Database Develop

Apps automatically starting up, by themselves

Hello all,
I recently bought my N1 about 4 days ago. So far its been great. Easily one of the best phones I've ever owned. However, I am having this problem where apps in android seem to startup by themselves. I'm using Advanced Task killer to kill em but ill kill them and then like a minute later they're back up and running without me starting them. Its quite annoying as my battery is taking a beating from it having to close and open apps and repeat. The biggest offenders of this are the voice apps such as voice search, voice dialer, Google voice (which isn't even setup), and the amazon mp3 store. A few third party apps I downloaded tend to do this as well.
Have any of you guys experienced this? Is there any way to fix it? Thanks in advance! XD
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

decoyjoe said:
Hello all,
I recently bought my N1 about 4 days ago. So far its been great. Easily one of the best phones I've ever owned. However, I am having this problem where apps in android seem to startup by themselves. I'm using Advanced Task killer to kill em but ill kill them and then like a minute later they're back up and running without me starting them. Its quite annoying as my battery is taking a beating from it having to close and open apps and repeat. The biggest offenders of this are the voice apps such as voice search, voice dialer, Google voice (which isn't even setup), and the amazon mp3 store. A few third party apps I downloaded tend to do this as well.
Have any of you guys experienced this? Is there any way to fix it? Thanks in advance! XD
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do not worry about app running in the background, what you are probably seeing is the list of what was run, Android is verry good at managing memory, in fact I do not even use a task manager and I am fine with it.

Well that's the thing. Some of these apps that startup I have never run such as the mp3 store. So I close it and I get an additional 10megs of memory. But then it just starts back up. So I don't know how to stop it all together.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

There are apps that automatically run in the background but don't effect performance like Google voice voice dialer etc..what I did was add them to the ignore list. Trust me those apps are always running no matter how many times you close them
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Like has already been said, stop worrying about it. Those apps are NOT stealing memory, they're NOT using battery.

Free memory does not benefit you. Android will automatically load apps in to memory so that they are available to switch to fast as possible.
You should not kill apps unless they are bisbehaving. Killing off apps forces Android to load them back into memory if its algorithm thinks you are likely to use it. The act of loading data into memory uses power and Android tries hard to avoid it.
I was obsessed with managing my memory and running apps when I bought my nexus one. Everyone at that time suggested task killers so I got one of those. I had crappy performance with random sluggishness. I figured I just needed to kill off more apps. Eventually I read an article from an Android dev explaining this stuff and I backed off and have had a much better experience since.
I wish Google was more vocal on this subject. Everyone thinking auto task killing is a necessity on Android really gives it a black eye.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712352
Jack_R1 said:
...
2) App that loses focus goes to background. That's the way OS is built. If you want apps to be killed on losing focus, get iOS 3 to run on your device.
3) The market has task killers because they can be written for multitasking OS, and because they help dealing with bad apps. Not for any other reason.
4) The OS loads some of your most used tasks when it runs, even if you don't know about it. Just loads in the memory, and allocates no CPU time. If you leave your phone unattended, your free memory goes down by itself. Why? Because free memory is wasted memory. You can check the "EMPTY" processes in Astro, for example.
5) The best task killer is careful selection of your apps. You see hangups? Find out the app that's doing it and remove it, or kill it specifically after running if it's necessary.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=678205
Remove your task killer (or, if you insist, just clear the auto-kill list), erase all you think you know about memory management - because you don't know - and stop worrying.

[Q] Why does many installed apps increase lag?

Can't see why this is the case (but it obviously is) as long as I have lots of free disk space and not many apps running at the same time. Any logic in this?

