Root Thoughts on Killers, Managers, Widgets (and ADW Launcher :-) )

[csoga]

My phone is rooted, running stock 2.1 ROM and P3 Droid 1 ghz. kernel.

Yesterday a.m. I switched from GDE (the cute Cube transitions, occasional hangups, and always sloowwww App drawer got old) to ADW Launcher, uninstalled AutoKiller, and replaced Juice Defender and Weather Channel widgets on home screen with shortcuts instead. This is all I did... and this phone sped up dramatically!... and also ran cool all day, under my normal usage.

With ADW, the App Drawer (set to no animation, zoom effect at 300) and Screen transitions (desktop scrolling and overshoot set to 0/0) both seem almost instantaneous. Also, at 4pm when I knocked off work the battery was still at 80% (and only 30C), even tho I ran SetCPU at 1ghz/performance-governor all day... it was ~40% or less before the changes, under similar usage.



I had some extra time this morning, so decided to try Startup Manager. After spending ~15 minutes "unchecking" all the User and System apps I did not want to start, and finding no way to add apps under the Customize tab (both User and System came up blank)... I rebooted, checked, and had only 34m memory free and 11 apps had started I did not want, but were not listed in Startup Mgr.

So I used ATK to kill unwanted apps and ended up with ~70m free memory... almost same as before! (actually a little lower).

Also, yesterday ADW launcher was flying... now noticed just a little lag on App drawer open and home screen transitions.

Apps that "started anyway" (number on left is amount of free mem. after I killed it):

42 The Weather Channel (I need to get rid of this mem. hog anyway)
45 Facebook (don't use it)
46 Music (hangs bad when overclocked)
50 ToDo Task Manager (was listed in SMgr., unchecked, but started anyway)
50 3(cubed) music player (my new fav.)
52 Apps Organizer
54 A online radio
57 MP3 Store (also listed in SMgr, unchecked, but started anyway)
59 Gallery
60 Engadget
62 The Weather Channel (listed twice in ATK)
64 CacheMate
67 News and Weather
69 ROM Manager
70 Startup Manager (have since unstalled)

If I still have to go into ATK after reboot, and kill 10-12 apps anyway, why do I need this?

Maybe "Killers", "Managers", and Widgets just aren't worth it?

ETA: Oh yeah... ADW ROCKS!

ETA2: ummm... derrrrrr

 

[emdmao]

Check out auto memory manager from the market. I set it to the default aggressive setting and never go below 50 free mb. You could ditch ATK then also. Give launcher pro a shot if adw is lagging a bit. Also try out these new ultra low voltage kernels here jdlfg kernels - CyanogenMod Forum page__pid__3541__st__40#entry3541

My temp literally never goes higher than 90 degrees even under heavy usage streaming video

 

[csoga]

emdmao, thanks for the quick reply...

I'm currently trying out Launcher Pro and ADW, but prefer the latter so far. And ADW only started lagging, very little, after I installed and used Startup Manager... uninstalled, rebooted, now back to flying!

I plan to try the jdlfg kernels later, but for now I'm happy as a clam with P3 and ADW. I need to slow down some and let this all sink in... I'm a newb rooter and have a lot to learn first.

 

[PhilosoRaptor]

I dunno if I'm going insane or what. But I've installed ADW twice now and one of the first things I do when I install it is set the screen scroll (between home screens) speed to ~350. But after setting it, I can't find the setting to adjust it again..? I could have swore it was in ADW settings > Screen preferences, but I don't see the option in there anywhere now ??

 

[shrink57]

I have given up on Startup Manager and all memory managers (Startup was giving wierd FC's with a few ROMs). I have Advanced Task Manager installed and on rare occasions use the widget to shut down running tasks on demand. To make a long story short, the Android operating system seems to do the best job of internally juggling and managing memory. The more I interfere, the more problems I have run into. ADW remains my favorite launcher and I am quite happy living without 3d drawers and other window dressing (live wallpaper, unnecessary widgets) that add to the wow factor but bog down my system (right now I am not even themed and quite happy running CM "naked").

