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First of all, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP BILLIONS OF TIMES, SO BEFORE YOU REPLY WITH "Search the forums" READ THIS.
I have been looking for WEEKS trying to find an answer to this,and no answer given on any forums are what I am looking for.
I have an android phone (sidekick 4g) and there are apps that run in the background when not necessary. Now I know some stuff need to be aways running for the phone to function. But I also know that apps like Facebook, Market, Gmail, T-mobile's Media Store, MyYearBook, Maps, Aptoide, etc don't. When I force close them, they just start up a few seconds later. I've tried task killers and got the same result. I've read the "Why you shouldn't use a task killer" articles but everyone keeps saying different things about it so I'm confused.
Like many others, I want my battery to last at least half way through the day. The above mentioned apps (and some others) DRAIN THE BATTERY WHEN RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND WHEN I DON'T WANT THEM TO.
Please does anyone know of a way to fix this?
My phone is rooted, if that matters.
Also, "freezing" the apps don't help cause then I can't use them when I actually want to.
Thank you very much in advance anyone who can help me out!
magnoidgoat said:
First of all, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP BILLIONS OF TIMES, SO BEFORE YOU REPLY WITH "Search the forums" READ THIS.
I have been looking for WEEKS trying to find an answer to this,and no answer given on any forums are what I am looking for.
I have an android phone (sidekick 4g) and there are apps that run in the background when not necessary. Now I know some stuff need to be aways running for the phone to function. But I also know that apps like Facebook, Market, Gmail, T-mobile's Media Store, MyYearBook, Maps, Aptoide, etc don't. When I force close them, they just start up a few seconds later. I've tried task killers and got the same result. I've read the "Why you shouldn't use a task killer" articles but everyone keeps saying different things about it so I'm confused.
Like many others, I want my battery to last at least half way through the day. The above mentioned apps (and some others) DRAIN THE BATTERY WHEN RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND WHEN I DON'T WANT THEM TO.
Please does anyone know of a way to fix this?
My phone is rooted, if that matters.
Also, "freezing" the apps don't help cause then I can't use them when I actually want to.
Thank you very much in advance anyone who can help me out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Applications running, doesn't mean cpu cycles are being used. Sitting in memory is no different then a song sitting on your sdcard. Your issue with the battery has to do with processes using cpu cycles. If you have applications that update, force updates manually.
Just having apps in memory isn't your issue.
Use the features built into the os, find out what apps are causing the problem. Look at the settings. If you have looked at your settings, then you have one of three choices. Open bugreports with the application developers, don't install the apps causing problems, or upgrade your phone.
lithid-cm said:
Applications running, doesn't mean cpu cycles are being used. Sitting in memory is no different then a song sitting on your sdcard. Your issue with the battery has to do with processes using cpu cycles. If you have applications that update, force updates manually.
Just having apps in memory isn't your issue.
Use the features built into the os, find out what apps are causing the problem. Look at the settings. If you have looked at your settings, then you have one of three choices. Open bugreports with the application developers, don't install the apps causing problems, or upgrade your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you that makes sense.
I would think those apps would use battery because it pushes notifications for the app (like new messages and stuff). Does that not use battery?
magnoidgoat said:
Thank you that makes sense.
I would think those apps would use battery because it pushes notifications for the app (like new messages and stuff). Does that not use battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does use battery because to process the notification it needs to use the cpu. If you force applications to update manually. Your batter would be better. Check into battery saving tuts. All that information has already been discussed plenty. Won't change in this scenario either.
The more apps you have updating information the more data and notifications are being processed.
lithid-cm said:
It does use battery because to process the notification it needs to use the cpu. If you force applications to update manually. Your batter would be better. Check into battery saving tuts. All that information has already been discussed plenty. Won't change in this scenario either.
The more apps you have updating information the more data and notifications are being processed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!
Also, I have another problem, if you know anything about this kinda stuff. The Facebook app icon just (like 10 minutes ago) disappeared from my home screen, and it's not in the app drawer either. I uninstalled and reinstalled and still having the problem. I can only open it by manually searching "facebook" in the google search widget and that's when it gives me the option to open the app. It's really bizzare and I have no idea what's going on.
Sent from my SGH-T839 using xda premium
magnoidgoat said:
Thank you!
