ATK vs NO ATK?

[Syv3n]

Ok so I hear that ATK tends to burn battery life...Does this tend to burn more battery life than letting all those apps run in the background?

Can I get the pros and cons of having ATK vs Not having ATK?

 

[hrbib21]

I can tell you what I've experienced using ATK: Noticeably better battery life vs. when I had no task killer at all. Pretty much everything continues to run in the background after you use it so I don't know. All I know is it works for my phone.

 

[JRJ]

I have been using ATK full version and it seems to work for me as far as saving battery life goes but I have also changed some of the sync settings and network setting. Yesterday my Eris went 7 hours with moderate use(texting, google talk, a couple of calls,facebook and email) before the battery icon even moved showing that I had 90% battery left.

 

[armedmonkey]

JRJ it might be helpful to others (and me ) if you listed some of the settings you changed.

 

[willdogs]

I haven't had a need for ATK since upgrading to the 2.1 leaks, and even less of a reason now that I am Rooted.

ATK was awesome for 1.5, but then I found that I no longer had a need.

My phone is fast and lasts almost 2 full days on one charge.

 

[armedmonkey]

2.1 leaks?

 

[Hypo Luxa]

This tends to be a somewhat religious topic around here..

http://androidforums.com/htc-droid-eris/42114-yes-you-need-task-killer-app-eris-period.html

Bottom line is, you don't NEED one because 2.1 pretty much has a built in one, but some folks feel better about having one. Personal preference.

 

[armedmonkey]

Gotcha . I think I'm gonna dump ATK then. Do you know a good one I can keep around just for when an app freezes or something?

 

[Hypo Luxa]

Personally, I have a link on my desktop to the one already in the OS. It actually works quite well.

Just long press on the screen, select Shortcut, Settings, Running Services. That will provide you a link directly to the built in one and you don't need to worry about a TK possibly killing your battery.

 

[snorander]

I got rid of ATK after the OTA to 2.1 and I have no problems. I especially like not checking the ATK all the time to see what is running LOL, I just leave the phone alone and let it do it's thing. Works great for me!

 

[Hypo Luxa]

I do like to kill Pandora when I'm done listening to it. It stays open for a little while after and it eats battery like the cookie monster in the Toll House factory!

 

[OfTheDamned]

I do like to kill Pandora when I'm done listening to it. It stays open for a little while after and it eats battery like the cookie monster in the Toll House factory!

Menu > Quit will turn it off when you are done with Pandora.

 

[Hypo Luxa]

Menu > Quit will turn it off when you are done with Pandora.

DOH! I never thought to try and exit any app that way... no sure why, but it never really crossed my mind.. thanks OTD!

 

[OfTheDamned]

DOH! I never thought to try and exit any app that way... no sure why, but it never really crossed my mind.. thanks OTD!

LOL, my pleasure. I think a lot of people miss that in apps.

Exiting an app the proper way is one of the best ways to save battery life. Backing out works for most, but the exit option (which should really be in every app) is the best.

 

[Hypo Luxa]

It's definitely easy to overlook! I usually just back out or Menu out. Going to start looking for that Exit from now on!

 

[JRJ]

JRJ it might be helpful to others (and me ) if you listed some of the settings you changed.

If I remember right I turned off the enable always on mobile and changed the sync intrevals to the longest possible time, Plus I stopped using the clock/weather widget from sense and turned off the weather sync. Before I changed the settings I noticed the sync icon would be on in the status bar a lot because things were not connecting so the phone would keep trying to connect and that was killing the battery. For the most part I am always in an area with around -74dbm signal so it made no sense to me that the phone could not sync quikly. Sorry I don't remeber everything I changed at the time and I have since moved on to the DroidX.

 

[funkyfender]

Here's my take: ATK is useful for dealing with troublesome applications. Every now and again I'll set something the freezes up or causes trouble in one way or another (usually my fault).

(I do use Autokiller killer quite a bit. It's a different type of task killer though. It just changes when the Android system clears up some memory.)

 

[jjchambers]

(I do use Autokiller killer quite a bit. It's a different type of task killer though. It just changes when the Android system clears up some memory.)

Can you explain this one a bit more? I don't have access to my phone right now to go look it up in the market (I'm assuming it's available there)

Thanks,

J

 

[W4LLY]

I read an Andronica article that said that even google dismisses task killers and says they actualy prevent the phone from running how it should be, and any positive effects are just placebo.

I agree, and have not touched a Task Killer in 8 months... (feel like I'm an at an AA meeting).

 

[cmajpwc]

In my experience, it really depended in which apps I had installed. Some were buggy and constantly ran in the background when I wasn't using them, therefore draining my battery life. Others automatically closed when I stopped using them. Hitting the "back" instead of "home" when I was done with an app also helped.

In other words, I really never NEEDED a task killer, although I did have one installed on my phone in case an app was being stubborn.

I found it funny though, when I went into Verizon to get my Reality, I was talking about my Eris with the rep there, and he swore you needed a task killer or else it would run horrible. I showed him my Eris, how fast it ran, and I told him how good my battery life was, and it was fun to watch him think of what to say, because I wasn't running ANY task killer at the time. Lol.

 

[funkyfender]

Can you explain this one a bit more? I don't have access to my phone right now to go look it up in the market (I'm assuming it's available there)

Thanks,

J

Basically, the Android OS has a preset threshold of when to start killing tasks in the background. Autokiller tweaks that.

AutoKiller minfree manager, will make your phone fly again - xda-developers

 

[OfTheDamned]

Looks like Google doesn't want people using them.

Froyo update kills Android task killer apps | andrew | Androinica

Google and Cyanogen comments imply task killer/manager apps are pointless | andrew | Androinica

I certainly wouldn't pay money for one.

 

[cmajpwc]

Looks like Google doesn't want people using them.

Froyo update kills Android task killer apps | andrew | Androinica

Google and Cyanogen comments imply task killer/manager apps are pointless | andrew | Androinica

I certainly wouldn't pay money for one.

This.

 

[smacky]

If you're running a 2.2 ROM, 2.2 and ATKs clash so much, ATKs are pointless.

As for 2.1 and 1.5, I found it helped me on my Eris. It seemed the Eris needs it but my other phones afterwards, the Droid included, didn't need ATK because they were faster and could handle it. The Eris and similar phones need a little help from ATK and I thought it did work.

Go to ATK's settings (make sure you're using ReChild's ATK) and go to Security level and set it to low. Next, go to the list of processes running on ATK and I select all the processes, save for anything that needs to be synced, like GMail and Email and Facebook and Weatherbug. I uncheck those. The rest can be killed and I have no problem with them.

Put the ATK widget on the home screen and tap it every so often. You should free up 70+ MB of memory every time.

Again, if you're on 2.2, 2.2 and ATKs are pointless.