task killer or let the phone do its own thing?

[icomeanon]

when i first got the eris, i was having pretty bad lag by the end of the day, so i installed TasKiller. now, at the start of the day after i go through my routine of shutting stuff down when i turn the phone on after the morning reboot, i have 82-85 free. By the end, thats dropped to anywhere from 60 to 75. I've read in a few places that there's an autokill, that the android os learns what to kill and what to leave alone, and to let it do its job. other places, just the opposite. so which is it? should i delete taskiller and let the OS do its own thing?

also, i force stopped gmail earlier today, in lieu of using a bookmarked gmail-mobile as it will show pictures where the app wont. will this force stop remain after reboots, or will it come back after a reboot and need to be stopped again? and is there a way to remove this blasted footprints thing? it eats memory (not much but a bit) and i dont even know what its for and doubt ill ever use it, not knowing what it is.

 

[ludist210]

I use Advanced Task Manager, but only to kill anything that's a resource hog (like the Browser or a game once I'm done with it). I let the Android OS take care of the rest, and it manages my battery just fine. I can get 24+ hours out of my battery easily.

 

[OLD_gUY]

I use Advanced Task Manager also.
There is a setting to Auto-end Running Apps and a setting for Auto-end Frequency.
It will also wake itself up to check things out, so highlight it on it's own list and then choose the option to end itself. That way, it's not a drain on the battery.
Heck, you can even set it to end tasks by shaking the phone. Never used it-but I guess it stands to reason that when you are in doubt, give it shake.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I leave mine alone and let it do its thing. The main thing I do is use the back button and not the home button to exit apps. This is supposed to close many apps and free up memory.

I have zero lag issues with my Eris, I might add.

 

[Solitary]

I started off using ATK.
I dont use it anymore. And the phone works great.
I also use the back button instead of the home

 

[mpaquette]

I leave mine alone and let it do its thing. The main thing I do is use the back button and not the home button to exit apps. This is supposed to close many apps and free up memory.

I have zero lag issues with my Eris, I might add.

Yep, yep and yep. Do the same thing here and my Eris performs fine.

 

[erisuser1]

I have ATM (Advanced Task Manager) installed, but I really only use it manually - I don't have it auto-kill anything.

I've found that different apps behave differently with respect to the "Back" button - some of them will gracefully exit if you back out all the way, and some of them will not.

So, I really use ATM as more of a task-switcher than a task-killer... and when I'm using it for that - I look at the memory status.

I'll occasionally kill apps off, but I honestly don't know if I've ever seen the free memory drop below 20M or so.

As far as those Footprint, Stocks, and Peep processes go - they are preinstalled, and there's nothing you can do about them (until the phone is rooted), so... don't lose sleep over something you can't change.

One thing I have noticed is that if it has been a long time since a reboot, and ATM shows only the usual things running (Gmail, Visual VM, Messages, providers.htccdma) the amount of free memory seems lower than after a reboot. I hate to say this, because it never used to be the case with Linux machines... but maybe rebooting the thing every couple of days is a good idea.

eu1

 

[rdalev]

Thats funny , ran ATM to make sure all processes were closed, then opened google maps, speedtest and youtube using the back button to exit all of them and supposedly closing them. Well, I open ATM and there are all 3, still running.....................sorry but I'll use ATM to close my apps !

 

[Caddyman]

I use ATM too, i like it.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I've found that different apps behave differently with respect to the "Back" button - some of them will gracefully exit if you back out all the way, and some of them will not.

I have found that too. I have also found some that actually have exit or quit options in the menu too.

So, I really use ATM as more of a task-switcher than a task-killer... and when I'm using it for that - I look at the memory status.

I'll occasionally kill apps off, but I honestly don't know if I've ever seen the free memory drop below 20M or so.

20 Mb?!?!? I don't think mine has ever been below 60 Mb!

As far as those Footprint, Stocks, and Peep processes go - they are preinstalled, and there's nothing you can do about them (until the phone is rooted), so... don't lose sleep over something you can't change.

One thing I have noticed is that if it has been a long time since a reboot, and ATM shows only the usual things running (Gmail, Visual VM, Messages, providers.htccdma) the amount of free memory seems lower than after a reboot. I hate to say this, because it never used to be the case with Linux machines... but maybe rebooting the thing every couple of days is a good idea.

eu1

The only time I reboot my phone is when it requires it. When I get an OTA update or when I changed the slot cycle.

Thats funny , ran ATM to make sure all processes were closed, then opened google maps, speedtest and youtube using the back button to exit all of them and supposedly closing them. Well, I open ATM and there are all 3, still running.....................sorry but I'll use ATM to close my apps !

Oh, I am sure it will show stuff running, but I don't think they are running running.

 

[canrunin]

dont use anymore,phone runs better without alot less bugs. my 2 cents

 

[rdalev]

Oh, I am sure it will show stuff running, but I don't think they are running running.

Err.....................maybe they're just jogging then !

All I can tell you is when I open ATM, the only programs that show up are programs I recentely opened !

 

[jreed2560]

I leave mine alone and let it do its thing. The main thing I do is use the back button and not the home button to exit apps. This is supposed to close many apps and free up memory.

I have zero lag issues with my Eris, I might add.

