Issues

[alana]

I purchased the HTC Droid Eris in January. About 3 months later there was a software update. I performed the update and my phone has not worked right since! I have manually checked my phone for updates and my phone is up to date. My problem is that apps are opening up and running in the background that I did not open. I do use the Advance Task Kill, but I found myself having to check every hour to majke sure that apps are not running. I even had Verizon do a hard reset on the phone, but it didn't help. I also contacted HTC about the issue and they were no help at all. I was offered a replacement phone from verizon, but I feel that I wll get a refurbished one that will have the same issues! Is anyone else having this problem?

 

[cableguynoe]

Is the problem simply that the apps are running in the backround?
Or is this causing other problems... like lag?

If it's just that you've noticed the apps are running, i wouldn't worry too much about that.
Many apps will run in the backround, and i believe nothing can be done abou it. But for the most part it wont cause any problems for you.

Try going a few days without using the task killer. Many have reported the phone will actually run smoother without the TK

 

[Frisco]

Hello Alana, and welcome!

Could you list the apps that open spontaneously?

If they're 3rd party apps from Market, it'll be different to deal with than if they're HTC apps, gmail, etc.

If it's just background updating, it could be a matter of configuring them to not do that, plus getting rid of that task killer.

 

[alana]

The problem is that these apps are opening up and running even when there are no apps opened by me. In other words I haven't opened any apps and then when I check my phone almost every hour throughout the day, apps are open and running. I don't leave any apps open and running on the phone. I kill them as soon as I am done using them. I have noticed that if I open the text messages to read or send a text, I will have to do the Task Kill like 3 or 4 times for it to close. Does anyone know of another way to close the apps without using the Advance Task Kill?

 

[Frisco]

Stock apps like messaging, etc are opening spontaneously?

The first thing I would do is go into every app that is doing that and clear cache and data. This will cause you to have to "start over" and reconfigure, re-sync those apps, but that is a small price to pay for (hopefully) stopping this issue.

Menu > applications > manage applications > (select app) > clear data (then) clear cache.

I'm going to advise you to do one other thing that some will disagree with, but I'm telling you what I would do in that situation: de-install the task killer, which I believe is not only not needed but could also be messing with your apps and contributing to the problems you're seeing.

Following all of that, I'd do a live battery pull: remove the battery while the device is running, wait about a minute, put it back in and power up your device.

The factory data reset option awaits if the above remedies do not work.

 

[mc48]

there is a setting called running services. (settings>applications>running services). It shows you what is running and what to kill. I have had my eris since Nov. and for the first couple of months used a task killer but found that it was really not helping and probably using more battery than it is worth. The only apps I have found (ones that I have anyway) that don't seem to close properly are mediafly podcast app, epicurious and camera360 and I think my music app 3 sometimes. When use them, I just go to the shortcut I have for running services and stop them after I am through. You need to be careful what services you stop though, most you don't, they need to run in the background.

 

[alana]

Thanks MC48 I went to running services and there were 4 that were running that did not need to be running.

I am debating whether or not to un install the Task Killer. I will see how the phone acts for the next couple of days.

Anyone else have any other ideas? I am stuck with this phone for another year.

 

[doogald]

I'd still love to see which apps they are. For example, if it is the Amazon MP3 app, there is nothing that you can do about it, and killing it is just wasting background time, because it will simply reopen. Say thanks to HTC and Verizon for bundling in an app that you do not want or use and cannot remove (unless you root your phone.)

 

[Frisco]

Thanks MC48 I went to running services and there were 4 that were running that did not need to be running.

I am debating whether or not to un install the Task Killer. I will see how the phone acts for the next couple of days.

Anyone else have any other ideas? I am stuck with this phone for another year.

Mc48 makes a great point about the running services.

Keep in mind that you will have to go into that menu and stop those services you don't want to run each time you reboot your device, alana.

 

[alana]

Doogald: What do you mean? The apps that open on my phone?

 

[doogald]

Doogald: What do you mean? The apps that open on my phone?

Right. What are the apps that you were complaining about. I am guessing that Visual Voicemail may be one; Amazon MP3 may be another. But, which ones are they? Which ones are opening in the background though you do not start them yourself?

