I've found the task killer useful because i noticed the apps never really close, whether it might be my mail app or my games or browser. And when the apps dont really completely close, the speed goes down and my phone starts to heat up a bit. I think that's the reason why a task manager is necessary but if the task managers doesnt fix this(someone in this thread mentioned it caused problems) wht should I use in place? I dont really enjoy holding my phone while its on fire...
I find it far more convenient to press the home button, drag down my notification bar and click on my task manager rather than looking for the a hidden close button the the apps. Thanks.
Although Android is based on Linux, application execution is very different from what we've been used in Linux. Basically each application is composed of a number of activities.
These activities are either public or private. The thing is an activity from an application can call another activity from another application without well, opening that application as we were used on other operating systems.
This is the reason why you see many applications starting out of nowhere in task manager.
I've been using Advanced Task Manager quite a lot (ever since I got my Spica in February) and I must say Android tends to leave activities opened even after closing them. Just as an example, you can't efectively close the browser (the default one that android comes with, Chrome I believe).
So my advice is to use a task manager ONLY if you know what you're doing and what you're closing. I recomend Advanced Task Killer because it has a security option. By default is set to high and it's best to leave it that way.
With this setup when I don't use the phone I close everything but the Clock (so that my alarm stays on) and the Task Manager (that would make it close itself..duh). The phone works without a problem and I get around a week of battery life (this includes about 20 minutes of wi-fi, some text messaging, a bit of SNES gaming and a few minutes of phone calls every day + the alarm ringing in the morning ).
I downloaded the top 3 popular free killers/managers on the market, cross referencing them with numerous lists and blogs. Advanced Task Killer by ReChild (3D android dude w/ a blue X), Advanced Task Manager by Infolife (3D android dude w/ a red X), and Android Task Manager by Kook-Joo Lim (3D chubby android dude w/ lighted stripe). And tried them all in succession, simultaneously, and what not - they all slow my phone somewhat.
From reading this thread I've concluded that most people do not need an app killer. My take being: the Android OS automatically bumps/kills old apps as new ones come along, preparing for what the user will do next. Problem is, the OS takes time/CPU to this. App killers are a way for the user to choose what to kill manually. The problem with that being, the app killer takes up more time/CPU than the OS does to do it automatically. Eg: Wait 10 seconds for the market to load, or use 10 seconds to close stuff manually, wait 5 seconds for the market to load, and run a large app killer through the CPU).
From the three app killers:
Advanced Task Killer is just that, a killer. It is better on the OS and battery to not use a killer at all.
Advanced Task Manager has ATK's ability, though it digs a little lower and pulls up kernel apps like com.samsung.internal, bluetooth and other OS files - including itself, which ATK does not do. I like this better because it has the option to select/deselect all, and holding down gives more options on the apps (Switch To). Though this is still essentially a suped up killer. Don't use this for the same reason above.
Android Task Manager is the first app I've come across that is actually a manager. Its my favorite and its staying on my phone.
Reasons: It has all the capabilities of Advanced Task Manager, but includes tabs to manage apps, view system info, and control ATM and all phone settings.
The task killer tab does not show OS level items, which is safer, and in the settings its possible to list only background items and unused programs - helping deduce programs that refuse to close or hogging CPU time. I need an app killer cause Skype doesn't have a close button (that I've found yet ...), the only way to stop it's service when I leave my WiFi zone is an app killer.
The apps tab is the best feature, which shows ALL applications installed, included default apps like email, voicemail, Sprint ID, and all the other branded crap I can't seem wait to replace. Additionally it has the option to back up apps to the SD card, reinstall, and gives links to the market to comment and check for updates.
The systems tab shows all sytem information, including battery percent and temp, RAM, Storage and SD Card total/usage/available, then CPU use percentages for User, Nice, and Kernel (User is active/background programs, Nice is availible space???, and Kernel is the OS).
The settings gives the ability to run ATM in the background off the notice bar, or to close it entirely on exit and gives and Auto-Kill feature (unneeded if you just uninstall the apps you mean to auto-kill anyway). The device settings gives access to everything on the phone w/o having to go through Android's own tree, its all right there.
Anyway, I'm sticking w/ Android Task Manager for now until I find the close button on Skype and Google Voice.
The only caveat is the install/ram usage of each program. Surprisingly, Advanced Task Manager is smaller than Advanced Task Killer. They both come in just under 100kb. Android Task Manager is a hog in comparison at 300kb, though it does a lot more, I think its worth it.
