Help Question about how "Don't Keep Activities" in Dev Options should work.

[PHP87]

Home Screen > Settings > Developer Options > OK > Don't Keep Activities.

This option states "Force quit every application on exiting apps"

I tick the checkbox for this option, exit out, but when I open an App then close it, it is still present in Task Manager and I have to close it there.

Shouldn't ticking the "Don't Keep Activities" checkbox close the app and not have it running in the background once I close it?

Or am I not clear on how this setting works?

 

[Rxpert83]

You really shouldn't be using that setting for anything. Its meant for developers help debug their apps.

Its actually a completely hidden menu in android 4.2.x and I think that was a good move by Google.

Why are you wanting to kill all processes?

 

[PHP87]

You really shouldn't be using that setting for anything. Its meant for developers help debug their apps.

Its actually a completely hidden menu in android 4.2.x and I think that was a good move by Google.

Why are you wanting to kill all processes?

I just want to kill a process when I close an app so I don't have numerous apps running in the background using up memory.

I believe there is an option to limit the number of apps that can be run simultaneously, but I was under the impression that ticking this checkbox would kill/close the app once I closed it instead of having it run in the background.

 

[sammyz]

I just want to kill a process when I close an app so I don't have numerous apps running in the background using up memory.

I believe there is an option to limit the number of apps that can be run simultaneously, but I was under the impression that ticking this checkbox would kill/close the app once I closed it instead of having it run in the background.

That's not really a good thing to do,
read this thread:

http://androidforums.com/optimus-m-all-things-root/622346-how-properly-kill-tasks-save-battery.html

Yea it's a thread in the Optimus M forum, but it applies to all phones running Android 2.2 or later.

 

[Rxpert83]

Thats what I was afraid of.

You dont want to be killing apps. Thats actually bad for the phones performance and will hurt battery life.

 

[PHP87]

So I should just let the OS handle app management even when available memory drops below 100MB in Task Manager and more memory intensive apps begin to lag a bit with several apps running in the background and visible in TaskMan?

FireFox alone uses about 95 MB of RAM

Or do they "time out" after a pre-determined amount of time after closing the app?

 

[sammyz]

So I should just let the OS handle app management even when available memory drops below 100MB in Task Manager and more memory intensive apps begin to lag a bit with several apps running in the background and visible in TaskMan?

FireFox alone uses about 95 MB of RAM

Or do they "time out" after a pre-determined amount of time after closing the app?

They are killed by the android OS after either a certain amount of time or when memory is full, it gets killed. Android killing apps automatically when it is supposed to is the best way to use android.