Also, I have another problem, if you know anything about this kinda stuff. The Facebook app icon just (like 10 minutes ago) disappeared from my home screen, and it's not in the app drawer either. I uninstalled and reinstalled and still having the problem. I can only open it by manually searching "facebook" in the google search widget and that's when it gives me the option to open the app. It's really bizzare and I have no idea what's going on.
Sent from my SGH-T839 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a issue with the rom or launcher. Try installing another launcher from the market and see if the application is installed. If its there with another launcher then its your stock launcher, if its not then its the rom.
lithid-cm said:
Sounds like a issue with the rom or launcher. Try installing another launcher from the market and see if the application is installed. If its there with another launcher then its your stock launcher, if its not then its the rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked thank you!
Hi all,
I just got my Transformer Prime this week, and as a new user both of Android (my phone is a WP7 device) and of tablets in general, I do have a couple of questions that maybe you guys can help me with...
1) Shut it down or not?
Being a tablet something in between my phone and my laptop, I'm still not sure exactly how to manage it. I know this will come with experience, but do you guys leave it always on like your phone or do you shut down like a laptop? I actually only hibernate my laptop, but I don't know how to do that on my TP... is it possible?
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
OK, so I got my TP and started downloading apps... Skype and Facebook were one of the firsts. I quickly realized that, by default, after opening them for the 1st time, they kept giving me notifications, even if I swiped them left of the task manager (i.e. closed them, AFAIK). This is OK for Skype, but I really don't want Facebook bothering me that much, so I disabled notifications on its settings. Is that all that is needed to remove these permanent services? Does the "services" tab under Settings -> Applications really show everything that is running or can some apps hide from there?
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
I still didn't fully understand how "closing apps" work on Android (ICS at least). If I have an app with notifications enabled (i.e. its service is enabled, right?), even if I close it from the task manager, the notifications keep coming. However, if notifications are disabled, is swiping them left from the task manager REALLY closing them? At the end of the day, to improve battery and responsiveness, should I keep closing my unused apps?
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
This is actually part of a more general question, coming below. But anyway, I read that the ICS launcher is much improved from previous Android versions, and at the same time I didn't find a good launcher comparison for tablets only. Many of the launchers reviews only apply them for phones, and only compare them to the Gingerbread launcher (or some device-specific launcher). Since many of the launchers are paid apps, I would like to know: is there any launcher that is really worth trying in my new TP? What do you guys use?
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
I don't have my TP for even a week and I'm already tired of reading great things about an app, only to download it and see that it is not optimized for tablets at all. So, is there any good source of info/reviews on tablet-optimized apps?
Many thanks!
Leo.
1) Shut it down or not?
Personally, I always leave mine tablet running. There is a price to pay from a battery perspective when shutting down / starting up, so unless you know you are not going to be using it for an extended period of time, I would recommend leaving it on.
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
I believe the 'Services' tab will show all the user app services that are running, but I am not sure if you can permanently prevent them from starting back up with ICS. I have seen task manager apps in the market that can prevent services from starting up. In all reality though, if you are concerned about background services draining your battery, the Prime has excellent battery life to begin with, especially if you have the dock, so if I was you I wouldn't get too worked up over the background services. Now if we were talking about a smart phone here (like my Thunderbolt for example which has horrible battery life), I would be much more concerned about this type of thing as I would want to do anything possible to squeeze as much life out of my battery just to get through an entire day.
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
From my understanding swiping an app on the Recent Apps tray won't actually kill the process. Swiping an app from the Recent Apps tray more or less just removes the app from the list of Recent Apps. ICS automatically takes care of shutting down processes and releasing memory when appropriate. If you want to manually kill an app you can Force Close it from the list of apps from the Settings -> Applications menu. But again, my personal preference is to let ICS do its thing and take care of process management. I will remove apps from the Recent Apps tray just keep the tray less cluttered with apps that I don't use or need to switch to that often but I normally won't kill apps manually from the task manager.
On a side note, I would think removing an app from the Recent Apps tray would signal the OS that I am not going to be using the app again any time soon and the OS is free to shut down the process and release its memory, but I am not sure if this is what happens or not. All I know is that I have read elsewhere that removing an app from the Recent Apps tray will not immediately kill the process.
