stuff like touch widz task manager.
It mentions in the description just flash in cwm.
Is it safe to do that?
My instinct tells me it won't work so easily, but just want to be sure.
Why can't it work anyway?
Ray1 said:
Hi, I'm using kang ics rom now.
I saw that in the task rom,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1340064
There are some extra stuff like touch widz task manager.
It mentions in the description just flash in cwm.
Is it safe to do that?
My instinct tells me it won't work so easily, but just want to be sure.
Why can't it work anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS already has a better support for task manager, Where you would need to hold home button in the HC, ICS has a vastly improved multi-tasking system which is accurate, Some people don't know but you need to press the Multi-task key and slide the app from left to right to close it. Same goes with notifications.
That itself is the task manager for ICS. You aren't able to do this on HC ROM's.
I wouldn't add them in ICS because the default launcher's are different, and HC has horrible multi-tasking system.
Misledz said:
ICS already has a better support for task manager, Where you would need to hold home button in the HC, ICS has a vastly improved multi-tasking system which is accurate, Some people don't know but you need to press the Multi-task key and slide the app from left to right to close it. Same goes with notifications.
That itself is the task manager for ICS. You aren't able to do this on HC ROM's.
I wouldn't add them in ICS because the default launcher's are different, and HC has horrible multi-tasking system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, i am aware of the ICS task manager swipe to close.
but its slow. example i have 5 apps open, i would have to swipe one, wait for the animation to fall. then swipe another. its actually really slow.
on HC touch widz task manager, i can tap tap tap very fast to close app. and there's the all mighty "end all" button that is really good.
able to know how much ram is available is an added bonus as well.
as much as the ICS task manager is cool and nice, it has a big bug.
it display both "Recent app" AND "running app" without letting us know which is which. even if i exit one app the proper back way, it will appear in the task manager. which is silly. :-(
if i add the touch widz one, i was hoping to keep both ICS and HC touch manager. no harm to have both.
back to the question, is it possible to flash it without problem?
Well you can try it, not telling you that human curiosity is bad, but atleast make a backup just so you can revert if ever human curiosity didn't turn out so good
I however am confused, how is the animation slow? I mean I can swipe it fast to let it close faster, I like the animation however makes it feel, fluid? Less transitions and more smoothness. As far as I know that's just some consumer benefit, animation goes smooth, user thinks "AH GOOD SIR TABLET IS BLOODY FAST". Works if you ask me .
Well ICS is still kang/alpha release, so it's not perfect but it's good for everyday use compared the previous builds which was barely usable I don't even know if ICS has a standalone task manager o.o
Misledz said:
Well you can try it, not telling you that human curiosity is bad, but atleast make a backup just so you can revert if ever human curiosity didn't turn out so good
I however am confused, how is the animation slow? I mean I can swipe it fast to let it close faster, I like the animation however makes it feel, fluid? Less transitions and more smoothness. As far as I know that's just some consumer benefit, animation goes smooth, user thinks "AH GOOD SIR TABLET IS BLOODY FAST". Works if you ask me .
Well ICS is still kang/alpha release, so it's not perfect but it's good for everyday use compared the previous builds which was barely usable I don't even know if ICS has a standalone task manager o.o
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you using a ics kang rom now?
hard to explain, but if you do this, you will get what i mean.
open 10 random apps.
try as fast as you can to close them all. you will spend at least 10 seconds no matter how fast you swipe.
on touch widz task manager, i'm sure you can make 10 taps in less than 5/6 seconds. or the "end all" which is instant all close.
i may be too picky...lol...but as you said, human curiosity is hard to resist.
so if i do a nandroid backup, and something screws up, i can revert back to my usual state, no risk involved?
Ray1 said:
are you using a ics kang rom now?
hard to explain, but if you do this, you will get what i mean.
open 10 random apps.
try as fast as you can to close them all. you will spend at least 10 seconds no matter how fast you swipe.
on touch widz task manager, i'm sure you can make 10 taps in less than 5/6 seconds. or the "end all" which is instant all close.
i may be too picky...lol...but as you said, human curiosity is hard to resist.
so if i do a nandroid backup, and something screws up, i can revert back to my usual state, no risk involved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I am on the Kang ROM @ build 25 atm.
There is that, Flash and probably end up glitchy
OR
You can download Advanced Task Killer on the Market for free might I add, which almost does the same as Task Manager
Also Nandroid backup's are amazing, they are the time machine's for Android devices. Restores everything the way it was, ...before human curiosity
thanks, i'll try out the advance task killer.
Ray1 said:
thanks, i'll try out the advance task killer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure And the verdict is?
not so well.
no wonder its called "advance" task manager.
it display all the process and service behind as well.
i just want a simple task manager to let me know which is currently running app.
if i tap kill all, it will kill ALL back ground process, which i know is more of a battery waste. i know that task manager that kills process is not a good thing.
