Help RoadSync and other apps starts in the background

[MiniDroid]

Hi

New to this forum and new to Android.
Got my SE Xperia X10 Mini a few days ago and so far I'm impressed.
But I do have some questions I hope someone can help me with.

I've updated the phone with latest firmware.
Model : E10i
Firmware : 1.6
Kernel: 2.6.29
Build: 1.0.A.1.38

So to the questions.

What is "Background data"?
When I start "Market", it informs me that "Market needs background data to be enabled." I then press "enable" and find myself in the "Data synchronization" settings menu and enables the feature as requested.
Auto-sync option is off and I don't use the phone to sync either gmail, calendar nor contacts.
So why does it need it and what for? Is it my google account it needs? (that was configured first time running Market).

Using the app Advanced Task Killer Free, I can see that this "background data" also starts RoadSync. Or that Market start it. RoadSync is an app to help me sync the phone agains MS Exchange (I don't use that one either). So why does Market also need RoadSync (app not configured either since I don't use it). Market is working just fine - but I'd rather see that the phone could do this without starting RoadSync.
Would it kill Market if I uninstall RoadSync?

When I recieve a message, using the same Advanced Task Killer app, I see that the following apps also starts.
"Settings", "PlayNow", "RoadSync" and sometimes "Music player".
It's not a MMS and my messaging alert tone is not music but one of the SE sounds. So I fail to see why the Music player needs to start.
Also, "PlayNow" is SE versions of Market, why does recieving SMS/MMS needs to activate that app in the background? I've never logged into that app before either. And why "Settings" keeps popping up in the background I just don't know.
And again, RoadSync...

To sum it up, it seems that there's some strange background startups and I would like to stop that if possible.

Also, all over the place I see the same questions about non-threaded messaging. And the same boring answer, some people like it that way so you'll have to deal with it. Is this a Andoid 1.6 thing? Is it possible to fix in 2.1 or 2.2 later? Or if I wrote my own messaging app, would I be able to get the "old fashion" inbox and sent items folder?

Thank you for reading all this text and I'm looking forward to any response.

 

[Requiem87]

What is "Background data"?

Background Data allows applications to send and recieve GPRS data over Edge/3g while hidden. Like syncing emails, or staying logged in to a chat service, weather widget updating itself and so on...

When I start "Market", it informs me that "Market needs background data to be enabled." I then press "enable" and find myself in the "Data synchronization" settings menu and enables the feature as requested.
Auto-sync option is off and I don't use the phone to sync either gmail, calendar nor contacts.
So why does it need it and what for? Is it my google account it needs? (that was configured first time running Market).

It needs background data to be enabled to be able to keep downloading apps/updates if you minimize/hide the market, as far as i have understood it.

Using the app Advanced Task Killer Free, I can see that this "background data" also starts RoadSync. Or that Market start it. RoadSync is an app to help me sync the phone agains MS Exchange (I don't use that one either). So why does Market also need RoadSync (app not configured either since I don't use it). Market is working just fine - but I'd rather see that the phone could do this without starting RoadSync.
Would it kill Market if I uninstall RoadSync?

Android automatically preloads apps, for faster booting, but theese are in suspended state and do not use CPU. You cannot avoid this, but the memory they consume, will be freed up for other things if your phone needs the memory for something else, so nothing to worry about.

To sum it up, it seems that there's some strange background startups and I would like to stop that if possible.

If you use the app Autostarts, you can see what events trigger what apps to start, but unless you have root access( which i don't think is possible on this phone yet) you cannot edit Autostarts. So whatever starts, starts, but will not use much cpu-time or battery. It is also recommended not to use a task-killer, as Android handles running apps, and closes idle apps automatically, as memory is needed for something else.

Also, all over the place I see the same questions about non-threaded messaging. And the same boring answer, some people like it that way so you'll have to deal with it. Is this a Andoid 1.6 thing? Is it possible to fix in 2.1 or 2.2 later? Or if I wrote my own messaging app, would I be able to get the "old fashion" inbox and sent items folder?

It is possible to have an app that organizes the inbox the "old-fashioned way"
SMS Manager should do this, but i have not tested it.

 

[MiniDroid]

Requiem87, Thank you very much for your good reply to all of my questions.

It seems to me that "background data" should not be needed nor asked for as long as I'm on WiFi connection (and actively disables mobile data channels). But now I know what it is and I guess this is taken care of in later Android versions.

Yes, I've read and understand the way Android starts/keeps things in the background. My question was related to why some non-related apps seems to start (as you also answered and I'll take a look into that).

The "problem" I have with this preloading of apps (and non-related apps more than the ones I'm using) is that it slows down my phone too much.
This is seen while going from sleep (display off) were it takes too long to activate. If I kill all the non-related apps I'm back to normal and very good response from the phone.

Thank you for pointing out SMS Manager. It wasn't available so I took the pro version instead - but the small screen on this phone prevents me from using it.

I'm looking forward to see Android 2.1/2.2 on this and then I'll probably start develop my own apps.

 

[Requiem87]

It seems to me that "background data" should not be needed nor asked for as long as I'm on WiFi connection (and actively disables mobile data channels).

I am not completely sure about this point, but I believe that background data also applies to data sent over WiFi, so that would explain why it is required for the market.
When it comes to speed, I also noticed you mentioned slowdowns, especially when i had app killers installed, but now I have stopped using app killers, and the phone is operating smoothly.

Also, if you want to manage Data consumption on the phone, check out Juice defender for automatically disabling gprs and wifi while the screen is off, and APNdroid to just have a toggle widget to rurn gprs on or off.

 

[MiniDroid]

The reason for trying appkiller was because of slowdowns.
I try to keep most used apps running as Android prefer, and kill the non-related ones, and so far it seems to work. Just a drawback to keep killing those apps.

I turn WiFi on/off manually when needed, so far only using it to access Market (not using the phone for mail/social media)
And the same with mobile nettwork data traffic.

You don't need a seperate app to enable/disable that.
Just add the "Data traffic" widget on the home screen, it toggles data on/off for you.
(At least I think it comes with the phone, got a sudden feeling I might be wrong on that one)