Hello All,
I got my captivate recently and love it so far. I have read several articles on whether the background apps/tasks consume battery or not. I guess the Android community is split between whether background tasks should be killed or left alone for the OS to handle.
But, I have noticed that my data usage has gone up since I got the captivate (I had HTC Tilt 2 before). My question is does background apps consume data? I am not talking about the email sync and other necessary apps that are running in the background but specifically asking about apps that we have installed from market that are supported by Ads. Do they consume data in the background? Should I kill them? Can anyone recommend a good task killer? Is there a security risk if these background apps keeping sending back and forth data?
Any insights in much appreciated.
Any help please?
venkss said:
Any help please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps that are not running should not use data; but there are other things that do.
Widgets use data - do you have a weather widget? News, social networks, contacts or calendar?
Gmail, Exchange, AT&T - all have address book and calendar sync that is going on and constantly checking for changes. 3rd party apps with ads should not be a concern - they should not be using data when not running.
As for security risk - it depends as i don't know what apps you have installed. When you install an app it indicates what it has access too. If a checkers app has access to contacts, phone, and gps then i would be concerned.
Using the free version of Juice Defender I was able to configure which apps could use data when in background and which ones would only be able to use data if they were in the foreground.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
hey there. i need somehelp regarding mobile data connection
i'm currently not subscribing to any data plan, but i really wanna use Whatsapp on my phone. is there anyway of disabling other apps or system from using data connection?
my point is that is there anyway of allowing onlyy Whatsapp to use my data plan, and suppressing the other apps or system apps?
dorawan89 said:
hey there. i need somehelp regarding mobile data connection
i'm currently not subscribing to any data plan, but i really wanna use Whatsapp on my phone. is there anyway of disabling other apps or system from using data connection?
my point is that is there anyway of allowing onlyy Whatsapp to use my data plan, and suppressing the other apps or system apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that can be done by using netfilter...
But I recommend you not to use that for blocking the system apps because the system apps use only 10 to 20 kb of data.
i.e. checking for updates , refreshing widgets etc.
Press thanks if I helped
thanks man for the suggestion.
i was thinking of blocking everthing, except for whatsapp. is it possible? for the other stuff, like updates i can do it manually when i'm using my wifi. as for widgets, i'm not using any widgets that need connection (i.e weather, email)
is that okay if i disable everything except for whatsapp?
i'm sorry, but how to do netfilter? i tried searching the market, but no luck so far
dorawan89 said:
i'm sorry, but how to do netfilter? i tried searching the market, but no luck so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"netfilter" isn't a downloadable app but a kernel module.
In other words - "netfilter" is a subsystem for Linux to enable iptables firewalling functionality.
Once you install the module you can, for example, make use of DroidWall.
hey thanks for the reply. that cleared so much to me.
i've installed the apps. and i understand that the apps will not work without the module. so i tried installing the module.
I'm rooted, and i've placed the necessary files to it's respective location, but when I ran "chmod +x /system/xbin/iptables" i get this answer:
"iptables is a read-only system files"
what did i do wrong?
So I started using some apps like foursquare/instagram and I wanted to know If even i close them they keep using internet on the background. Since I close them (with data connectivity off) and when i enable data connectivity(long press on power button) it shows immediately some notifications of foursquare.
The main point of this question is that i want to keep data connectivity always on, cause it seems turning on and off wastes some battery, but i don't want apps leaching internet on the background.
Thanks!
Sent from my SGA using Tapatalk 2
Someone please answer me on this problem, its a bit urgent really apreciate the time and patient!
Sent from my SGA using Tapatalk 2
Someone please
NunoPitbull said:
So I started using some apps like foursquare/instagram and I wanted to know If even i close them they keep using internet on the background. Since I close them (with data connectivity off) and when i enable data connectivity(long press on power button) it shows immediately some notifications of foursquare.
The main point of this question is that i want to keep data connectivity always on, cause it seems turning on and off wastes some battery, but i don't want apps leaching internet on the background.
Thanks!
Sent from my SGA using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) data use - you could try a data manager app like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm which will show you how much data they are using. You might find these apps are using not much of your allowance anyway.
2) task manager (e.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.taskmanager ) can stop apps running in background but most people in the know seem to advise against using things like this.
3) you could try freezing the apps with something like titanium backup and unfreeze them when you want to use them.
