To all the skeptics who use task killers...

[Joehunni]

First of all, let me start off by saying that 3 months ago when I first got the hero I knew nothing at all about android. I got the hero at best buy and was told about how you have to use a task killer to close all the programs in the background to save battery life. The saleswoman downloaded atk while I was there and instructed me to use it religiously. Now I'm kinda ocd and will say that I never put the phone down without using a "kill all". I've been following the great debate over task killers and figured I'd just see for myself. What I did was delete my taskiller and the did a battery pull and used the phone normally since then. Now I watch spare parts anyways for battery drains and I keep an eye on my up/awake times as well to make sure the phone is sleeping properly when not in use, which is has been. I don't even close out footprints for those reporting problems with it, also i reboot my phone daily. Needless to say, I have about a billion tasks running at all times including 2 different browsers. That being said, if there has been any extra battery drain because of leaving all tasks running then it is small enough that I cant tell, keep in mind ive used task killers since day one of my ownership yet see no difference.

 

[Joehunni]

Also on a maybe unrelated note, I was using launcherpro for the longest time which used to run way smoother than sense, now I'm using sense again which is rediculously smooth now for some reason. also im running stock sprint 2.1 release without the most recent software update as I intent to root/rom soon.

 

[dmm5157]

Maybe so, but what's nice about not closing those tasks is how much faster apps open, which is really where the battery savings come in.



I've been using System Panel, mainly for monitoring my CPU usage shows a summary of what apps are using your CPU, how much and for how long. Also tracks battery usage over time and what apps are using it the most. I also use it to force close things that are running in the foreground if I need to, usually before I run graphically intensive games.

 

[Joehunni]

Oh yeah I fully agree, I was just saying this because there were a lot of people saying that any open app must be using battery life even if its running in the background. I also have system panel though mine is the free version without the battery monitoring goodies.

 

[hood420]

FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android Geek For Me – Sprint Evo 4g & CDMA Hero

 

[Joehunni]

Precisely.

 

[Sixxx]

I've been using the Task Killer, But i recently got the startup auditor which allows me to stop apps/processes that i never use. I'm probably going to uninstall the task killer now that i don't have to go in and kill some things every time i start up my phone, that's mainly what i use it for. Plus i'm bad about hitting the home button instead of using the back button to close an app like i should, so apps that i bring up will be running for days when i'm not even using them.

 

[JB in AZ]

I've been using the Task Killer, But i recently got the startup auditor which allows me to stop apps/processes that i never use. I'm probably going to uninstall the task killer now that i don't have to go in and kill some things every time i start up my phone, that's mainly what i use it for. Plus i'm bad about hitting the home button instead of using the back button to close an app like i should, so apps that i bring up will be running for days when i'm not even using them.

Based on you comment, I went to the market and read the comments about Startup Auditor. The reviews are mixed, some say it is good, others say it doesn't work on Hero 2.1, or that it won't display the menu...others say it causes lag, or the apps start running again. Hopefully your results are better. I considered it, but I think I will pass. Thanks for the suggestion, however...this is how we find out about apps others are using that we might benefit from.

 

[Joehunni]

sounds good, I'll probably try it out myself, though in theory android will close apps you haven't come back to in awhile.

 

[KitsapAndroid]

ATK works best for closing "rogue" apps that won't behave properly. That's really all you need it for. I used it a lot when I first got my Hero. Then I read the article that is posted above and quit using it. My phone performs so much better since I stopped using the ATK.

 

[Joehunni]

yup same here, I started using launcherpro to help cope with the lag and once I did some research and uninstalled taskiller alltogether I went back to using sense ui which now works flawlessly.

 

[Sixxx]

The startup auditor works great for me. However, I will note that you shouldn't use it to stop your camera from starting. I use Camera Zoom FX or whatever it is, and i figured there was no reason for my regular camera to be active since i use that one. But when i startup my barcode scanner it says it can't activate the camera. Didn't think about that beforehand lol. So i had to reactivate it in the startup auditor and reboot the phone. Oops.