I've been experiencing the same issue and wondering the same thing...
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 using Tapatalk Pro

There seems to be several things causing this, but the two key issues are:
The moviNAND (the internal flash drive/"SSD") firmware seems to have an issue with fsync() taking extremely long. E.g., it slows down whenever a file is written/updated on the internal storage.
RFS, the file system used by Samsung is buggy as hell and corrupts data after a while.
There are several topics on these issues in the Android Development forum. There are also several "lag fixes" trying their best to overcome these issues. Go check them out

Einride said:
There seems to be several things causing this, but the two key issues are:
RFS, the file system used by Samsung is buggy as hell and corrupts data after a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have no idea if that is ACTUALLY true.. Just because fsck picked some things up on 1 phone, doesn't mean it happens everywhere.. Furthermore, it doesn't mean the problems detected affect operations

that has no truth at all about more apps slowing down the phone, my phone is the prove

Before jpk i didn't noticed slowdowns with aprox 100 apps, now i do on jpk =/
Prolly that all pictures/links/info stays in his workmemory?

probably cause some of them run in the system memory or run at startup

KaliKot said:
probably cause some of them run in the system memory or run at startup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo!
and that is what most people does not realize
they need to Optimize the phone, most people take it for granted
the phone is not a phone, the phone is a mini computer that fits in your hands
just like your big desktop PC it can go crazy if you don't take care of it

AllGamer said:
Bingo!
and that is what most people does not realize
they need to Optimize the phone, most people take it for granted
the phone is not a phone, the phone is a mini computer that fits in your hands
just like your big desktop PC it can go crazy if you don't take care of it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me why with the same apps installed on the Nexus it doesn't lag like the SGS?
Can you stop blaming users when is the phone which doesn't work as expected?

Oletros said:
Can you tell me why with the same apps installed on the Nexus it doesn't lag like the SGS?
Can you stop blaming users when is the phone which doesn't work as expected?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
utter ****e -i have well over 100 apps on my sgs and experience NO lag whatsoever!

bonehooch said:
utter ****e -i have well over 100 apps on my sgs and experience NO lag whatsoever!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Utter ****e? Why?

it was mentioned many many times
just install autorunkiller and a good task manager then all the problems will be gone
stock ROM is very fast when you maintain the phone

AllGamer said:
it was mentioned many many times
just install autorunkiller and a good task manager then all the problems will be gone
stock ROM is very fast when you maintain the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With autokiller the phone is still laggy.
And please, stop thinking I'm stupid or I don't know a **** about smartphones, ROM's changing, firmware or knowing how a phone must run.

AFAIK this topic and its responses are for the OP

I have about 190 Apps installed and do not experience any diferene in overall speed of the phone. But only because i know that a lot of the programms start on boot and stay in background.
I have more than 15 apps turned off with the full version of autorun killer to prevent the auto restart of the apps. Otherwise the phone would definetaly slow down.
It´s really incredible what apps start on the boot!

TMReuffurth said:
I have about 190 Apps installed and do not experience any diferene in overall speed of the phone. But only because i know that a lot of the programms start on boot and stay in background.
I have more than 15 apps turned off with the full version of autorun killer to prevent the auto restart of the apps. Otherwise the phone would definetaly slow down.
It´s really incredible what apps start on the boot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you need to be rooted ti use all of the functions in autorun killer? I am not rooted.
Can you compile a breif list of the "biggest culprits" to stop with this utility to gain back the most speed and efficiency? I am a bit nervous that I will stop the wrong items and somehow damage my phone...

Autokiller and task killers are not the solution here! Quick lesson on Android, and why having even A SINGLE BAD APP is going to ruin your whole phone!
Android has something called an 'Intent'. In order to start an app, an intent is made by your launcher or a button you press, and the Android system reads this intent and works out what app it needs to start up.
There is a second type of intent though, called a 'Broadcast Intent'. This is an intent that is sent out to anything that is registered to listen to it. This means that an app can register to listen to all sorts of events, such as battery level changed, application start, or a tons of other things. Even if the application is closed, if it is registered as a listener, Android will start it right back up so it can deal with the intent. If the intent comes every 5 seconds, Android will run this app every 5 seconds even if you have a taskkiller killing the app.
The only real solution is to not install apps which are bad! Finding bad apps is a real mission, too. Hopefully in the future, utilities will be available to let us track down these terrible apps, but till then, you'll have to work it out yourself.