4) apps like foursquare or instagram don't really fall into the urgent category. Uninstall them if you don't like what they do. Everything will be fine as you will manage without them
Sent from my GT-S5830 using unleaded
121C4 said:
1) data use - you could try a data manager app like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm which will show you how much data they are using. You might find these apps are using not much of your allowance anyway.
2) task manager (e.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.taskmanager ) can stop apps running in background but most people in the know seem to advise against using things like this.
3) you could try freezing the apps with something like titanium backup and unfreeze them when you want to use them.
4) apps like foursquare or instagram don't really fall into the urgent category. Uninstall them if you don't like what they do. Everything will be fine as you will manage without them
Sent from my GT-S5830 using unleaded
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Wifi on and saying Messages app is using data. Wth? but oh well, untill now seems no major internet waste..
NunoPitbull said:
I have Wifi on and saying Messages app is using data. Wth? but oh well, untill now seems no major internet waste..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is OS Services?
Alternatives on rooted phones are firewalls which edit ip tables, such as droidwall.
Even if each app uses a marginal amount of data, when you have lots of apps it can become a huge expense. Most play store apps request internet access, even games and multimedia apps that don't really need it (it can add up to 5-10 mb a day just by having them installed).
dxppxd said:
Alternatives on rooted phones are firewalls which edit ip tables, such as droidwall.
Even if each app uses a marginal amount of data, when you have lots of apps it can become a huge expense. Most play store apps request internet access, even games and multimedia apps that don't really need it (it can add up to 5-10 mb a day just by having them installed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't a firewall(like droidwall as u said) drain battery since it has to continusly keep running?
Cause my goal here is to try to fight the battery usage of turning data connectivy on/off ;P
NunoPitbull said:
Won't a firewall(like droidwall as u said) drain battery since it has to continusly keep running?
Cause my goal here is to try to fight the battery usage of turning data connectivy on/off ;P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It edits a file, ip tables, which is the native linux firewall, included in the ace.
It edits it when you enable, disable or change the firewall settings, like creating a text file, and runs on boot. The phone checks this file whenever an app asks for internet, and grants/denies the permission accordingly. Even if you don't have droidwall, the phone checks ip tables rules, droidwall is just a user friendly way to edit and control it.
dxppxd said:
No. It edits a file, ip tables, which is the native linux firewall, included in the ace.
It edits it when you enable, disable or change the firewall settings, like creating a text file, and runs on boot. The phone checks this file whenever an app asks for internet, and grants/denies the permission accordingly. Even if you don't have droidwall, the phone checks ip tables rules, droidwall is just a user friendly way to edit and control it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really thanks for this awsome program suggestion ;D I'm using as we speak, sadly I didn't found the "OS Services" taht is described on My Data Manager, and sadly they didn't replied with a email yet saying that is that...
Uninstall the rampig known as adblock plus, night and day difference. Use greenigy to Hibernate Google plus too! My tablet is now usable, and I was considering the n7 2013 because of how slow it was but now it is great
78mb of ram consumption is unacceptable, it's not even worth it. Epic fail for adblock
so what's using instead? adaway or adfree?
Glad I came across this post because I hadn't heard of Greenify before. My n7 is now virtually lag-free after installing that app. Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
heatledger said:
so what's using instead? adaway or adfree?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There might be more elegant solutions, but arguably the lightest-weight and fastest method is simply using a hosts file (rooted devices only, /system/etc/hosts) that black-holes many many ad-serving/tracking domains to the loopback address on your device [127.0.0.1]
e.g. http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
lightweight because the only thing added to your tablet is a single file.
fastest because DNS lookups on those domains return instantaneously, and IP RST occurs nearly instantaneously when your browser goes looking for a http server at 127.0.0.1:80 - there are no network delays in looking up and connecting/RST to blackholed servers - and no additional traffic interception app/services running on your device and pilfering system resources.