 

[vesperaNovus]

Based on you comment, I went to the market and read the comments about Startup Auditor. The reviews are mixed, some say it is good, others say it doesn't work on Hero 2.1, or that it won't display the menu...others say it causes lag, or the apps start running again. Hopefully your results are better. I considered it, but I think I will pass. Thanks for the suggestion, however...this is how we find out about apps others are using that we might benefit from.

Hi JB, Startup Auditor can be tricky to use - you need to know how to use it. With the Hero I can bet you that the comments regarding the menu display or lag are people who have Sense UI "Disabled". Sometimes people don't make the connection that if you disable your User Interface, your User Interface will lag =)

In any case, I'd like to let you know that I just released a free version on Startup Auditor. Check it out if you'd like.

Search for Startup Auditor Free.

 

[JB in AZ]

Hi JB, Startup Auditor can be tricky to use - you need to know how to use it. With the Hero I can bet you that the comments regarding the menu display or lag are people who have Sense UI "Disabled". Sometimes people don't make the connection that if you disable your User Interface, your User Interface will lag =)

In any case, I'd like to let you know that I just released a free version on Startup Auditor. Check it out if you'd like.

Search for Startup Auditor Free.

I'll have a look, and let you know, thanks.

 

[joseamirandavelez]

I stopped using task killers about 4 days ago... I didnt know I was loosing my time killing tasks... I have not felt any lag at all...

 

[Joehunni]

Yeah everything is much faster when it doesn't have to restart from scratch due to being killed.

 

[aceofspades626]

ATK works best for closing "rogue" apps that won't behave properly. That's really all you need it for. I used it a lot when I first got my Hero. Then I read the article that is posted above and quit using it. My phone performs so much better since I stopped using the ATK.

Once in a while, it's great to have ATK for when something using GPS decides not to close, or when I don't feel like hitting the back button 18 times to close the browser.
But ONLY for those occasional "rogue" apps.
Then tell ATK to kill itself.
That XDA article changed my android life.

 

[Cuso]

I used ATK when I got my phone new. Rooted to Fresh and did not even installed it. I did some tweaking to the radio and now my battery is much decent.

 

[MutantCheese]

Just ditched my task killer. I will tell you that loading commonly used programs are much faster now that I'm not always killing them. They don't have to reload each and every time I access them. Thanks.

 

[Shady Pete]

Just ditched my task killer. I will tell you that loading commonly used programs are much faster now that I'm not always killing them. They don't have to reload each and every time I access them. Thanks.

Commonly used programs can be set to be ignored by most task killers.

On the note of not needing task killers, if they are useless then why have so many devs created them (for free)? Obviously a large number of people with more programing knowledge than myself think they are necessary. Btw, blackberries have the same problem.

 

[MutantCheese]

I don't think there is a deeper understanding of the way Android/linux works by the general public. We have all gotten used to having TK on our windows/other OS based phones so we think they are necessary on android as well. I think that developers make them because people demand then. Free or not, a developer wants to get noticed so he gives the people what they want....Just my opinion.

 

[Joehunni]

If you truly swear by your task killers effectiveness, then delete it, pull the battery, and go a week without using it. See what you think about it then.

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

 

[Hoos]

With 2.1 (stock anyway - don't know about other ROMs), just click Menu | Settings | Applications | Running Services.

Stop the apps there, if you feel the need.

With 1.5, I did use ATK because this feature wasn't available in 1.5 (AFAIK). And there were a couple of things that would start up (Sprint Nav, for one) that would cause lags. Being able to stop that made the Hero experience better.

But you don't need a task killer with 2.1.

 

[tazcollins]

We got our Heros Jan. 1 and immediatly installed the taskiller. That drove me nuttier using it all the time. I just happened to come across this forum by accident and registered. After reading what the android intellegent folks had to say, we uninstalled it. For the last five months I have truly enjoyed just using my Hero and letting it manage itself. And it must do a pretty good job at it because it runs great. Just an occasional reboot when it starts getting sluggish or something like a computer does. Also a friend of mine just got her Evo at Sprint and what's the first thing the sales person did? Install the taskiller! TC

 

[Sixxx]

I don't use my task killer regularly but i still have it. I don't like the fact that my voice dialer will stay on, among other apps that i have never, and will never, use.