 

[emdmao]

Shrink, have you tried auto memory manager? It doesn't work the same as the auto task killers or startup manager. It is a root app that just alters the way the OS naturally manages RAM.

For example...say the OS normally allows up to 100 mb of background memory before it starts the built in process of freeing memory..with the app you can just change the default setting to whatever you want. It doesn't kill apps on its own, it just changes the values of the OS's memory management.

 

[messenger13]

I still use ATK from time to time, but last night I deleted Startup Auditor and am noticing no difference after boot. For now, I'm leaving it out.

 

[shrink57]

Shrink, have you tried auto memory manager? It doesn't work the same as the auto task killers or startup manager. It is a root app that just alters the way the OS naturally manages RAM.

For example...say the OS normally allows up to 100 mb of background memory before it starts the built in process of freeing memory..with the app you can just change the default setting to whatever you want. It doesn't kill apps on its own, it just changes the values of the OS's memory management.

There are actually scripts available with most of the newer ROMs that also allow you to change memory but I still have found that things run well enough on their own. I will give Auto Memory Manager a try (has some great comments in the Market) and relay my findings.

 

[emdmao]

Yeah, I have used the scripts before as well, but auto memory manager is really customizable. You can set values for every type of running process.

Just setting it to aggressive keeps 50-60 free at all times, though it was killing the browser so I lowered the priority of the browser so it stays running now. Please update with your findings!

 

[csoga]

Scripts, customizable memory modifiers, aggressive/lowered priority values... all too much for me right now.

I'm ready to just ~use~ this little portable computer-cum-tinkertoy, that also happens to make phone calls, instead of working on/playing with it, for a while. I'm a gadget freak by nature, and just got caught up in it for a few weeks... hopefully, I'm over that now for a spell.

I'm getting everything I wanted out of it now... It's rooted, OC'd, WiFi hotspotted, nandroid and Titanium backed-up, Wavesecure'd, got 900+ songs and a neat-o player, and all the root-only apps on it I craved (even like something as simple as LED Hack and Spare Parts), and is as fast/slick as I need it to be... and it's stable.

After working as it should, and as I wanted it to, all day yesterday... bruthas, I ain't changing a thing for a while. (famous last words )

 

[shrink57]

After working as it should, and as I wanted it to, all day yesterday... bruthas, I ain't changing a thing for a while. (famous last words )

Nah. My philosophy is "Fix it until I break it."

 

[emdmao]

Scripts, customizable memory modifiers, aggressive/lowered priority values... all too much for me right now.

I'm ready to just ~use~ this little portable computer-cum-tinkertoy, that also happens to make phone calls, instead of working on/playing with it, for a while. I'm a gadget freak by nature, and just got caught up in it for a few weeks... hopefully, I'm over that now for a spell.

I'm getting everything I wanted out of it now... It's rooted, OC'd, WiFi hotspotted, nandroid and Titanium backed-up, Wavesecure'd, got 900+ songs and a neat-o player, and all the root-only apps on it I craved (even like something as simple as LED Hack and Spare Parts), and is as fast/slick as I need it to be... and it's stable.

After working as it should, and as I wanted it to, all day yesterday... bruthas, I ain't changing a thing for a while. (famous last words )

Sure..that's what everybody says! (for about 24 hours)

 

[nstallion]

ANOTHER TASK MANAGER THREAD AHHH!HH!H!!!!

 

[csoga]

Sure..that's what everybody says! (for about 24 hours)

I didn't even make it 24 hrs ...

Woke up about 2 a.m. and the native Desk Home screen had my BR all lit up, so I downloaded Gentle Alarm and set it up right then and there, dimmed it all the way down... like it!

I don't need an alarm to get up, but I like a bedside clock.

And I didn't mean for this to be another task mgr. (or battery life) thread... but rather how awesome (for me) ADW is, and how so many apps/widgets out there are either redundant or outright useless.

I'll be trimming my installed apps down ASAP... already got rid of all active widgets except digi clock 2x1 (linked to alarm settings) and S2cal 2x1 (linked to calendar).