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Two Questions about task killing

Jon Nale

Android Enthusiast
Oct 31, 2009
294
241
I have two questions:

1.) Google Android developers have said that task killing is not needed due to the way the Android OS handles processes. Am I the only one, or does killing apps significantly increase the overall speed of the phone? For example, if I have 23mb of memory left, scrolling between home screens is very sluggish. If I kill all of my apps and have 50mb-70mb of free memory, scrolling is noticeably faster. What does google mean when they say that task killing apps are not necessary?

2.) Why does free memory decrease the longer your phone is on? For example, I set the following apps to "ignore" on taskiller:
-MMS
-E-mail
-Gmail
-Home++
-WeatherChannel
-Scoreboard

When I reboot my phone and kill all apps, I have 94mb free. However, after 2-3 days of my phone being on, when I kill all apps, I have close to 52-54mb of free space. Even if I kill every single app that is running (including my ignored apps), I never get close to 94mb free. What runs in the background that is taking up that extra space?
 
I find there to be no slow down without using a task killer but everyones phones perform differently, the issue with number 2 is that android OS caches free memory so that it can be readily available when it needs it, this is how linux systems work.

Really? You notice no slow down at all?

Mine is incredibly noticeable. My one friend (who doesn't have a Droid), asked to see it, and after playing with it for like 5 minutes, he said, "Wow, this runs kind of slow." I then showed him taskiller, and after killing some of the apps, it was back to normal. He even said, "Wow, that feels much faster!"

EDIT: I am a software developer, and a hardcore linux user, and totally forgot about the memory caching. Thank you for the reminder.
 
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You should just "ignore" task killing. It's a waste of time. Uninstall it, and if you absolutely have to kill an app use the one in Astro.
You kill it and it just comes back 30 seconds later. I had it, then uninstalled it, then installed it, then uninstalled it... I haven't had one since end of December. I think most of the speed increase is in peoples heads.
 
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You should just "ignore" task killing. It's a waste of time. Uninstall it, and if you absolutely have to kill an app use the one in Astro.
You kill it and it just comes back 30 seconds later. I had it, then uninstalled it, then installed it, then uninstalled it... I haven't had one since end of December. I think most of the speed increase is in peoples heads.

What are you talking about?

If I kill "Browser" in taskiller, the process does not come back until I open up the browser again.

I have not had a single problem with Taskiller.

And like I said before, no, it is not a waste of time. Freeing up memory makes my phone noticeably faster. If I had some type of video recorder (besides my Droid), I would take a video.
 
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I'm an IT guy ... I've seen the diagrams, I've heard the debates. All I know is, in the real world (of 'Joe Droid'), my DROID runs better if I use my Task Killer every now & then. I don't keep it running, I simply open it - kill tasks (including itself) and that's it.

Frankly, I almost don't understand the argument.

As for why your memory decreases the longer you keep the DROID on ... I wouldn't dismiss memory leaks in third-party apps.
 
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What are you talking about?

If I kill "Browser" in taskiller, the process does not come back until I open up the browser again.

I have not had a single problem with Taskiller.

And like I said before, no, it is not a waste of time. Freeing up memory makes my phone noticeably faster. If I had some type of video recorder (besides my Droid), I would take a video.

this has been a long standing debate and I think it honestly boils down to differences in phones because I notice no speed increase when killing tasks but I believe you when you say you do. its like some people's screens auto rotate and some didnt (when not rooted and running the stock rom)
 
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I'm an IT guy ... I've seen the diagrams, I've heard the debates. All I know is, in the real world (of 'Joe Droid'), my DROID runs better if I use my Task Killer every now & then. I don't keep it running, I simply open it - kill tasks (including itself) and that's it.

Frankly, I almost don't understand the argument.

As for why your memory decreases the longer you keep the DROID on ... I wouldn't dismiss memory leaks in third-party apps.
+1
 
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When everything is working properly, there's no real need for a Task Killer in Android; the OS is designed to re-purpose memory transparently without user intervention.

Having said that, there are many thousands of third-party apps in the Market, and some of them probably have memory leaks, and different combinations may of apps may interact in unforeseen ways on a given device. In those situations a task killer can be very useful.

In a perfect world, nobody would need one; but the world's not perfect.
 
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I love the argument that "you DON'T need a task killer because of the way the OS handles memory" as if everything is operating in a perfect world.

That's like saying you don't need to have your car's fuel injectors cleaned because they are designed to last 100,000 miles (or whatever). Of course, if you happen to use crummy fuel from the bottom of the tank at the ghetto gas station around the corner, you may NEED to have your fuel system cleaned out. Same logic applies to Android....you shouldn't NEED a task killer, but the bottom line is there are plenty of apps that don't close properly, that run in the background unnecessarily and that hog resources...and killing them OBVIOUSLY frees up memory and speeds up the phone. Given the choice of not installing 3rd party apps (iPhone anyone?) or having a task killer available for occasional use, I choose option B.
 
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I prefer Advanced Task Killer by Apollo Software than rechild's, it's much more powerful.


I agree. The Apollo Software one comes with a nice widget that is a single button press on the desktop (doesn't navigate to another window requireing you to press other kill buttons) that kills everything running except what is in the ignore list. Very simple single button kill and it doesn't need to be running all of the time in the background.
 
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Sorry, I am new here, long time reader, first time poster.

I am a programmer as and I can assure you as a life long linux user, yes, apps that are poorly written WILL slow your phone down.

If you are not running many third party apps and just run the stock phone, then the task killer probably will not effect you. Thus if you run a lot of apps and have plenty of 3rd party apps, esp what I call the "not necessary ones" then you most likely have memory issues and a task killer will help you.

I hope this helps.

I ran a web hosting business for over 10 years on linux and trust me I have seen my share of run away scripts and programs that totally killed the CPU, killing the process was the only way to get the server back.
 
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the real question is if you know a poorly designed 3rd party app is causing memory leaks and performance decreases then why use the app(s) at all? i use the apps i actually NEED and delete the ones i dont or if they seem to be written by a 3 yr old and make my phone run poorly.

this argument has been around as long as android has, and the general answer has been you dont need one. that was with g1's that only had half the ram we do and a inferior processor and battery.

whatever works better for you though, i and others could care less what you do.



Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
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