Just a word to the wise: if you're having any Launcher crashes and screen brightness changes, it might be due to having the ASUS Task Manager widget running. I noticed that whenever I switched to the screen containing that widget, the screen dimmed, then returned to normal when I switched to another screen. Also, my Launcher was crashing, and I just today noticed it was only crashing when I switched to that screen.
I've since removed the widget, and those problems went away.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
I haven't had any of this, but I have noticed that at low brightness settings just about any ASUS widget causes an annoying sputter of the brightness.
I also have the ASUS Task Manager fc all the time, so I just don't use it. Android isn't supposed to need such things anyway and I have faith lol
Task manager does fc pretty often. Thing is I find it so useful. Ill see things running and be like wtf is that doing running. I have no plans on using that app or process n has no business being in active tasks. Lol. I might go a similar route and get rid of it for a while. But its really the only way tl truly close an app out. You can back out of browser n think its closed but its still actually running in background burning up ram unless you manually close it through task manager or system panel.
Ill see how long I can go without needing to use it or look at it and see how things go. Still been getting annoying android.androidprocess.media has stopped message. Need to figure out what is constantly causing that. Hopefully getting rid of Asus task manager will solve that.
demandarin said:
Task manager does fc pretty often. Thing is I find it so useful. Ill see things running and be like wtf is that doing running. I have no plans on using that app or process n has no business being in active tasks. Lol. I might go a similar route and get rid of it for a while. But its really the only way tl truly close an app out. You can back out of browser n think its closed but its still actually running in background burning up ram unless you manually close it through task manager or system panel.
Ill see how long I can go without needing to use it or look at it and see how things go. Still been getting annoying android.androidprocess.media has stopped message. Need to figure out what is constantly causing that. Hopefully getting rid of Asus task manager will solve that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for the browser, don't back out. Just close all the tabs, and it'll close the tab and the browser absolutely.
As for all the other processes, I know what you mean, but my battery is much less affected ignoring them than killing them (using the screen and sensors) and just having them return with time.
The task manager is about junk.
FC often.
Stops keeping up to date often.
Sizing makes it contract to center versus close up from bottom.
Wont accept interactions.
There's no need to kill the Internet browser task. RAM uses the same amount of battery all the time as it requires a constant charge to prevent it losing its data. If you fill RAM up, the power usage stays constant. Android will close background tasks if a foreground task requires more memory.
Only ever kill tasks if they're inexplicably using CPU.
I dont think the merits of task killers is at question. The lame task killer is.
Lock-N-Load said:
I dont think the merits of task killers is at question. The lame task killer is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both really.
I mean, this is certainly the more useless of the ones I've tried. But even the best of them are generally useless considering the platform we're on. The only decent ones are those that watch your CPU usage per app (like watchdog or whatever).
I guess it gives people peace of mind, but the only time it is actually good to use one is like danieldeanhodge said, when there are run-away processes sucking CPU usage. That's what gives you battery drain as the RAM stays pretty consistent on its consumption: that's why the TF700t is going to have worse battery life under all circumstances, it has more hungry RAM.
Crashes for me all the time too. I removed it.
Do note that I'm not specifically talking about the Task Manager widget itself crashing. I actually didn't get that very often. What was happening to me is that the Launcher was crashing--it would throw up the "Wait or Close" dialog and then all icons and widgets would disappear from the home screens. I'd have to go into Settings and force close Launcher to get them to come back. After too many times of that, I'd have to reboot to resolve.
Getting rid of the Task Manager not only solved that problem, but it also resolved the issue of the screen brightness being inconsistent as I changed home screens, and also my UI is much smoother as well.
Bottom line is: I think the ASUS Task Manager is just really badly done and turning it off made a world of difference in how my Prime is performing.
wynand32 said:
Do note that I'm not specifically talking about the Task Manager widget itself crashing. I actually didn't get that very often. What was happening to me is that the Launcher was crashing--it would throw up the "Wait or Close" dialog and then all icons and widgets would disappear from the home screens. I'd have to go into Settings and force close Launcher to get them to come back. After too many times of that, I'd have to reboot to resolve.
Getting rid of the Task Manager not only solved that problem, but it also resolved the issue of the screen brightness being inconsistent as I changed home screens, and also my UI is much smoother as well.
Bottom line is: I think the ASUS Task Manager is just really badly done and turning it off made a world of difference in how my Prime is performing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's nuts, the launcher crashing...
I think all the ASUS widgets are this way with regards to the changing brightness (only happens to me on lower settings). I've noticed it with the Task Manager and the Weather anyway.
