Task Killers - The good, the bad and the ugly

[Syv3n]

I noticed that you are anti task killers? Can you tell me why they are bad in your mind? How does killing things in the background not help you phone run smoother and help battery life? I know its your opinion but you seem knowledgable so I would like to hear what you have to say on the matter.

 

[cevMkV]

isn't this something that could have been solved using a PM? i mean how many topics do we have to start that cover, task managers, task killers, battery life, how bad the eris sucks...

/rant

 

[OfTheDamned]

Wow! Ok, for a second I thought this was going to be a rebirth of another thread.

I wouldn't actually say that I am Anti-Task Killer, I just think that there is a misconception about them. I do have a problem with the fact that people are being told that they have to have one when the reality is that they really aren't needed.

Most of us are Windows users and we have had it beaten into our heads that anything running draws memory and power away from the CPU, RAM and battery. This is pretty accurate for a Windows device (many other devices too), but Android is Linux based and Linux is designed to run differently. It is designed to manage memory on its own with no outside intervention necessary. When everything is running right, the phone knows what to have running in the foreground and what to have running in the background or just idle. It will actually reallocate memory for an app running in the foreground when it is needed. This is the way it is designed to operate and when it functions this way the phone will run smooth with no lag.

When a task killer is brought into the mix and the user starts killing off apps that they don't want running a very negative cycle begins. First the user starts to become a little OCD with checking to make sure apps are not running. This actually burns battery because they are usually waking the phone when it would normally be sleeping. Next the apps that should have just been sitting idle or in the background have to restart themselves which takes more power, CPU and RAM to accomplish. They are usually killed off by the user shortly after that and then just restart again. Then when the user actually wants to start one of these apps that they have killed it again takes up CPU, RAM and power to get it going again. There is also a problem for many where they kill off apps that are needed to make the whole system run right. This starts the phone on a downward spiral and can sometimes lead to people hard resetting their phone when they didn't really need to.

If the phone is left alone and allowed to run as it should people will see that these apps do not take up that much CPU, RAM or battery. Typically people will also see that their lag problems go away and their battery life improves.

Now, with all that said, this only applies to phones that are running properly and that have apps that are running properly. This is one of the reasons that many people say you should not install a bunch of apps all at one time. If a phone starts having problems, the user needs to be able to look at the apps and determine what the problem might be. If they have installed 5 apps on that day then the suspect is a little harder to find.

The best way to keep an Android phone running fast is to let go and let the OS do what it is designed to. The part that people should be managing is the cache on different apps that are installed. Take a look at Settings > Applications > Manage Applications and there is a list of every app installed on the phone. From there hit the menu button and select sort. This will put all the applications in order of size. Take a look at the largest apps installed. Chances are pretty good that they are storing a lot of cache. This will limit the amount of available memory and slow the phone down. Clear the cache on the apps, but leave the data alone. The data is the more long term info stored for the app (bookmarks in the browser for example). Do take a look at the data though. Some apps, like Slacker radio, don't store information in cache and take up data instead. These apps can quickly grow from 1.7 Mb to 9 Mb with use. A lot of the time the only way to get rid of this bloat is to uninstall and reinstall the app. Also, use the back button instead of the home button when exiting an app. This can close apps or at least move them to the background or idle and free up some memory. Other apps will actually give a close option when using the back button or the menu button.

 

[Caddyman]

she plopped a book down on that one...geez

i thought it was gonna be another "iz dat u, ur purty" thread too..

 

[OfTheDamned]

she plopped a book down on that one...geez

i thought it was gonna be another "iz dat u, ur purty" thread too..

Yea, I got a little carried away on that one. I have a bad habit of becoming very long winded. There is a lot to say on the subject though. You should have seen the unedited version.

 

[MrGreen13]

very well said ofthedamned....your explanation cleared a lot of things up for me. I have been using a task killer and to be honest was becoming very ocd with it. Now I won't need to...thanks!

 

[goofdad]

The only thing I use an app-killer for anymore is TV.COM. It's a resource hog, and I noticed when I installed it that I hand lousy battery and my battery continued to drain quickly even after I had stopped watching.

So now, I call up ATK when I'm done and kill both tv.com and ATK ;-). Then all is good until I want to stream TV some more.

 

[OfTheDamned]

very well said ofthedamned....your explanation cleared a lot of things up for me. I have been using a task killer and to be honest was becoming very ocd with it. Now I won't need to...thanks!

Awww, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I am glad it was helpful.

The only thing I use an app-killer for anymore is TV.COM. It's a resource hog, and I noticed when I installed it that I hand lousy battery and my battery continued to drain quickly even after I had stopped watching.

So now, I call up ATK when I'm done and kill both tv.com and ATK ;-). Then all is good until I want to stream TV some more.

I use TV.com too and I have not noticed any issues with it. Are you using the back button to exit the app or hitting the home button? When you hit the back button it asks if you want to exit the app and then it stops running.

 

[ErisDroid?]

WOW!! See you really are as great as everyone thinks. Well said. I knew I asked for your input (on the same subject in a different post) for a reason. I am getting worried about your head though. It's not too big is it?

 

[aleis]

this doesnt sit well with me.
i`ve seen some task managers that give you the option of killing system processes. its obvious you do not want to be killing processes (the average user) doesnt know about. but i`ve also seen task managers that allow u to only kill programs that are ACTUALLY running. from what i`ve researched, linux (android) runs in virtual memory alot like windows. the exception is linux uses a paging system. when too many pages (apps, processes etc) are running, linux by default kills pages that havent been accessed in a specific time frame. but its only when its at a critical point (low memory). so the time its taking to get to low memory, your phone is gradually getting worst (sluggish). which is going to affect battery life. particularly when you`re running programs that need to access the phone modem, gps etc. so killing them before the system does could only improve those things. IMO.

