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here is why I use a task killer

makewayhomer

Android Enthusiast
May 1, 2010
265
12
1:10pm today, sitting in my office. I note my DINC has 48% battery left.
3:15pm today, still sitting in my office. have literally not touched my phone since 1:10pm, but I'm down to 31% battery.

3:16pm: I use ATK to kill all running tasks. running was all generic stuff, internet, facebook, peep, etc...nothing exotic at all

5:10pm: I am currently at 27% battery

so just over 2 hours with tasks running only in background = 17% battery gone

just under 2 hours with nothing running at all = 4% battery used
 
And watch your batter life go down when you need the processors to reopen all the closed programs. Android is linux based, it will only run the apps in the background it needs.

That being said, the battery is also ALOT more resilient in the last quartile, least resilient in the first.

I can go around 4 hours without use and drop like 5-7%, no task killer whatsoever
 
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I tried not using a task killer and my battery lasted 4 hours with my normal usage... with task killer and my normal usage I am at:

76%
Up Time: 7:22:00
Awake Time: 1:36:00

Without a task killer my uptime and awake time would be identical and I would have to charge 2-3x a day.

3G only... fairly heavy texting (30+), facebook, twitter, weather, 3 calls of about 10 mins each, some surfing and 4 email accounts including my work exchange email.

I turn my phone off every night to charge, so any negative effects of a TK are wiped out each night...
 
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So, which app was the culprit?

Another solution is to not use the offending app. ;)

I don't know, but if I had to guess - and it'd strictly a guess - it's a webpage that constantly refreshes itself.

is there a way to stop this without using a task killer?

everyone says "android stops running tasks" but in my experience, if I am on a website that refreshes itself, and exit it, if I come back say 1 hour later I will find that it has been refreshing itself the entire time
 
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I'd be curious to see what was actually running or keeping the phone awake.

IMO, it would be a much more definitive of why the battery was draining so quickly.
Exactly. It isn't so much that the task killer is helping the battery more than the apps that you're running are hurting the battery.
 
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Instead of ATK to kill 'em all, get System Panel and figure out which app is not going to sleep. ATK is just masking the real problem, especially if up time and awake time are the same.

Not to pick on the OP, but I really think that this falls on deaf ears mostly. VZW support is still recommending ATK as a solution to any battery complaints.
 
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Use Dolphin browser and back out of it. It will exit out.

Otherwise, stop using websites that refresh constantly in the background.

I used Dolphin for a while, but I got tired of all the force closes, I also I like the simplicity of the stock browser better

the problem is that the website I use more than any other - a fantasy baseball live scoring website - is the culprit, I think anyways
 
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Instead of ATK to kill 'em all, get System Panel and figure out which app is not going to sleep. ATK is just masking the real problem, especially if up time and awake time are the same.

Not to pick on the OP, but I really think that this falls on deaf ears mostly. VZW support is still recommending ATK as a solution to any battery complaints.

+1 on that...it sounds like you have app that isn't sleeping correctly.

You will almost certainly get better performance AND battery life by just fixing (or killing) the leaking program (ie find a different app to do it, or play with the settings).
 
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+1 on that...it sounds like you have app that isn't sleeping correctly.

You will almost certainly get better performance AND battery life by just fixing (or killing) the leaking program (ie find a different app to do it, or play with the settings).
Yeah, sounds like 1 or 2 apps are killing your battery. I have never used a task killer and I can get a full days worth of usage on moderate use. I have made sure that there is no app that keeps my phone constantly awake and have set my sync intervals to reasonable amounts (typically 1 hour to 3 hours depending on the app; Twitter/Facebook is an hour whereas the weather widget is 3)

Edit: Heres an interesting read from the Evo forums. I encourage you to give it a look and see if it doesn't change your mind.
http://androidforums.com/tips-tricks-evo-4g/85554-task-killers-must-read-new-android-users.html
 
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man, I am torn between resetting my phone completely and starting over, making sure to not install any wonky apps, but really I only have a handful

I think the culprit is just that I frequently use 1 website that refreshes itself, and I need to find a way to shut that down
It wouldn't be the website unless you have the browser on your screen at all times.
 
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Android is linux based, it will only run the apps in the background it needs.

No, it will only run apps when the apps think they need to be run. If you have a poorly programmed app, it can continue to run in the background, even if you're not using it. Try installing some of the applications here and running them in the background and telling me Android won't let programs run in the background without draining the battery.

My suggestion to the OP is to try and figure out which app is draining the battery.
 
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I have a task killer but only use it if a program is acting up.
I'm on a Seidio 1750 today havent' used my task killer once and am at 49%
with
9hrs 15min Up Time and 4hrs 40min awake time.

So I dont' know , I use to use a Task Killer all the time with my Eris because it was laggy and my battery life was always horrendus. I honestly think that Taskillers will use more battery then if you just let Android OS do it's thing
 
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It wouldn't be the website unless you have the browser on your screen at all times.

I will test this tonight, but I'm 90% sure it refreshes itself even if it is running in the background

I can tell b/c when I open the site, hit the Home key to go do something else, then come back to the site 45 minutes later or w/e, it doesn't need to 'refresh', it instantly has all the up to the minute info on it already without going through a full page reload

but I will confirm tonight
 
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I will test this tonight, but I'm 90% sure it refreshes itself even if it is running in the background

I can tell b/c when I open the site, hit the Home key to go do something else, then come back to the site 45 minutes later or w/e, it doesn't need to 'refresh', it instantly has all the up to the minute info on it already without going through a full page reload

but I will confirm tonight
And "backing out" of the browser will stop that from happening.
... though I'd think a webpage would have to do an awful lot of refreshing to to drain the battery. How often is the refresh on that site? And is the page large?
 
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I know this a total hijack but it goes along with the topic somewhat. I have the EVO battery and usually get a full day out of it (without a task killer to be ot!). The past two days have been temps in the 100's weather wise and I have noticed that my battery dies incredibly fast. Is it logical to assume it is because the hot weather? Because my phone has been really hot if I am outside.

Back on topic, I have really seen no need for a task killer, the only time I see lag is when the phone is loading from being off or an app is updating/installing. This phone is FAST!
 
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I agree with you here. I use a task killer after using the phone for 3-4 days to close out apps that I'm clearly not using at the moment and some of which seem to be actively updating themselves. Yes it makes sense not to close apps that automatically restart themselves but it definitely does make sense to close others. I had the same issue, found my battery just getting MURDERED and dead after unplugged for 5 hours with GPS, Bluetooth, and Wifi off. Opened up ATK, closed a whole slew of apps that have no benefit for being in the background, boom, battery life back to lasting over a day.
 
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I have ATK and Syspanel but don't use them. I charge over night. Unplug when I get out of bed and get ready for work. By the time I get in my car I'm at 90% and I plug back in. Get to work 30min later and I'm back at 100%. I have wifi on 100% of the time and have wifi routers at work and at home. After 9 hours at work I'm still at 65% battery. I have all my updates set to 1 hour and I maybe make 5 calls while at work and 10-20 GV text messages. By the time I go to bed and plug in my phone around midnight i'm at 30%. So on average after 16 hours I use 70%. The longest I have seen is 36 hours but I hardly used it that day as a test. Battery seems fine for my needs and I'm on the stock battery.
 
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