Task killers

[lrboylin]

I want to post my feelings on task killers
I do know that some people are for, some say they dont make a difference and some say that they will do more harm than good.
So i thought i would try the following:
ATK
Taskiller
Free Advanced Task killer
Task killer
Process Killer (made by easyfilter)
and there are a few others that i have looked at, also tried without task killers.
what did i find?
They start off OK, as long as you set to kill the right services and apps, but after a week or so the phone would become sluggish, but it did improve battery life as i tried without and the battery would only last just over a day, whereas with a task killer, i could get through at least 2 days but as stated before the phone would lag
So at the moment i am trying Process Killer (made by easyfilter) as i have been using there call filter app and touch wood, it is a brilliant task killer, phone does not lag when using it, in fact the phone runs smoother and quicker than without, battery is now into 2 days from medium use and it is still on 75% as we speak!!
So to the people that say you dont need them, if Linux manages it own memory then why does it start to get slow even without a task killer and a restart of the phone is required? I have not had to restart my phone for 10 days now, it also has not re-booted itself.
The widget is good as well, it turns red if it it using to much memory so one click and it turns back green.
So to all the people that are unsure give this app ago, you will notice a improvement in your phone and best of all its FREE!!

 

[Szadzik]

To be honest I do not see ny difference between task killers and doubt there are those that kill apps in a better way than others and your post looks more like an advertisement to me than anything else.

In general I would not say people need task killers, unless they are having problems with some apps. Task killers are not by any means a necessity. Not to mention that auto-killing is not a good thing and will ALWAYS lead to problems plus it cannot be done at all in FroYo, which is great (no one will break there phone by doing that like you are doing).

As for battery life - do you really not sleep? I do and thus whether my phone lasts a day or two does not make any difference because I just put it into a docking station and it simply charges. Is that something you are having porblmes with?

 

[Stealthman]

My phone performs better and I get much better battery life using ATK

 

[lrboylin]

To be honest I do not see ny difference between task killers and doubt there are those that kill apps in a better way than others and your post looks more like an advertisement to me than anything else.

In general I would not say people need task killers, unless they are having problems with some apps. Task killers are not by any means a necessity. Not to mention that auto-killing is not a good thing and will ALWAYS lead to problems plus it cannot be done at all in FroYo, which is great (no one will break there phone by doing that like you are doing).

As for battery life - do you really not sleep? I do and thus whether my phone lasts a day or two does not make any difference because I just put it into a docking station and it simply charges. Is that something you are having porblmes with?

Yes i do sleep but if you read what i was trying to say (RTFQ) is that i have tried without task killers and with, and i have found that my phone lasts longer with
I also have a I*h*ne, and find that comparing the phones that A**le manages its memory alot better than the android (i went with android as i was hoping that it would be better but its poor compared to A**ple)
It is not an advertisment just a recommendation to which i found better, just like any other forum when people ask for the best apps to do certain things
I have Linux installed on a test laptop and that manages it memory better than on a mobile phone.
As for Froyo, v**daph+*ne have stopped updating to 2.2 (dont worry if you think that i am advertising again, so i have blanked the name out!!) as they found issues with it, (btw i am on t-m**ile)
Why should i have to keep my phone on charge every night, i dont have to do this with the I*hone? I ran them side by side using the same amount of apps, web surfing emails etc.. the i*hone lasted twice as long.
When i first had my HTC device it would lag and that was before i installed any apps, i have friends who have had the same issue with different HTC / android devices, so it does not look like a phone issue but a programming issue with android.
So after trying different task killers i found the one that i think that works for me, and dont worry that if you think that i am damaging my phone, i have the I*hone as a backup + i will leave the damaging of the phone to the android programmers!!
Also if it manages its memory without tk's then why, as i asked before, did my phone re-boot itself at least once a day, also sometimes during calls!
and no i have not installed any different apps since i installed the above tk, also when it was starting to get slow and i would do a manual re-boot, this would be done once or twice a week, but since i have installed the above TK, it has been running for 10 days and not once has it re-booted or me having to a manual restart!?!

 

[Szadzik]

If it is working for you, no problem, no need to get angry.

I was just tryin to make sure that when a new user comes in here they will not just jump to a conclusion that a tk is a necessity on the basis of your post, because it is not.