I've been taken to task on here by some that the back button does not truly "exit" an application. Is there a documented source that this actually does ?

 

[Solitary]

I've been taken to task on here by some that the back button does not truly "exit" an application. Is there a documented source that this actually does ?

i dont think there is. Especially since it doesnt work for every app.


FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android Geek For Me – Android CDMA Sprint Hero

interesting reading..

 

[bjf88]

I have taskpanel installed and used to use it to kill all the apps that open on startup that I never use (footprints, etc).

But lately the only thing I've used it for is to run audits and tests on exactly how my phone works. I have found that my phone usually starts with about 26 apps running. Even with all of that running, my awake percentage hovers around 10-14% and if left alone, the battery loses only about 1% every hour.

As I posted in the phone app lag thread, lag isn't much of an issue with my phone.

Edit: I also found that according to Taskpanel, the OS doesn't do much "autokilling" of apps. In the 8 hours I was monitoring it, only 2 disappeared. I have heard that 2.0 has a huge improvement on that issue.

 

[Bswartz95]

I have taskpanel installed and used to use it to kill all the apps that open on startup that I never use (footprints, etc).

But lately the only thing I've used it for is to run audits and tests on exactly how my phone works. I have found that my phone usually starts with about 26 apps running. Even with all of that running, my awake percentage hovers around 10-14% and if left alone, the battery loses only about 1% every hour.

As I posted in the phone app lag thread, lag isn't much of an issue with my phone.

I use Task Panel as well to kill apps. Pretty painless with the auto kill feature.

 

[hrbib21]

I have heard that 2.0 has a huge improvement on that issue.

That would be great.

I use ATM. My phone ran like garbage (lagged) without it. I have no problems whatsoever now that I use ATM. Dolphin, Bloo, and Twidroid seem to be pretty good battery killers and do not shut down on their own so I do it manually with ATM.

 

[OfTheDamned]

i dont think there is. Especially since it doesnt work for every app.


FAQ: Why You Shouldn

 

[jreed2560]

i dont think there is. Especially since it doesnt work for every app.


FAQ: Why You Shouldn

 

[aleis]

That is a very good read, i posted in another thread...
but it still a fact that the phone can go into a state when its extremely low on memory.
then apps close out by design. but thats AFTER your phone has gotten sluggish and wasted energy and draining the battery.
thats why memory is freed when you kill processes.
the way i understand it, you SHOULD kill off processes.

 

[Solitary]

OfTheDamned, jreed2560 you're welcome.

 

[OfTheDamned]

That is a very good read, i posted in another thread...
but it still a fact that the phone can go into a state when its extremely low on memory.
then apps close out by design. but thats AFTER your phone has gotten sluggish and wasted energy and draining the battery.
thats why memory is freed when you kill processes.
the way i understand it, you SHOULD kill off processes.

I understand killing an app if it is "stuck" and causing problems. You can do that from the application menu. However, many of the processes you are killing are things that have to be restarted by the phone anyway. This just turns into a vicious OCD cycle of people going to kill tasks. This in turn can cause the phone to lag because those same processes that SHOULD be running in the background are now running in the foreground, because you just killed them and they are trying to make up ground in a way. This is what I was saying to rdalev, before. Just because you see an app running doesn't mean it is really doing anything or taking up a bunch of system resources. On top of that, if the processes are going to restart anyway aren't you just wasting time and battery trying to kill them?

 

[Solitary]

That is a very good read, i posted in another thread...
but it still a fact that the phone can go into a state when its extremely low on memory.
then apps close out by design. but thats AFTER your phone has gotten sluggish and wasted energy and draining the battery.
thats why memory is freed when you kill processes.
the way i understand it, you SHOULD kill off processes.

Not at all. I started my phone usage with ATK and then stopped after like two weeks. My phone runs great, possibly even better than while using ATK (heck, i dont even have to worry about being paranoid about force closing the apps that are running).

Since you're thinking from the perspective of Windows user ( oh no offense, i run windows also) and expect the OS to slow down when there is not enough RAM, let me ask you this question:
Is it better to use Esc key and follow the instructions of the software you;re using to exit the application, or just press alt+f4 and force close it?

Android is based on Linux my friends. Linux is very different from Windows. Don't mix both things (Linux developers get very upset).

When you do not use ATK and let the OS do its thing, you will notice improvement. Yes, it will be sluggish for like the first week (why? i think thats because the phone is not used to run the way its supposed to and is not constantly interrupted *i dont know a real answer...just my guess*). However, once you stop being so predetermined, and just let it work, you will realize that it still works great. When Linux becomes overloaded and free RAM amount drops down, the OS automatically relocated RAM from apps that need it less to apps that need it more, and in many cases it shuts down the app that is not needed anymore.


From the bottom of my heart, Solitary

 

[ludist210]

Interesting read, thanks for sharing. I'll keep my Task Manager installed, but I've been using it far less since I've installed it.

 

[Solitary]

Interesting read, thanks for sharing. I'll keep my Task Manager installed, but I've been using it far less since I've installed it.

oh you're welcome.


And dont get me wrong people. In no way I am pursuing you to stop using ATK. What I am asking you is to be patient and give it a try and go without task killer for a bit