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Help How to stop apps running.

kilgetty

Newbie
When you have finished with a programme in Windows you click the red X in the top right hand corner to stop it, how do you stop an app running on a Nexus 7.
 
if you really must override the built in resource manager, download "process manager", or learn to use a terminal and "ps" or "top" and learn to kill a process from the commandline.
 
When you have finished with a programme in Windows you click the red X in the top right hand corner to stop it, how do you stop an app running on a Nexus 7.

Below is probably one of the best explanations about running apps and cached apps that you'll find online. ;)

I develop Android apps so I though I'd explain why a task killer isn't needed on an Android system.

Activities
Android apps use activities to preform tasks. For example, if you use a file manager to send a picture via email, the file manager calls the send activity within an email app, passes the file name to it and the email app sends the picture.. not the file manager. This will result in seeing the email app as "running" even though the user didn't actually launch that email app.

Smaller apps
Using activites helps developers design smaller apps. A file manager app that contains every bit of code needed to do everything a file manager does would likely be so large that no one would want to install it. Developers know that an android phone more than likely has an email app so there is no need for the developer to include email code in his/her file manager to send a picture when he/she can call an activity in an existing email app to do the job. This results in a smaller file manager app since there is no need to include email code or any other code for an activity that can be done via an app that is already present on the phone. This also alleviates redundant code. When you install an app outside of the android market, also known as sideloading, the file manager app calls the package installer (already present in Android) to install the requested app.

Running apps vs. cached apps
The "Manage Applications" list included in many android devices lists running apps as well as cached apps. Cached apps don't use any CPU or battery, they're cached so they will load faster the next time you need them. Killing cached apps results in those apps requiring more time to load the next time they are launched.

System management
By default, every android application runs in its own Linux process. Android starts the process when any of the application
 
I'm a long time Windows users (actually a Windows developer) and I remember wondering about this when I first started using Android. The answer is that on Android (and Linux generally) a process is a much lighter object than on Windows so there is no need to close apps when you're finished with them. Just leave them running in the background. Android itself will close them if system resources get low.

It's a bit of a culture shock for Windows users, but Android/Linux is designed to work this way. You have to just relax and let Android get on with it.
 
I would like to thank you all for your replies, you have put my mind at rest. I will do as "jhsrennie" suggests and let Android get on with it.
 
I would like to thank you all for your replies, you have put my mind at rest. I will do as "jhsrennie" suggests and let Android get on with it.

That's a tough concept for us windows folks to get our head around, but is truly the best way to deal with it.:)
 
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