I do not see why you kept the phone if you prefer the other one.
Another thing is that you are comparing a lowwest level Wildfire with the other phpone which is considered hi-spec and all. Get a proper Android device that is up to date hardware-wise and compare then.

 

[lrboylin]

If it is working for you, no problem, no need to get angry.

I was just tryin to make sure that when a new user comes in here they will not just jump to a conclusion that a tk is a necessity on the basis of your post, because it is not.

I do not see why you kept the phone if you prefer the other one.
Another thing is that you are comparing a lowwest level Wildfire with the other phpone which is considered hi-spec and all. Get a proper Android device that is up to date hardware-wise and compare then.

when i did my test i borrowed a Desire and Legend, was going to test it against a Nexus but my friend dropped it on the floor and never recovered!! (are these not high-spec) from a couple of friends, so i compared that along with my wildfire, and the I*hone came out on top for performance, ease of use, battery speed etc...
1. I*hone
2. Desire
3. Legend
4. Wildfire
These tests were done before i tried them with a TK installed
After that test i installed a TK i found they came quite close to the I*hone, in terms of performance, battery, speed etc...the speed improved on all of them, battery improved on all of them
the only reason i have kept it is because it is on a 24 month contract and i purchased PAYG I*hone after
I am not getting angry just stating that people sometimes get confused reading forums shall i use a TK or not and i have found it better with.

 

[takeshi]

These "tests" really don't mean anything as the people performing them don't know enough about Android to even begin to truly understand cause-and-effect. If you're phone's lagging then you need to find the offending app and deal with it. A task killer only addresses symptoms and not the actual issue. You can post whatever thoughts you want but this was a well-beaten dead horse long ago.

So to the people that say you dont need them, if Linux manages it own memory then why does it start to get slow even without a task killer and a restart of the phone is required? I have not had to restart my phone for 10 days now, it also has not re-booted itself.

Why do I not have to restart, not deal with lag and not deal with reboots all without using a task killer?

You get poor performance due to CPU utilization, not due to how Android manages its memory. Get an app like Watchdog to determine what's bogging down your CPU and deal with the issue directly.

 

[No_u]

Irboylin, most people on these forums are Android fanatics, they know what they're talking about. Task killers did work, but only on older devices with android 1.5/1.6 and a low CPU speed. Nowadays 2.1 and 2.2 phones are beast and actually get sluggish while having a task killer used.

 

[lrboylin]

These "tests" really don't mean anything as the people performing them don't know enough about Android to even begin to truly understand cause-and-effect. If you're phone's lagging then you need to find the offending app and deal with it. A task killer only addresses symptoms and not the actual issue. You can post whatever thoughts you want but this was a well-beaten dead horse long ago.


Why do I not have to restart, not deal with lag and not deal with reboots all without using a task killer?

You get poor performance due to CPU utilization, not due to how Android manages its memory. Get an app like Watchdog to determine what's bogging down your CPU and deal with the issue directly.

I have watchdog installed, it was the second app i installed and it picked up no issues but its a good app
Also i know about Linux operating systems as i am an IT network administrator and have been using Linux for years
As stated before the phone was restarting by itself BEFORE i had even installed 1 app!
Now i dont get any issues

Irboylin, most people on these forums are Android fanatics, they know what they're talking about. Task killers did work, but only on older devices with android 1.5/1.6 and a low CPU speed. Nowadays 2.1 and 2.2 phones are beast and actually get sluggish while having a task killer used.

as stated above i know what i am doing with Linux system, (is that not what android is!?!)
also the phones i tested all ran on 2.1 but a friend of mine has 1.6 installed and it runs more smoother he has no issues with his (so far) and he has not got a TK on his

 

[grainysand]

Here we go again. Care to search the forum with the keyword "task killer" next time? There's like a gazillion threads dedicated to the subject.

FYI, I personally see better battery life and performance without task killers. My phone's never rebooted spontaneously, either.

 

[BookLover]

My phone did reboot itself once...It was when I had Battery Booster installed. I didn't put 2-and-2 together then...But I uninstalled BB after I read the article about TKs not being necessary...and my Captivate has not self-booted since. But it was n=1, so not sure if BB was the actual cause of the self-boot.