I appreciate their work, but ASUS is a h/w manufacturer: I don't understand why they're trying to be another closed system or why they're trying to push themselves as a major developing team or whatever, but they don't seem to be doing well with it.
...and I don't mean 'minmize' like what pressing the home or back button does. (which merely puts it in the multitasker menu list, still open.)
I mean closing it like when you swipe it out of the menu list. (which are far as I can tell, seems to close it off enough to stop what it's doing and free up the memory it was using!)
Sometimes I want to just close an app since I know I won't be using it for a while and I want to conserve cpu/memory/battery - or merely manage the list of things in my multitask list. kinda like on Desktop. (you don't want every app on your pc open all at once, do you, do you?!) and I just want a simple way like on the desktop to close that app when I want to close it.
SO: Is there some app that can assign a custom screen gesture (like the lovely letter C for 'close') to perform 'fully exit current app' or some solution like that? I started to research, but couldn't seem to find one very quickly, so thought I'd ask here, at THE place to ask.
also I apologise for using things like Windows terms ('minimize'), i know that's not how it works in android. But you do know what I mean.
Thanks
This is a question that a lot of people ask when moving to Android and the answer simply is, forget about it.
Android handles processes and memory in a completely different way to Windows. When an app is "minimized" it obviously leaves a footprint in the memory, but it uses no CPU (unless it's a polling app or something that keeps alive for a specific purpose).
Just trust Android to handle memory management - it does a very good job of it.
If you really, really MUST do something about it then the best thing you can do is get something like Juice Defender (there's tons of similar apps) and make it kill apps periodically. Most apps that people use for this type of purpose are merely placebo, but if it makes you feel better then I guess it's serving a purpose.
Archer said:
This is a question that a lot of people ask when moving to Android and the answer simply is, forget about it.
Android handles processes and memory in a completely different way to Windows. When an app is "minimized" it obviously leaves a footprint in the memory, but it uses no CPU (unless it's a polling app or something that keeps alive for a specific purpose).
Just trust Android to handle memory management - it does a very good job of it.
If you really, really MUST do something about it then the best thing you can do is get something like Juice Defender (there's tons of similar apps) and make it kill apps periodically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer. I can sense you have wisdom and experience in your words there, but I want to probe a little further.
surely there can be an almost macro-like (again, windows terminology, sorry) functionality, that can be assigned to a gesture swipe that can emulate pressing home button, then swiping the bottom item away from the multitask menu? (which is always the one you just 'minimized')? Could an app like Tasker even do it?
i agree that good memory management is a beautiful thing, but there really should be manual control of closing apps, my reasons above are stated.
i wouldn't touch automatic time-based closing, i sometimes have saved states in apps and wouldn't want them closed when i don't want them closed.
Most apps that people use for this type of purpose are merely placebo, but if it makes you feel better then I guess it's serving a purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you really think it's all placebo, and that say, running 50 apps in android with finite set amount of ram on the device is all fine simply due to memory management?
is me experiencing lag in some android apps (or battery draining faster than I'd like), then closing off several running apps in the multitask list, then noticing the problem go away, all placebo????? what about google maps, say?! I'd love a one-step swipe action to CLOSE google maps when I'm done with it, not having to press home button, then multitask button, then swipe away google maps. (I know when minimized it consumes nothing like it does when open, but I think still it consumes more than if it were fully closed...)
it's not just about memory. edit: and I already stated in addition, I often want to simply manage what I have open. this is a basic function in desktop OSes, I think it's time it came to mobile. if not officially, there surely must be some hack/tool to do it. :S
download a task killer app with a widget.
press home button and press the widget and you're done
If you're using AOKP based ROM then there is hold back to kill in Settings > ROM control > general UI
Sent from my GT-I9100 using 1st ROM
Hold homesçern key
Sent from my ST23i using xda app-developers app
jman2131 said:
download a task killer app with a widget.
press home button and press the widget and you're done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's about 2/3 the way towards the current 3-step solution though :/.
Am I to be amazed that a function to put this simple task into a single gesture hasn't been done? or isn't possible? it HAS to be possible. Otherwise I'd be flabbergasted.
I have googled further and just can't seem to find something :|.
WAIT! I think I have! here. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goodmooddroid.gesturecontroldemo&hl=en it has a "kill task" function that you can set up a custom gesture for. it's a start.
however I'm getting a "ERROR! No ROOT permissions?" error despite being rooted with supersu and successfully using other root apps etc, so I've emailed the dev and hope I can get it working :S.
But still, it seems a little clunky the offering of custom gesture types. I can't set a nice curvy gesture defined by tracing it on the screen. oh well - it's a start.....
jootanen said:
If you're using AOKP based ROM then there is hold back to kill in Settings > ROM control > general UI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems the holy grail! too bad I'm on stock jb with plans for upgrading to CM .....