 

[Frisco]

I'd still love to see which apps they are. For example, if it is the Amazon MP3 app, there is nothing that you can do about it, and killing it is just wasting background time, because it will simply reopen. Say thanks to HTC and Verizon for bundling in an app that you do not want or use and cannot remove (unless you root your phone.)

Yeah.. she mentions that it is several apps.. but what worried me was, "I have noticed that if I open the text messages to read or send a text, I will have to do the Task Kill like 3 or 4 times for it to close."

That's wig city.

 

[alana]

Yes visual voicemail is one, peep is another, Amazon MP3 store, voice dailer and gmail

 

[alana]

Yeah.. she mentions that it is several apps.. but what worried me was, "I have noticed that if I open the text messages to read or send a text, I will have to do the Task Kill like 3 or 4 times for it to close."

That's wig city.

Wig City????

 

[Skeletronix]

Welcome Alana! It seems like all of the apps you've mentioned are pre-loaded into your phone. You can't remove them unless you decide to root your phone. Thats another topic though. I wouldn't really worry about those apps running, and I don't think there's much you can do about them. For example, I use Advanced Task Manager (similar to task killer but better IMO). Everytime I press the widget to end tasks, it says" ATM ended 14 applications". Sometimes more, sometimes less, but there are always apps running in the background. Its not really a big deal. The only time it is, is when it is draining my battery on a large scale. In which case, I un-install it. Just my .02!

 

[Frisco]

Wig City????

"Crazy device behavior in urgent need of a remedy."

 

[Frisco]

Alana, Skeletronix post has me beginning to wonder if by "opening and running" you mean merely in the background (you do say in the background, but "open" to me was taken as on the home screen as if ready to use right there).

Have I taken your complaint wrong? Do you mean that you're just seeing these apps as "running" as in totally in the background? If so, it's much much less of an issue than I took it as being.

I've been seeing it as an issue involving very crazy behavior on the part of your operating system: opening application windows spontaneously.

 

[doogald]

Yes visual voicemail is one, peep is another, Amazon MP3 store, voice dailer and gmail

This is normal. A new Eris will not do anything about this. There is nothing that you can do about any of these apps restarting after you kill them (short of rooting the phone.) For whatever reason, HTC automatically starts them at boot, and, if they are closed, a process will restart them.

I believe that it is actually better for you not to kill them, because, if I am not mistaken, as they go unused, Android will suspend them and store their state until you restart them yourself. If you never restart them, they will never come out of the suspended state.

 

[alana]

Skeletronix: The one I have on my home screen is the text messaging. The text messaging has opened by itself. Others are running in the background that I do not use. The phone is just frustrating me and the battery life has gotten worse the longer I have the phone. I thought that the apps might be causing the bettery to drain faster when they are running in the background.

 

[dcfan99]

The preloaded apps that are running in the background do very little to run your battery down. For the messaging issue, I would also consider a factory reset - I have not seen that happen.

As far as battery, my battery life was awful when I first got the phone, but after familiarizing myself with this thread I was able to tweak things to get more than a full day out of a charge with moderate use. (Smart phones in general are much bigger battery hogs than regular cell phones).

Optimize your Droid Battery Life

 

[mc48]

The battery drain on your Eris can certainly be mitigated but as dcfan said, since it is a smart phone, it is going to be a hog no matter what you do.

Another place you can look to increase battery life instead of what programs are running in background is how often your apps such as facebook, twitter, weather, news, mail, flickr, etc sync and set them to long periods, that is sync once a day as opposed to every hour. Go to settings>accounts&sync and tweak the settings there (for fb, flickr, google, twitter and weather). Some apps you have to set the sync time in the app settings.

You can turn the sync off completely or set it to do it manually in some apps. Some people turn off everything, apps sync, gps, wifi, screen brightness to a minimum. I have pretty much given into the fact that the battery isn't going to last a day unless I charge it a bit because I choose not to turn off everything and because I like to check my fb, email, twitter, etc. 30 times a day....that is what I bought a smart phone for. So i bought a cheap charger for my work desk and car (although I only use this for trips) and I usually don't have a problem. You can also buy a bigger battery if you want but that changes the footprint of the phone. It just depends on what you want out of the phone. Just give it some time, play around with it and check out the forums if you need help. They have been indispensable to me.

Also, I suppose you know you can turn off gps and wifi when you aren't using them to save battery life.