 

[lunatic59]

It's always the same old song, isn't it? "I don't care what anybody says, all I know is i get better battery life/performance/free memory/good Karma from using Task Killer Du Jour 1.5." And yet, nobody is ever able to explain exactly why. The inference is always there are unnecessary apps sucking the life out of the phone, but you'd think by now those could be easily identified. If you are really interested in getting to the bottom of this, post the following data:

• Phone models and carriers (including plans, or lack thereof)
• Android build version
• Charge time
• Discharge time under light, medium and heavy use, with and without the use of a TK
• Apps installed
• Apps running after restart
• Apps regularly used
• Apps being killed
• Any force quits or data errors
• Which antennas on or off (Radio/WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS)
• Environmental conditions

Then we can talk.

As stated before the phone was restarting by itself BEFORE i had even installed 1 app!

The Wildfire has SenseUI and whatever carrier apps T-mobile throws on their subsidized devices, so you had plenty of apps prior to you installing any.

 

[gallandof]

I believe android isn't linux but is based on it similar to ios and such. I cant remember where I heard this and I may be off here.

and alot of this all comes down to the individual devices etc. if YOU find better use of your device with a task killer installed then by all means use it for your device. ive noticed adverse effects so I will not use one simple as that. I will explain to people that they arent necessary, as so many people think they are, but for certain phones they may help.

 

[beardy]

im glad ididnt start a new post asking bout this coz theres sooooo about this many i think i would have bin shot!!! lol

Ive got a wildfire on froyo 2.2 and have bin using Advanced Task killer and havent noticed any adverse reactions in doin so, altho after reading this post im going to try Watchdog and see which 1 works best for me.

As people say its all down to personal preference, i am by no means an expert on this but appreciate other peoples opinions and try different things out to find which 1 suits ME.

I will give watchdog a few days use and will post MY findins on here to help other people decide which may be of use to them.

 

[lrboylin]

Just updating this thread
When i wrote this i was on 2.1 but since update to 2.2 (anyone know when 2.3 is going to be on wildfire, t-mobile?) I removed the task killers and noticed a improvement in the phone, so 2.2 does not require task killers, the only apps i have on there to control apps are watchdog lite and fast reboot (use this if the phone does start getting sluggish, but only now and again)
So i can now say that i was wrong about tk's and that they are not required but it is up to yourselves if you want to try them.

 

[Roze]

Just updating this thread
When i wrote this i was on 2.1 but since update to 2.2 (anyone know when 2.3 is going to be on wildfire, t-mobile?) I removed the task killers and noticed a improvement in the phone, so 2.2 does not require task killers, the only apps i have on there to control apps are watchdog lite and fast reboot (use this if the phone does start getting sluggish, but only now and again)
So i can now say that i was wrong about tk's and that they are not required but it is up to yourselves if you want to try them.

That's great to hear that you've seen the light Really, with the new phones, there's no need for you to have a task killer. Also, 2.2 has its own task manager so if you do have that annoying/persistent app that you simply MUST kill because it won't end, you can do it stock.

 

[lrboylin]

yes, we can all have the right to change our minds about things, thanks
3 days NOT using a tk and medium use of the phone, checking FB and twitter, texts etc and after 8-10 hours use, my phone is on 85% still. whereas same use WITH a tk it would be on about 60%
So my advice now to users is NOT to use tk's

 

[Roze]

yes, we can all have the right to change our minds about things, thanks
3 days NOT using a tk and medium use of the phone, checking FB and twitter, texts etc and after 8-10 hours use, my phone is on 85% still. whereas same use WITH a tk it would be on about 60%
So my advice now to users is NOT to use tk's

haha, wow, that definitely is an improvement in battery life. You're a no TK advocate now, lol.

 

[lrboylin]

haha, wow, that definitely is an improvement in battery life. You're a no TK advocate now, lol.

yep you got that right!!!
yes used the phone the same as before and battery life has improved brilliantly
Also phone is no longer sluggish (if it does get sluggish I either restart the phone or use fast reboot and that sorts that out, this i would say i might do maybe once a month, if that)
Just hope that other users take notice, like i did and changed my mind
you will notice an improvement in the phone, as they don't save any battery life, just look at the difference of my phone
remember that a tk is always running in the background using battery power and yes they close apps for example when the screen goes off or after a certain amount of time but certain apps always start back up again, using more battery power than you are trying to save.