yiannisthegreek said:
Do you need to be rooted ti use all of the functions in autorun killer? I am not rooted.
Can you compile a breif list of the "biggest culprits" to stop with this utility to gain back the most speed and efficiency? I am a bit nervous that I will stop the wrong items and somehow damage my phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for Root to use all features of Autorun Killer. I would disable only the apps you know and which you do not need at startup and running in background, such as (in my case) Paypal, App Center from Androidpit, Daily Briefing, Photoshop Express, Word Press, TweetCaster, etc.
Every of these apps works normal, even when deactivatet on startup.
So unless you do not disable system apps (must be previously set enabled in settings) you are safe.

RyanZA said:
(...)There is a second type of intent though, called a 'Broadcast Intent'. This is an intent that is sent out to anything that is registered to listen to it.(...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any possibility/app to show what is registered for which app?

watching the apps
Samga said:
Is there any possibility/app to show what is registered for which app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an app called Autostarts at 0.95$.
It shows what is launched au startup, when you enable/disable wifi etc.
It think it gives insight on how apps seems launching out of nowhere.
I also reccomend Watchdog Task Manager Lite, the free version.
It does not kill anything, but notifies and logs the bad apps that consumes over a certain CPU percentage.

[Q] Is advanced task killer bad?

im reading that advanced task killer is good and bad, so is it bad to install or does it really work? im running CM7 Stable.

EverythingNook said:
im reading that advanced task killer is good and bad, so is it bad to install or does it really work? im running CM7 Stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything I've read says you don't need it with Android 2.2 and above.

I use it, nice quick and easy way to close things (like emulators that normally won't shut themselves off.)

dsf3g said:
Everything I've read says you don't need it with Android 2.2 and above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me too but my friends have 2.3 and they use it.

I use it if videos start to stutter (ie youtube etc). It seems to help.

It's bad if you set it to Auto-Kill. The reason is because from 2.2 onward, if you kill (not Force Close) and app, it'll just restart itself. That being said, Linux is not like Windows. With Linux, the OS will fill up memory (RAM) with whatever it can, in this case applications, even if you're not using them. HOWEVER, it will only dedicate the CPU to whatever you're actually using, so whatever is in memory and isn't being used won't affect you (aside from poorly-coded apps). You can use ATK to kill an app if it's just one or two, but not everything.
If you set ATK to auto-kill everything or if you hit Kill Everything, you'll have a ton of apps restarting at the same time, slowing down your phone for a while and eating battery.

Product F(RED) said:
It's bad if you set it to Auto-Kill. The reason is because from 2.2 onward, if you kill (not Force Close) and app, it'll just restart itself. That being said, Linux is not like Windows. With Linux, the OS will fill up memory (RAM) with whatever it can, in this case applications, even if you're not using them. HOWEVER, it will only dedicate the CPU to whatever you're actually using, so whatever is in memory and isn't being used won't affect you (aside from poorly-coded apps). You can use ATK to kill an app if it's just one or two, but not everything.
If you set ATK to auto-kill everything or if you hit Kill Everything, you'll have a ton of apps restarting at the same time, slowing down your phone for a while and eating battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alright ill stay away from it thanks!

That about sums it up. The only time an app should be killed is if a bug causes it to hang or slow down severely. Otherwise, let the Android system handle things itself.

In my experience it's nice to have for when you need to kill off a specific game or resource intensive app that seems to be slowing things down.

Product F(RED) said:
It's bad if you set it to Auto-Kill. The reason is because from 2.2 onward, if you kill (not Force Close) and app, it'll just restart itself. That being said, Linux is not like Windows. With Linux, the OS will fill up memory (RAM) with whatever it can, in this case applications, even if you're not using them. HOWEVER, it will only dedicate the CPU to whatever you're actually using, so whatever is in memory and isn't being used won't affect you (aside from poorly-coded apps). You can use ATK to kill an app if it's just one or two, but not everything.
If you set ATK to auto-kill everything or if you hit Kill Everything, you'll have a ton of apps restarting at the same time, slowing down your phone for a while and eating battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so would you recommended going into the app itself and picking the apps i want to be closed? or could i also use the widget to close all of them?