You will find that there are all sorts of tricks employed by various media sites that effectively check to see that cookies associated with ad-publishing/tracking domains have been set, so YMMV with respect to any ad-block method.
good luck
I'm not using any ad blocker right now because it makes the tablet virtually unusable with all the RAM consumption. Again Google Plus is also guilty of the same, taking up 40 megabytes of RAM and slowing down your tablet even though you are not using that app
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I'm glad that I could recommend that to you
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Our device only has 1 gig of ram 1 apps start taking up over 30 megabytes of RAM it definitely is a huge problem, not only that is completely unnecessary there's no reason that should be consuming that much
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
When you think about it it's actually absurd, 78 megabytes of RAM just so that I don't see advertisements I'll just deal with the advertisements and have a smooth experience. The trade off is not good
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
bftb0 said:
There might be more elegant solutions, but arguably the lightest-weight and fastest method is simply using a hosts file (rooted devices only, /system/etc/hosts) that black-holes many many ad-serving/tracking domains to the loopback address on your device [127.0.0.1]
e.g. http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
lightweight because the only thing added to your tablet is a single file.
fastest because DNS lookups on those domains return instantaneously, and IP RST occurs nearly instantaneously when your browser goes looking for a http server at 127.0.0.1:80 - there are no network delays in looking up and connecting/RST to blackholed servers - and no additional traffic interception app/services running on your device and pilfering system resources.
You will find that there are all sorts of tricks employed by various media sites that effectively check to see that cookies associated with ad-publishing/tracking domains have been set, so YMMV with respect to any ad-block method.
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... this is the method AdAway uses to block adverts...
QUOTE: (from AdAway) "An ad blocker that uses the hosts file. The hosts file contains a list of mappings between hostnames and IP addresses. When an app requests an ad, that request is directed to 127.0.0.1 which does nothing. There are options to run a web server to respond to blocked hostnames and to direct requests to the IP address of your choosing. You can download hosts files from the app but it is possible to use your own and to add certain sites to the white- and black-lists."
With AdaAway installed on my Nexus 7 (and my other rooted devices), it uses no system resources at all (CPU/RAM etc.) until I actively run it (which I do every couple of weeks or so) to see if there any new hosts files updates available... and even then it only uses around 21Mb of RAM. After a reboot (necessary for the hosts files update to take effect), AdaAway is exited, and it no longer appears in a list of running processes... until it's run again to check for further updates. However, it does require root.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Um, ad blockers use zero ram unless you set them to stay active, such as to listen to local host. They copy a file and are done.
khaytsus said:
Um, ad blockers use zero ram unless you set them to stay active, such as to listen to local host. They copy a file and are done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, khaytsus...
That's certainly true of AdAway... but AdBlock Plus (the one the OP is referring to) runs as a background service... and filters ads out by routing internet traffic through a proxy.
AdBlock Plus' chief attraction lies in it not requiring root... but having just installed AdBlock Plus on my Nexus 7, and then running System Panel (from Playstore), I can see it hogging around 80Mb of RAM.
Though it really shouldn't cause the lag problems as described by the OP... given that the Nexus 7 is equipped with a gigabyte of RAM... and that within that context, 80Mb is a miniscule RAM requirement.
I have Dolphin Browser (with Jetpack) installed on my Nexus 7... and that routinely occupies anywhere from between 170Mb to 300Mb of RAM. Significantly more than the 80Mb used by AdBlock Plus... and I have no discernible lag.
So maybe AdBlock Plus is causing problems elsewhere... running the CPU into the ground maybe? Although I suspect that routing traffic via a proxy may be the cause of the reported lag.
Anyway... it seems that AdBlock Plus is the least optimal way of blocking ads (by routing traffic through a proxy), and running a constant background service whilst it does so.
The best way of blocking ads (IMHO), is to root the device, and then install AdAway (which just modifies the /system/etc/hosts file when AdAway is run).
And even if you automate the process of AdAway checking for updates, it appears this only happens upon boot or daily. It runs a check to see if there are any new hosts files updates available... informs you if there are... and then exits. It doesn't hang around in the background, 'listening' for updates, consuming system resources whilst it does so.
Rgrds,
Ged.
GedBlake said:
Hi, khaytsus...
That's certainly true of AdAway... but AdBlock Plus (the one the OP is referring to) runs as a background service... and filters ads out by routing internet traffic through a proxy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AdBlock Plus can run as a service. It does not need to. Perhaps the OP isn't rooted.. But it's still nonsense IMO.
@GedBlake
Thanks for the informative posts man, you have enlightened me. I was completely unaware that adblock was running in the background. I used adaway and it seems that my browsing speeds seems to hasten up a little bit.
If you're rooted:
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm
1. Download and extract hosts file from that page.
2. If extracting from PC, transfer the file to the n7 via usb.
3. Use your fav root text editor and copy the contents of the hosts file to /etc/hosts
Note: You can exclude the introductory messages in the extracted host file n start from the 1st ip entry.