 

[OfTheDamned]

this doesnt sit well with me.
i`ve seen some task managers that give you the option of killing system processes. its obvious you do not want to be killing processes (the average user) doesnt know about. but i`ve also seen task managers that allow u to only kill programs that are ACTUALLY running. from what i`ve researched, linux (android) runs in virtual memory alot like windows. the exception is linux uses a paging system. when too many pages (apps, processes etc) are running, linux by default kills pages that havent been accessed in a specific time frame. but its only when its at a critical point (low memory). so the time its taking to get to low memory, your phone is gradually getting worst (sluggish). which is going to affect battery life. particularly when you`re running programs that need to access the phone modem, gps etc. so killing them before the system does could only improve those things. IMO.

I think this is where memory management and exiting apps "properly" comes into play for most people. If a user is reaching that critical level on a regular bases then they need to take a step back and really look at their usage of the device. Is the cache cleared? Have I been exiting apps by using the back button or an exit/quit option? Am I running an app that is doing something wrong? These things are crucial to the phone running properly. If you are taking care of these then the phone shouldn't really get to that point or at least not very often. I am in no way a light user. I am on my phone constantly and when I am not actively using it in my hand I typically have it playing music. I always have apps syncing in the background (gmail, facebook, peep, sportstap, etc) and I have yet to cause my phone to get to that critical point. My phone has only lagged one time since I booted it up the first time and that was when I installed the youmail app.

 

[smacky]

This is the one thing I'll give Apple products. The product doesn't require you think about all that crap. Clearing your cache to save RAM? Hitting the back button 15 times to go back 15 pages in your browser until you're finally out of it? Never had to worry about it on the iPhone.

 

[OfTheDamned]

This is the one thing I'll give Apple products. The product doesn't require you think about all that crap. Clearing your cache to save RAM? Hitting the back button 15 times to go back 15 pages in your browser until you're finally out of it? Never had to worry about it on the iPhone.

Well, that is also because you can't multitask on an iPhone.

 

[Solitary]

Well, that is also because you can't multitask on an iPhone.

you will be on the next OS.


But...what does multi tasking even look like on Android? I dont like using the home button because I know of an effect it has to the performance, and using a back button will remove all of your work in an app. It needs something like...minimize button?

 

[bottlecap]

Well, that is also because you can't multitask on an iPhone.

At Apple we were told that anytime a customer called to asked why a certain feature wasn't offered we were told to say "because it would drain the battery too much." No 3G "would drain the battery too much..." I think the whole "no multitask because it would drain the battery" is BS, but *shrug* what are you going to do?

 

[Caddyman]

hold home button, app switcher. adopted from the daddy of multitaskers, BB

 

[OfTheDamned]

hold home button, app switcher. adopted from the daddy of multitaskers, BB

Yep and it works well on Android.

you will be on the next OS.


But...what does multi tasking even look like on Android? I dont like using the home button because I know of an effect it has to the performance, and using a back button will remove all of your work in an app. It needs something like...minimize button?

I am interested to see how they handle multitasking.

I hit the home button and jump into other apps while on my phone all the time. I just have to be disciplined enough to go back into it and close it properly.

 

[JrzDroid]

best thread title ever

 

[Solitary]

hm..good point..lol i knew about that too..just..forgot?

 

[smacky]

Well, that is also because you can't multitask on an iPhone.

Which is better than having to hit "back" 100 times when done surfing the internet and trying to back out of the browser.

You could listen to music while browsing, what else do you want to do while on your phone?

 

[Solitary]

I am interested to see how they handle multitasking.

I hit the home button and jump into other apps while on my phone all the time. I just have to be disciplined enough to go back into it and close it properly.

Oh i think they will handle it greatly..
Just like in their laptops and desktops, and just in their OS, you can run so much more simultaneously than in Windows or even Linux without seeing lag. I think the same thing will be with an iPhone

Which is better than having to hit "back" 100 times when done surfing the internet and trying to back out of the browser.

You could listen to music while browsing, what else do you want to do while on your phone?

man you go deep in web pages if you need to push the back button 100 times..

try holding it next time

 

[Kevkelsar]

Which is better than having to hit "back" 100 times when done surfing the internet and trying to back out of the browser.

You could listen to music while browsing, what else do you want to do while on your phone?

You don't have to hit back 100 times. If you have the Dolphin Browser, just hold down the "back" arrow and you can choose to exit or clear the cache and exit. Just because you haven't figured out how to do things the easy way doesn't mean there isn't one.

What other things do I want to do all at the same time? Use my GPS enabled tracker while jogging/driving, get sports updates, check my gmail/google voice, get notifications from my calendar...need I go on?

 

[Solitary]

What other things do I want to do all at the same time? Use my GPS enabled tracker while jogging/driving, get sports updates, check my gmail/google voice, get notifications from my calendar...need I go on?

In iPhone, just because the app or software is not opened on the screen doesnt mean it is not running..in other words, email, facebook, calendar, etc are always running..

 

[OfTheDamned]

best thread title ever

Lol

Second best technically since it has been used once before.

I still find it odd both times.

 

[Kevkelsar]

In iPhone, just because the app or software is not opened on the screen doesnt mean it is not running..in other words, email, facebook, calendar, etc are always running..

But if I am surfing the web and get a notification of a new email, can I simply switch to my gmail account from the notification bar (which opens up a separate application just for my gmail) to check my email, then go right back to where I left off browsing?