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
Personally, I really like ICS so I haven't tried any of the other launchers that are out there (on the tablet side of things anyways). I used the GO Launcher on my phone for a little while but ended up switching back to the default HTC Sense launcher. This is one of the things I love about Android though; the ability to totally change the look and feel the device by simply customizing and switching between different launchers. If I ever get tired or bored with ICS, I can download a new launcher and just like that, everything will seem new and fresh again.
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
This is one of the big problems with Android and the Android Market right now; not just the small selection of tablet optimized apps but being able to find these apps in the Market. There is an 'editors top picks for tablet apps' section or something like that in the Android Market that I have used. Unfortunately, many of the apps in there are not that great, but at least they are optimized for tablets. Typically I will just do a google search for 'top android tablet apps' to get a feel for some of the best tablet optimized apps that are out there.
Try the Tablified website or app to find tablet optimized apps. Can't download directly from there, but the install link will take you to the market page for whatever app you want.
http://www.tablified.com
jordache16 said:
1) Shut it down or not?
Personally, I always leave mine tablet running. There is a price to pay from a battery perspective when shutting down / starting up, so unless you know you are not going to be using it for an extended period of time, I would recommend leaving it on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, thanks for taking the time to reply me! Anyway, my point was exactly about the times when I will not use it for an extented period, like when I go to bed or something... But I guess since I don't want any notifications when I'm sleeping, I think it is wiser to shut it down. On the other hand, is there a quick-way to completely silence the tablet, i.e. turn off the volume AND the vibrations?
jordache16 said:
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
I believe the 'Services' tab will show all the user app services that are running, but I am not sure if you can permanently prevent them from starting back up with ICS. I have seen task manager apps in the market that can prevent services from starting up. In all reality though, if you are concerned about background services draining your battery, the Prime has excellent battery life to begin with, especially if you have the dock, so if I was you I wouldn't get too worked up over the background services. Now if we were talking about a smart phone here (like my Thunderbolt for example which has horrible battery life), I would be much more concerned about this type of thing as I would want to do anything possible to squeeze as much life out of my battery just to get through an entire day.
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
From my understanding swiping an app on the Recent Apps tray won't actually kill the process. Swiping an app from the Recent Apps tray more or less just removes the app from the list of Recent Apps. ICS automatically takes care of shutting down processes and releasing memory when appropriate. If you want to manually kill an app you can Force Close it from the list of apps from the Settings -> Applications menu. But again, my personal preference is to let ICS do its thing and take care of process management. I will remove apps from the Recent Apps tray just keep the tray less cluttered with apps that I don't use or need to switch to that often but I normally won't kill apps manually from the task manager.
On a side note, I would think removing an app from the Recent Apps tray would signal the OS that I am not going to be using the app again any time soon and the OS is free to shut down the process and release its memory, but I am not sure if this is what happens or not. All I know is that I have read elsewhere that removing an app from the Recent Apps tray will not immediately kill the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hum, ok, I will try to freak out less about open apps. What's still bugs me, for instance, is the behavior of Google Talk vs. Skype. After turning the tablet on, Skype doesn't open automatically, and after I open it, it will gracefully inform-me of its status on the notifications bar. However, today I just got surprised by a incoming IM from Google Talk, even if I did'nt open it! I realized that it is hidden under "Google Services" in the app list, but there is no setting in the app to disable it from running on start-up! I can only "sign out"... Anyway, on the other hand, there's no setting to have Skype launch automatically on start up...
jordache16 said:
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
Personally, I really like ICS so I haven't tried any of the other launchers that are out there (on the tablet side of things anyways). I used the GO Launcher on my phone for a little while but ended up switching back to the default HTC Sense launcher. This is one of the things I love about Android though; the ability to totally change the look and feel the device by simply customizing and switching between different launchers. If I ever get tired or bored with ICS, I can download a new launcher and just like that, everything will seem new and fresh again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second that. I've quickly used the Iphone 4 a couple of times and its dullness just bores me to death... hehe
jordache16 said:
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
This is one of the big problems with Android and the Android Market right now; not just the small selection of tablet optimized apps but being able to find these apps in the Market. There is an 'editors top picks for tablet apps' section or something like that in the Android Market that I have used. Unfortunately, many of the apps in there are not that great, but at least they are optimized for tablets. Typically I will just do a google search for 'top android tablet apps' to get a feel for some of the best tablet optimized apps that are out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I saw that, but I hate that I cannot filter that list between apps and games... stupid Google or stupid me? hehe
wikedawsum said:
Try the Tablified website or app to find tablet optimized apps. Can't download directly from there, but the install link will take you to the market page for whatever app you want.
http://www.tablified.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip! I'm cheking it out right now...
reguarding open apps
At times i noticed my stock launcher was laggy to switch between screens. After swiping to close the recent apps it was a lot more responsive, so i think that swiping the apps from the recent list does close them, at least in mose cases.
