Killing voicemail, text messaging apps - do these need to be running in background?

[wrench]

I use ATK to kill off apps I'm not currently running. What about Voicemail, Messages (SMS), and Google Voice? Do those apps need to be running for you to receive messages and/or alerts that new messages have arrived?

 

[tatonka_Hero]

read the sticky on task killers.

If you kill off VM and SMS, you won't get your voicemail or your texts.

 

[wrench]

Interestingly, I routinely kill the gmail app, but I have no problems receiving emails or alerts that I have new emails.

The sticky I found talked a lot about not using task killers, which sounds all well and good until you realize your phone is slow as molasses with all the apps running.

 

[Joehunni]

almost anything that needs killing will ne dealt with by Android, for lack of a better way to say it, task killers are for nubs lol.

 

[jimdroid]

I have my task killer set to automatically kill task killers.

 

[DonB]

Sign up for Youmail and your Vmail will be free and you can customized to each contact if you want, and then you can kill Vmail, as for SMS yest you need that so not kill, GoogleVoice you do not need if you do not use it, nor do you need Google Talk, you can also kill Sprint TV if you do not use it, I personally do not use any task killers, I use the running services and stop the 3 apps I mentioned

I use ATK to kill off apps I'm not currently running. What about Voicemail, Messages (SMS), and Google Voice? Do those apps need to be running for you to receive messages and/or alerts that new messages have arrived?

 

[DonB]

ROLMAO good one!!!

I have my task killer set to automatically kill task killers.

 

[Joehunni]

funny, yet still redundant... lol

 

[pseudopod]

...why is it that when my phone becomes laggy and i use my task killer to kill certain tasks, it runs a lot smoother?? if i leave it alone, it will continue with its erratic behavior until i restart my phone... (which i don't like doing every single time the phone gets moody)

i understand you "experts" claim that task killers are not needed for a variety of reasons, but they get the job done when my Hero turns into a lag machine.

...and i have used my task killer to kill off VM and Text apps, and i seem to receive those just fine when they come in..

 

[DonB]

There point exact, if you still receive text and v/mail then it is not stopping those apps, Android takes over

...why is it that when my phone becomes laggy and i use my task killer to kill certain tasks, it runs a lot smoother?? if i leave it alone, it will continue with its erratic behavior until i restart my phone... (which i don't like doing every single time the phone gets moody)

i understand you "experts" claim that task killers are not needed for a variety of reasons, but they get the job done when my Hero turns into a lag machine.

...and i have used my task killer to kill off VM and Text apps, and i seem to receive those just fine when they come in..

 

[Joehunni]

...why is it that when my phone becomes laggy and i use my task killer to kill certain tasks, it runs a lot smoother?? if i leave it alone, it will continue with its erratic behavior until i restart my phone... (which i don't like doing every single time the phone gets moody)

i understand you "experts" claim that task killers are not needed for a variety of reasons, but they get the job done when my Hero turns into a lag machine.

...and i have used my task killer to kill off VM and Text apps, and i seem to receive those just fine when they come in..

If you were to do a factory reset (erase everything) and did not download a task killer once you were back up and running, I doubt you'd have these problems anymore. All those apps that you kill off reopen on their own for a reason. When you consistently kill things for a long period of time, Android tries to adapt to this behavior and this, over time, produces this type of instability.

 

[pseudopod]

If you were to do a factory reset (erase everything) and did not download a task killer once you were back up and running, I doubt you'd have these problems anymore. All those apps that you kill off reopen on their own for a reason. When you consistently kill things for a long period of time, Android tries to adapt to this behavior and this, over time, produces this type of instability.

I understand what you're saying, but i didn't download my task killer as soon as i got the phone.. i did it once i noticed that the performance was starting to become laggy and undesirable..

however, after i did download the task killer and began to use it, i would see noticeable improvements after direct use... believe me, i'm not happy with having to use this type of method.. if it were up to me, i would rather not have it or never need it.. but it would seem that perhaps our Hero is a bit underpowered when it comes to handling all that we throw at it.. but i love my phone though and just deal with its certain quirks..

just out of curiosity, you don't experience any lag with yours?? i think that would be great..

 

[DonB]

He (JoeHunni) does not because he is rooted, and if it works for you that is all that counts, I myself have done away with Sense UI and have been using LP and mine has been much better the past couple of weeks, but trust me if she acts up again I am rooting as my last resource

I understand what you're saying, but i didn't download my task killer as soon as i got the phone.. i did it once i noticed that the performance was starting to become laggy and undesirable..

however, after i did download the task killer and began to use it, i would see noticeable improvements after direct use... believe me, i'm not happy with having to use this type of method.. if it were up to me, i would rather not have it or never need it.. but it would seem that perhaps our Hero is a bit underpowered when it comes to handling all that we throw at it.. but i love my phone though and just deal with its certain quirks..

just out of curiosity, you don't experience any lag with yours?? i think that would be great..

 

[chinkster]

i am rooted and i am still using a task killer. i tried not using a task killer before but one day the app i was using (iheartradio) wouldn't stop when i told it to QUIT through the menu and just kept playing. i had to use the task killer to end it and that was that. so i still keep a task killer on hand just incase an app wants to act up but i do program it to ignore the main apps such as MESSAGING, GMAIL, VOICE SEARCH, and CLOCK.

 

[tatonka_Hero]

I believe you could kill the "gmail" app and still get emails, because it actually pulls them through the "email" app. Much the way you could kill a messaging app like handcent and still get messages because it pulls them through the stock app.

However, even if you kill them, there's a very good chance that android will start them right back up because it knows they're necessary for the proper operation of the device

 

[Joehunni]

Well the only time I had any lag was when I had very first gotten the Hero land was told to use atk religiously by Best Buy. After a factory rest and no atk, night and day difference. I still keep system panel around for bs apps that don't do what they are supposed to (realplayer). Also gmail and handcent basically ride piggyback on email and messaging respectively, they can be killed but should never need to be.