Reboot.
Tada...
Ram/proc/battery hit? Almost none!
If it doesnt work, let me know. Sometimes there is a problem on the formatting, i can fix it and upload a proper one for you to follow the steps again. Why? Android is more particular than windows or mac on the hosts file.good luck.
More info on hosts file, google or wikipedia
andrew9292 said:
If you're rooted:
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm
1. Download and extract hosts file from that page.
2. If extracting from PC, transfer the file to the n7 via usb.
3. Use your fav root text editor and copy the contents of the hosts file to /etc/hosts
Note: You can exclude the introductory messages in the extracted host file n start from the 1st ip entry.
Reboot.
Tada...
Ram/proc/battery hit? Almost none!
If it doesnt work, let me know. Sometimes there is a problem on the formatting, i can fix it and upload a proper one for you to follow the steps again. Why? Android is more particular than windows or mac on the hosts file.good luck.
More info on hosts file, google or wikipedia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, andrew9292...
What you suggest will probably work... but it's like cutting the grass with a pair of scissors!... it's time consuming and labour intensive. And there are better tools available, more suited to the task.
AdAway will do the job for you, with minimal effort. And also, the one link you provide may not be sufficient to provide full ad blocking capability.
AdAway compiles the /system/etc/hosts file from four sources. These are...
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt
http://adaway.sufficientlysecure.org/hosts.txt
http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.asp
http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlist.php?hostformat=hosts&showintro=0&mimetype=plaintext
As I've previously stated, AdAway consumes no system resources until the user chooses to run it... in order to update the /system/etc/hosts file. So there is no "Ram/proc/battery hit", as you put it... until AdAway is run.
This seems to me to be the far more easier option, than manually messing around with large text files, copying them into /system/etc and with the potential screwups and errors that might result.
AdAway is installed on all of my rooted devices, and I rarely give it a second thought.... until I remember that ad blocking needs updating ('cos I haven't run it for a few weeks), I then just run AdAway... it updates... and upon my next reboot, the update takes effect.
Result - no ads... no hit on battery/CPU/RAM... and no complicated messing around in /system/etc.
Rgrds,
Ged.
GedBlake said:
Hi, andrew9292...
What you suggest will probably work... but it's like cutting the grass with a pair of scissors!... it's time consuming and labour intensive. And there are better tools available, more suited to the task.
AdAway will do the job for you, with minimal effort. And also, the one link you provide may not be sufficient to provide full ad blocking capability.
AdAway compiles the /system/etc/hosts file from four sources. These are...
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt
http://adaway.sufficientlysecure.org/hosts.txt
http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.asp
http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlist.php?hostformat=hosts&showintro=0&mimetype=plaintext
As I've previously stated, AdAway consumes no system resources until the user chooses to run it... in order to update the /system/etc/hosts file. So there is no "Ram/proc/battery hit", as you put it... until AdAway is run.
This seems to me to be the far more easier option, than manually messing around with large text files, copying them into /system/etc and with the potential screwups and errors that might result.
AdAway is installed on all of my rooted devices, and I rarely give it a second thought.... until I remember that ad blocking needs updating ('cos I haven't run it for a few weeks), I then just run AdAway... it updates... and upon my next reboot, the update takes effect.
Result - no ads... no hit on battery/CPU/RAM... and no complicated messing around in /system/etc.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats nice bro! n im aware of it...i agree its a great app, does a wonderful job! Jus providing a manual method if anyone prefers it.
Pros, just some extra experience for the nerdy. This is xda anyway Cons, like you stated possible fakaps, time consuming, inadequate etc. Cheers :highfive:
THANK YOU!
Krooked22 said:
Uninstall the rampig known as adblock plus, night and day difference. Use greenigy to Hibernate Google plus too! My tablet is now usable, and I was considering the n7 2013 because of how slow it was but now it is great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG, thanks much for your post. I uninstalled adblock and installed Greenify, and it's like I finally have my N7 back again. I was close to junking it out of frustration but will keep it for a little longer now...
biggerguy_sf said:
OMG, thanks much for your post. I uninstalled adblock and installed Greenify, and it's like I finally have my N7 back again. I was close to junking it out of frustration but will keep it for a little longer now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awwww, if you'd waited a month it would have been a full year since the last post in this DEAD thread.
I modified host file and no problems so far...