As to optimization apps, usually they are intended for phones running older software. You need to remember that every phone (aside from the google phones) is running a slightly different version of android.
Since each version of android is different, even between the Froyo on my phone and your phone, because they have different modifications on them there is a chance that the customized software on my phone may be better at handling unused tasks than your phone (in fact HTC phones by default have a LOT of running processes in the background, whereas Samsung phones generally have fewer).
A lot of these optimization apps do several things:
Turn off wifi and bluetooth when not needed
Close tasks when they are unused
lower screen brightness
turn off 3g and use 2g if available and not in a call
Now this may be excellent for your phone, it spends most of its time in your pocket, soon as you unlock it it can connect to wifi again, turn on bluetooth, etc.
HOWEVER!
If you have, say, the weather widget, or a clock, or in my case battery monitor pro, and the task killer is killing those tasks those widgets will no longer update.
Some tasks, like Maps, tend to start up automatically, meaning your wasting MORE battery life closing this app and then it restarts and you have to close it again. It takes less battery life having it run in the background.
Sometimes an app will close (like the browser) that your not fully done using. Theres a difference between the app being frozen in memory and fully closed. Both do not require much power, however when you open that process again the frozen one takes a LOT less battery than the unfrozen one.
On a tablet, having a case that has a magnet in the apropriate spot and, say, tasker (very good app for custimizing your own triggers to turn things on and off) to detect that sensor and shut off wifi, gps, bluetooth, etc. would be very cool. Many apps use the proximity sensor to detect if its in a pocket and shut off everything, or the lockscreen. Because the way a tablet is used many of these battery saver apps will actually use more battery than what would be used in the first place.
You also have to remember that as android advances there are more tweaks for battery life put into them. For instance, you can have ICS close tasks that are not being used right away to save memory and its pretty good about freezing things in background memory.
Older versions of android lacked these features, or they were poorly implimented. I remember on my vibrant i was always going back to make sure all my tasks were closed properly when i was done with them. With newer devices its not an issue android takes care of that for me.
TLDR: Try as many battery saver apps as you like, just be warey as to what devices they are designed for and what version of android they were made for. Doesnt mean they wont work, just means they may do something thats useless for using on a tablet.
1) Shut it down or not?
Never. We got the companion core for a reason.
2) Services: my battery and OS responsiveness
No, everything is shown except core processes. You can get systempanel if you want to see.
3) Closing apps: should I care about it or not?
Don't unless you somehow got froyo or eclair onto your tablet.
4) Launcher: Is ICS launcher the best for tablets?
Depends on your tastes. I would suggest trying all of them.
5) Tablet-optimized apps???
What the other people said.
1) Mine is always on. I shut down when I expect it to be idle for a long time or when I want maximum battery conservation while idle. Pressing the power button is as close as you get to hibernate, officially with Android. I'm interested to know if any of the usual Linux power management stuff applies to these systems or if it's tied to ACPI (A PC thing), and if there would be a way to wake the system. It's certainly not supported by ASUS .
2) Google how Android services work and about the application life cycle. For the most part things like Facebook don't do all that much harm, unless it is dealing with a lot of data. If you do not want it to run and the application lacks a setting for turning the service off, uninstall the app. A startup manager may or may not be able to help but be warned: auto task killers are generally bad, you would actually want to manage the startup services not auto kill them!
3) No. Android will take care of this OK. Closing apps generally refers to the "Activity" not the service. Android has taken decent care of that since at least version 2.2 and this tablet runs 4.0.3 . Swipping stuff out of the multi-task menu is most useful for keeping it tidy, it will not generally improve your life in most cases. For a good explanation you should look for a post Dianne Hackborn reshared on G+, I believe Android Police even carried it.
4) Depends on what is best for you. It's great except for the lack of customization. Nova Launcher offers a bit more. ICS's launcher versus e.g. GB's is almost what could be called a basic custom launcher, i.e. all the important stuff is there but you can't tweak the hell out of it. For more serious work try ADW Launcher Ex (scrolling widgets currently broken) or Go (not quite fully tablet optimized yet but works). I use ADW Launcher Ex, and there is a free version with less features.
