Do taskillers even work?

[joshteran]

Do taskillers actually do anything? I often wonder about this because I will "kill" virtually all currently running apps, then I will open let's say one or two applications, and then all of a sudden nearly all the apps I had just closed are up and running again. What's to blame for that?

Also, does "killing" apps free up memory and improve speed and performance, or is it just an exercise in futility?

 

[pwabbit]

They are good only for misbehaving applications. When your phone's battery is rapidly discharging, the offending program needs to be terminated. Thats when taskillers are helpful. Otherwise they are really not needed.

 

[cranky_dan]

Josh, there are a large number of threads here that can let you make that decision for yourself. And I'm not gonna post the threads, 'cause I know you can find 'em.

I'm from the "they don't do anything for me" school. I have used them, and I don't now. And I do not notice any difference. ANY. No change in battery life, or how fast the phone 'feels.' No change at all.

I came to this decision by finding threads that had some important info from some knowledgable people.

Good luck!
Dan

 

[joshteran]

Dan,

I've read a few of those threads as well and all the technical lingo just flew through one ear and out the other for me. Yet I have been hearing a few things about "cache". Is it true that if you clear the cache that it speeds up the phone?

BTW, if you clear cache, does that also clear all browser history? Because I have an app called "home" and it automatically clears the cache. Does that mean that it speeds up my phone?

 

[kabbie_mcfeely]

Clearing cache will not delete browser history. You have to do that in the browser seetttings.

Clearing cache will speed up and reduce lag on your device. I don't know how or why I just know it works for me and others that have done it.

 

[cranky_dan]

I'm an old Palm user, and because of that I'm used to carefully managing my resources. When you have 8mb user memory, you *really* learn to watch how it's used.

I have to say that cache-clearing/task-killer-using has not made a bit of difference in the response of my phone.

But, that's me. I can respect that others have a different experience.

Try it yourself, with and without. And let us know. I'm curious, too.

Dan

 

[hrbib21]

Using ATM does, in fact, make my system more lag free/run more smoothly. Closing apps/programs on any computer would do the same.

There are some apps that are embedded within the the Android system that always restart after close such as, but no limited to, Peep, IM, Stocks, Footprints, and Gmail storage.

 

[Mercutio]

Determining whether or not one benefits from ATK or similar programs requires trivial quantities of effort.

 

[(G)]

I ran ATK on my Droid for its first 2 weeks, then read a thread here (something like "The truth about Task Killers") and decided, for the heck of it, to uninstall ATK about a week ago.

I've noticed that, at the end of "typical" days, I have more battery left WITHOUT ATK loaded than I did when it was running.

 

[homemadehitshow]

I ran ATK on my Droid for its first 2 weeks, then read a thread here (something like "The truth about Task Killers") and decided, for the heck of it, to uninstall ATK about a week ago.

I've noticed that, at the end of "typical" days, I have more battery left WITHOUT ATK loaded than I did when it was running.

+1 exactly my findings also. I also had numerous random, minor, phone problems (locking up, sound loss, disappearing icons) that all stopped once I removed ATK>