Task killers

[jaybo1973]

Hi all. Back when I first got my desire on froyo, there was always posts about avoiding task killers. These days, ics has one built in. What gives? I guess its ok to use the inbuilt one? How about the 3rd party ones?

 

[Crashdamage]

This has been covered many times. Simply put, DO NOT use a task killer. It's only included for a (very rare) situation where a poorly coded app fails to terminate or exit memory properly. Chances are you will never need to manually kill an app. Normally Android does an excellent job of automatically handling processess and memory.

Relax and enjoy your phone.

 

[Logan47]

Task killers are a no no. If anything you'll likely make your device work harder and use more resources and battery if you use such apps. Android likes to learn what you prefer to use and keep certain apps ready to go. If you flush them out as such, it'll only go and ready them once more thus getting into a cycle not helpful for your device. I won't say never kill an app, as instances may arise where a rogue app may need exiting, but don't bother with task killers in any larger sense.
Linky;
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

 

[tube517]

I learned my lesson on task killers, when I first got my EVO. They just cause headaches, force closes and lag. Let android handle it and you have one less thing to worry about. As the others have said, only in a very very very rare case to kill a rogue app.

 

[jaybo1973]

I have always avoided them as this is what I thought. Just wondered why one has been included. I have been using the inbuilt one a bit though. Should I avoid it then? I have only been using it for killing games, as it seems my RAM is always tied up

 

[jaybo1973]

How about clearing the cache of apps then? Is this ok?

 

[Hadron]

Cache clearing is fine.

If you need the RAM for something else then the OS should clear out the dormant apps to make space. Having most of your RAM unused isn't really a merit, as unused RAM isn't actually doing anything for you. But TBH killing a game that isn't going to restart, and which you're not going to play again in the near future, won't do much harm either. Personally I didn't notice any downside when I stopped doing this though.

 

[Crashdamage]

I have been using the inbuilt one a bit though. Should I avoid it then?

Yes. It's only for emergencies.

I have only been using it for killing games, as it seems my RAM is always tied up

Your RAM is supposed to be tied up. Unused RAM is wasted RAM.

How about clearing the cache of apps then? Is this ok?

Normally pointless. I never clear caches.

 

[jaybo1973]

A friend of mine at work uses advanced task killer on his sensation xe. He is getting 3 days out of his battery. If said it is purely down to the task killer

 

[Crashdamage]

If he gets 3 days using a task killer, he could do even better without it. Task killers actually use up power.

 

[jaybo1973]

If he gets 3 days using a task killer, he could do even better without it. Task killers actually use up power.

He reckons its purely down to the task killer

 

[Crashdamage]

He reckons its purely down to the task killer

He reckons wrong. Task killers are terrible. They actually waste battery power and reduce performance. This is well known and has been covered many times. Read the earlier posts in this thread.

Uninstall.

 

[lunatic59]

Why You Don't Need a Task Killer.

 

[Metroid Prime]

Task killers are nothing but trouble and aren't good for your device.

 

[jaybo1973]

Cheers guys. I have been involved in these threads before and have never used a task killer in the near on 2 years of being an android user. Just found it odd that one was now included and that my work mate seems to be having good results

 

[lunatic59]

Cheers guys. I have been involved in these threads before and have never used a task killer in the near on 2 years of being an android user. Just found it odd that one was now included and that my work mate seems to be having good results

Oh, don't confuse a task manager with a task killer. It's not the same thing.

 

[Metroid Prime]

I have never used a task manager, are they safe?

 

[lunatic59]

They are fine. It really just puts an interface on the "manage applications" option that's always been available in settings. ICS is a little smarter about it, but many of the phones running GB have them too.

 

[Metroid Prime]

Thanks for answering my question.

 

[jaybo1973]

I was on about when you hold the home screen to access apps and then swipe to kill them. Don't know about task manager. How to you access it?

 

[lunatic59]

I was on about when you hold the home screen to access apps and then swipe to kill them. Don't know about task manager. How to you access it?

Are we talking ICS or GB?

 

[jaybo1973]

Are we talking ICS or GB?

Ics.

 

[lunatic59]

I was on about when you hold the home screen to access apps and then swipe to kill them. Don't know about task manager. How to you access it?

That is the task manager in ICS.

How to Kill Apps Using Android ICS Built-in Task Manager! [AndroidDummies] - YouTube

 

[jaybo1973]

That is the task manager in ICS.

How to Kill Apps Using Android ICS Built-in Task Manager! [AndroidDummies] - YouTube

So it is ok to kill apps in this way then?

 

[lunatic59]

So it is ok to kill apps in this way then?

Perfectly safe. but it's less like "killing" and more like closing them properly.