5) Tablified Market and XDA usually helps I guess. I rarely have problems except with rarely updated stuff.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Hello, I am new to the forum so I apologize if this is not the correct place to post this. I am I need of desperate help with my Alcatel C1 (Android 4.2.2 Jellybean). Within the last few weeks A LOT of my apps seem to be crashing. Just some of the apps are: Text free Pinger, Dash clock Mini Notes. Inkpad, POP, and Clean Master. When they crash most of them will open for say about 60 seconds and then either exit the app entirely and take me back to the homescreen or sometimes they will just exit out of whatever I am doing inside the app and take me back to the apps main page.
This is extremely frustrating and have no idea of the cause. A lot of my apps DO NOT crash as well, such as UC Mini Browser, my email apps, file explorer, and showbox as well as others. Why are some of my apps crashing and some not?
I have a theory that it could be my launcher...I use Apex, the paid for version. Apex will crash everynow and then though not very often. But the reason I think its my launcher is because I downloaded the regular Apex launcher through the play store and then added the premium version of it through other means....
So what I'm saying is that the basic Apex launcher is official and downloaded off the play store, however, the paid for upgrade was not.
It still doesn't answer why I had zero problems for many months after downloading both Apex versions up until recently...
So, can anyone answer why some of my most used apps are crashing and could it possibly be problems with the launcher? Thank you in advance.
Oh, and also, my phone is rooted however I never did anything with my root access yet.
Someone please help ha...ANY advice or info at all would be GREATLY appreciated!
It very well could be do to your warez app. But as xda doesn't condone or advise the use of warez you will not find help here with it. My advise is remove all the warez and try again. Many apps are now programmed to look for things that allow warez and set. To cause random issues if detected.
warez?
Thank you so much for your response, however, what do you mean by "warez"...I'm sort of a noon when it comes to smart phones so please explain ha...do you mean the file i downloaded of Apex that wasn't "official"? Is that what the "warez" is?
Thanks again,
FallenOnDays27
FallenOnDays27 said:
Thank you so much for your response, however, what do you mean by "warez"...I'm sort of a noon when it comes to smart phones so please explain ha...do you mean the file i downloaded of Apex that wasn't "official"? Is that what the "warez" is?
Thanks again,
FallenOnDays27
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I mean is "warez" is a paid app that one got for free from somewhere. The issue with this that most people don't take into account is that most of these paid apps when given for free are changed and malware, like keyloggers, screen recorders and data collectors are added to these apps.
I'm running OS 4.5.5 and my my performance slows Way down after about a day and a half. At first, I thought it may have been the launcher but I started using GQ launcher about a month ago and it still get sluggish. I ran Clean Master on it for a while so every time I shut it down, CA would clean up the RAM. This helped a little but it would still get sluggish after a few days. So I wound up removing it. The booster widget for GQ says my "normal" RAM usage is 70-80% which seems really high to me. The sluggishness starts when I get above 80%. After a reboot, I'm normally sitting around 45%. I'm not using any high performance apps. I mostly use my tablet for email, Facebook, and the like. Any ideas? I keep hoping OS 5 will get released and solve my problems.
Vc027708 said:
I'm running OS 4.5.5 and my my performance slows Way down after about a day and a half. At first, I thought it may have been the launcher but I started using GQ launcher about a month ago and it still get sluggish. I ran Clean Master on it for a while so every time I shut it down, CA would clean up the RAM. This helped a little but it would still get sluggish after a few days. So I wound up removing it. The booster widget for GQ says my "normal" RAM usage is 70-80% which seems really high to me. The sluggishness starts when I get above 80%. After a reboot, I'm normally sitting around 45%. I'm not using any high performance apps. I mostly use my tablet for email, Facebook, and the like. Any ideas? I keep hoping OS 5 will get released and solve my problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On higher end phones/tabs sluggish performance is typically due to excessive background tasks. Memory swapping is less of an issue due given the overall speed of the device. 70-80% (even 90%) memory utilization is not excessive as much of that reflects cached tasks that do not need to be reloaded from permanent storage when recalled. Android will swap them out (oldest first) if memory is needed.