I don't intend to use ATM all the time, just to actually manage apps, and close off Skype if I'm leaving the house and need more battery time.
Separate from the entire debate about the merits of task killers, and how the Android system uses memory, I find it extremely pretentious and condescending the way a few of the people here talk about those of us who would like apps to close when we're not using them. Assuming that because we've been using Windows for the last 15 years and therefore we have small brains does little to help your point.
Why is it so hard to understand that when I close my browser, I'm done with it. The next time it opens again I want to see the my home page, not what I was browsing and reading 3 hours ago. And when I close Angry Bird, the next time I click on it I want it to load again, not start where I left off. Why is that so hard to understand?
Here's what bugs me; I don't mind apps running in the background, that's cool, awesome, I'm all for it, but give me the OPTION to close them easily if I want to. All pretentious and annoying comments aside, is that really too much to ask for?
My Windows Mobile 6.1 phone from 2 years ago had an easy to access Task Manager. Two clicks and a program was closed. And from within each program you could choose to close it when you were done with it, or leave it running. I considered that pretty old technology, but it was better than what I have in my new fancy Android phone. Don't tell me "Just ignore the app, the system is managing the memory for you..." is annoying. You're making the assumption that I want to re-enter the app from the saved state.
I just feel I need something clarified. "Free" memory == wasted memory, which is why android and linux use anything available for caching in an attempt to improve performance. However, memory allocated for specific applications takes memory from the caching system, and thus potentially (at some point) slows the system down. Yes? So what can we use to see how memory is being allocated?
Does android have virtual memory (maybe mapping idle application memory to SD or something)?
However android manages multitasking it obviously is flawed. I may be stupid but if you use 4/5 apps like maps, games and browser then just use the home button, my Legend goes flat and runs hot and lags. Why not do what symbian does and long press home, see whats running and close any biggies? Easy, I have used windows mobile and symbian and my Legend displays exactly the same effects of having too much running in the background as those older, operating systems. It doesn't matter how much android likes to use its memory, it makes the phone worse for the user. For the record I would take clunking old symbian over spangly android every time just for the battery life. Anyday soon my Legend is going to get with a large hammer.
The fundamental problem here is that most people don't have a clue about Linux, which is essentially Android. You DON'T need a task manager for any of the applications, as the memory is managed by the system. Anyone who has used a linux system knows that even on a system with 64GB of RAM linux will use 99% of the RAM, if you ran the same linux on a system with 128MB of RAM it will use 99% of the RAM, this is called Caching and makes linux very efficient with memory. So don't waste your time with a task manager.
If your Linux system is running at max capacity RAM or 99%, then won't it have to "switch" and move things into virtual memory? Does this mean that every program you run after this 99% threshold is met, ends up being stored in virtual memory?
Question: What's the best taskkiller (manager) for the HTC phone (or any linux based phone)?
Answers:
Task managers usually do more harm than good.
The reason is, Linux attempts to use all memory (RAM) no matter what, [even if you have 64GB verse 128MB]
and Free memory = wasted memory.
Lag is not caused by lack of memory. Lag is caused by a faulty app (Ex. apps made for better hardware, apps with faulty coding, apps that uses too much cpu that with faulty coding, etc
is there a way of setting exceptions using the android task manager? I'd to exclude ebay from the kill all command so that I continue to receive notifications
I would have to agree. Your free memory running low is optimal performance on this linux based OS. What makes phone slow is the amount of proccesses the cpu is trying to run and scale the speed to the ones you use more and descale the ones that auto run and you aren't directly using. Task killers end up working against the main speed feature of the OS. What is needed is a app blocker/manager to block the proccesses and allow your memory to focus on 10 tasks with 24-65mb free instead of 20 to 30 tasks and 20-35mb free...I have used watchdog, gemini, and atk. All gimmie about the same level of speed boost. Just need to find one you like and can navigate accurately while opting which PROCCESSES to BLOCK and not keep killing a task or app which uses more memory every time it tries to auto-boot or you re-boot it. So in short lol...you want to block proccesses by cpu so the memory isn't cacheing and running them either. Better to have 512mb running 15 things at 35mb per task then 25 at 20mb per task. That's my assesment of the task killer dilema/debate.
Keep in mind that 50% of laggy apps is the launcher. Try one from marketplace, launcher pro used to be the best...I dunno now, I use the miren browser.
Just wanted to point out that the original poster wasn't concerned or talking about RAM, he was talking about battery life, which is what I am also interested in right now. Not that the RAM discussion isn't useful or interesting in its own right, but it seems to me the topic has been hijacked.
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