Unfortunately, you can't see everything running on 4.5.5 as it can not be rooted. FireOS in general and Amazon apps in particular tend to launch multiple processes when you activate one app in a 'suite'. For example, launching the Amazon shopping app also starts Kindle reader, instant video, Amazon music and parental controls. Those apps continue to run in the background until the device is rebooted.
Snag a decent task manager and see if there is unneeded 'stuff' you can kill (note modt system tasks won't be displayed on FireOS). You might just stumble across the culprit.
Any suggestions for a task manager?
Vc027708 said:
Any suggestions for a task manager?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well - Clean Master is popular, easy to use and has options to 'clean' memory on sleep and other events (this normally isn't necessary or advised except for diagnostic purposes). It will also reveal auto starts although you may not be able to stop them without root. Downside is a heavy dose of marketing and promos for other apps.
Other suggestions:
- CCleaner (simple and effective)
- ES Task Manager (time proven)
There are dozens available; everyone has their favorite. Be aware FireOS may restrict the operation of some functions. If you can not find what you want in the Amazon app store consider installing an alternative market place like 1Mobile which tries to emulate the Play Store. Just be careful what you download/install as it's not as well curated as the Amazon and Google stores.
It's possible you have a hardware issue; I tend to think not given it takes a day or two for the problem to fully manifest. Yet another option is to simply restart your device once a day. Doesn't address root cause but might be the easiest solution.
I downloaded especially task manager and it seems to be doing a good job. I haven't been able to track down a culprit for the sluggishness though. However I've been shutting down my kindle at night every few days. I have noticed something weird though. When I power down the kindle and then try to charge it, it comes back on immediately. Even when I have the power cord connected first and then power it down, it still comes back on. Is this normal? It seems awfully strange to me. And it obviously makes it take way longer to get a full charge
Vc027708 said:
I downloaded especially task manager and it seems to be doing a good job. I haven't been able to track down a culprit for the sluggishness though. However I've been shutting down my kindle at night every few days. I have noticed something weird though. When I power down the kindle and then try to charge it, it comes back on immediately. Even when I have the power cord connected first and then power it down, it still comes back on. Is this normal? It seems awfully strange to me. And it obviously makes it take way longer to get a full charge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My HDX 7s behave the the same way. Not all android devices do; many will simply display charge status without fully booting. This has nothing to do with the rom that is installed as it is determined by lower level code.
There is no need to power down your device to charge. Simply put it to sleep. Charge time/rate will not be significantly impacted. When it's done charging you can initiate a reboot if desired to begin the day with a 'clean slate'. I realize this involves a few extra steps and a bit of time. Not ideal but have to work with the hand that has been delt.
If your device is waking while charging try placing it in airplane mode. Many apps will check network status and defer full wake-ups until connectivity is restore. The check is done with the screen off and consumes little power. I can't speak to the most recent FireOS framework; previous versions were relatively quite during sleep provided the device was in airplane mode. Note the built in function to disable WiFi while sleeping does not work reliably in my experience.
In my last post, I meant I had gotten ES Task Manager not especially task manager.
I've noticed lately the stock launcher seems to have a large cache associated with it. It's normally second to Silk or Facebook. However, I've been using GQ Launcher almost exclusively lately.
Just a few minutes ago, everything started slowing down so I opened Task Manager. The cache for Launcher (the stock Fire one) was almost 80Mb. It was second largest behind Silk which was 200Mb. As soon as I cleared the cache for the Launcher, performance returned to normal. I did not clear the cache for anything else. Any ideas on why the cache for the Launcher would be so large? Could I have something corrupted with OS 4.5.5 causing this on a regular basis?
Vc027708 said:
In my last post, I meant I had gotten ES Task Manager not especially task manager.
I've noticed lately the stock launcher seems to have a large cache associated with it. It's normally second to Silk or Facebook. However, I've been using GQ Launcher almost exclusively lately.
Just a few minutes ago, everything started slowing down so I opened Task Manager. The cache for Launcher (the stock Fire one) was almost 80Mb. It was second largest behind Silk which was 200Mb. As soon as I cleared the cache for the Launcher, performance returned to normal. I did not clear the cache for anything else. Any ideas on why the cache for the Launcher would be so large? Could I have something corrupted with OS 4.5.5 causing this on a regular basis?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GO Launcher in general is just bloated with unnecessary features, ads, etc.
I would avoid task managers and cleaning apps (i.e. Clean Master), as they often do more harm than good.
Facebook apps are notorious for constantly running in the background and eating up battery life.
As alternatives, I'd highly recommend switching to some more lightweight apps:
Nova Launcher
If you really need to clean your app caches and the like, at least do it with SD Maid, which doesn't try to oversell what it does and isn't loaded with junk.
Metal for Facebook
EncryptedCurse said:
GO Launcher in general is just bloated with unnecessary features, ads, etc.
I would avoid task managers and cleaning apps (i.e. Clean Master), as they often do more harm than good.
Facebook apps are notorious for constantly running in the background and eating up battery life.
As alternatives, I'd highly recommend switching to some more lightweight apps:
Nova Launcher
If you really need to clean your app caches and the like, at least do it with SD Maid, which doesn't try to oversell what it does and isn't loaded with junk.
Metal for Facebook
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Concur with Nova (excellent!) and SD Maid recommendations. Clean Master is obnoxiously bloated and self boasting but core functionality is solid with an easy to digest UI. Task managers can be good diagnostic tools but generally aren't needed once the culprits have been identified. In general never enable any of the automated cleaning functions unless you can configure to target a specific app vs the entire portfolio of active/cached tasks.
As I recall your device isn't rooted (4th gen) so you are stuck with the stock FireOS launcher. Occasionally dumping the cache may be your best option.
Started using Nova about a week ago. It seems when I use only Nova, everything runs great. However, if for some reason I open the native Launcher, everything gets sluggish a few hours later. It sure would be nice if I could set it as the default. Right now I have to choose every time I hit the home button. Thanks for all the help
Vc027708 said:
Started using Nova about a week ago. It seems when I use only Nova, everything runs great. However, if for some reason I open the native Launcher, everything gets sluggish a few hours later. It sure would be nice if I could set it as the default. Right now I have to choose every time I hit the home button. Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not aware of a method for permanently selecting a non-stock launcher on FireOS v4 without root which itself is not an option on a 4th gen HDX. Might be a way via adb but the risk is high without a way to recover if something goes wrong.
Vc027708 said:
Started using Nova about a week ago. It seems when I use only Nova, everything runs great. However, if for some reason I open the native Launcher, everything gets sluggish a few hours later. It sure would be nice if I could set it as the default. Right now I have to choose every time I hit the home button. Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this in adb:
Code:
adb shell
pm block com.amazon.kindle.otter
Hi,
newbie here, just got a chromebook few days ago, and I'm impressed with the new world I'm discovering...
Very happy with the Play Store integration, basically every app I tried from the Play Store worked flawlessly.
Now, i know the we don't have the option for real desktop functionality with app links and/or widgets, but I discovered that I can download android launcher(s) form Play Store, and although the launcher will run like a separate app, will still do the trick (at least for me), to have many app links to actual desktop (not only the bar), and eventually widgets... I'm saying "eventually" because in the few launchers that I've tried, the widgets availability seems limited (compared to the installed apps or how would be on android).
The question is: can launcher be developed specifically for chrome OS with full functionality? Assuming that it will run as a separate app (maybe open at start, by default)?
Many thanks in advance!
f
florox said:
Hi,
newbie here, just got a chromebook few days ago, and I'm impressed with the new world I'm discovering...
Very happy with the Play Store integration, basically every app I tried from the Play Store worked flawlessly.
Now, i know the we don't have the option for real desktop functionality with app links and/or widgets, but I discovered that I can download android launcher(s) form Play Store, and although the launcher will run like a separate app, will still do the trick (at least for me), to have many app links to actual desktop (not only the bar), and eventually widgets... I'm saying "eventually" because in the few launchers that I've tried, the widgets availability seems limited (compared to the installed apps or how would be on android).
The question is: can launcher be developed specifically for chrome OS with full functionality? Assuming that it will run as a separate app (maybe open at start, by default)?
Many thanks in advance!
f
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you there florox. The default launcher is rubbish. When you press all apps, only getting the last 5 listed is a joke. Widgets would also be a real boost to Chrome OS.
On the other hand, having a touch screen and Android apps working is still years ahead of what Micro$oft and Apple have achieved. It's an exciting time to own a CB.
Agree, Chrome OS is evolving at a rapid pace! Maybe Nova launcher someday...