I would only recommend going into the app itself, long-pressing on the app you want to kill, and then pressing kill. Closing all of them just forces a large number of apps to restart. I really only use it to kill certain apps that are more difficult to close.

How to make your LG Optimus 2x run like a Rocket! (Requires Root)

You don’t need to change your ROM to get the best from your 2x, just a rooted stock ROM and a couple of apps that will change things dramatically. One thing I’ve noticed on the 2x is its memory management is too lenient and gets consumed quickly by background tasks etc. In no time I was down to 40-30Mb free memory and then my phone would run like a dog resulting in a reboot as the only solution.
Installing task and app killers are not the way, as they’ll only give you a short respite before the apps and background tasks you killed relaunch.
However, there is a solution.
1)Root your phone using SuperOneClick (piece of cake, instruction already on this forum)
2)Install “AutoKiller Memory Optimizer” by AndRS Studio free from the market
Optional
3) Install “Watchdog Task Manager” by Zolmut LLC (There’s a free or Paid version) I paid!
4) Install “Root App Remover” by Best of Best Android app
AutoKiller is not a task killer/manager it reconfigures Androids inbuilt memory manager to kill or suppress memory usage by applications and tasks. I now always have about 140-170MB free RAM at all times regardless of what I’m doing (but I do close my apps with the back button rather than click home)
AutoKiller Memory Optimizer Settings
I’ve used the ‘Extreme’ settings to ensure I have around 150MB free, and this makes a huge difference in everything I do with the phone.
----------Optional things you may want to consider-----------
Watchdog
Yeah, I know this is a task killer but Watchdog is different from other task mangers as it monitors CPU usage rather than free RAM, 3D Gallery for example is a CPU hog on my 2X, so I configured it to be killed if it consumes more than 30% CPU whilst running in the background, you’d be surprised what saps your battery!
Root App Remover
Uninstall the tosh supplied on the ROM, I removed the following, AndroidBackup (I use Titanium Backup), CarHome, F-Secure_Mobile_Security, SNS (If you’re not using the built in Facebook and Twitter app).
I also use LauncherPro with Beautiful Widgets to give my phone an almost HTC Sense look and feel and uninstalled LG Home using Root App Remover afterwards.
Hope it makes a difference for you, it did for me, vote if you like

What do you think having 140-170MB RAM free at all times actually does?
Guess what? Nothing.

I disagree, my phone runs way better now, maybe due to the fact that in part it’s killing more background tasks and enforcing better garbage collection. I want a phone that when I go to it, it responds immediately, I don’t want my phone to chug along whilst a new app is launched and android then decides to kill lower priority background tasks resulting in a choppy experience. These are my findings, and I wanted to share them. As a result using this particular application I now have a phone I can enjoy, rather than being frustrated by pausing, choppiness etc.
I would welcome your reasoning to why my post is useless, or explain why my phone is now running so well? Are you saying I’m suffering a placebo effect? Remember, this app is not a task killer, it reconfigures Androids internal memory management, see here:
http://andrs.w3pla.net/autokiller/details
and
http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/158846-autokiller-vs-setcpu.html#post1452069
Finally, I’m very happy with the results.
Spadb (HTC G1, HTC HD2[CM7], LG Optimus x2

We want to see some bench marks.

Thanks for sharing! My phone does become much more responsive
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App

I tried the app too and i can say that it works, I also did some of the advanced tweaks.
phone seems more responsive now.

Yes, me too. It's more responsive now. Also when I open app manager, the app list is a lot faster.I know it's more related to file read/write but still it's nice to finally able to browse with less waiting time.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App

thx
good one and simple, thx

cann someone please post some benchmarks?

Here are some screenshots, tested with AnTuTu Benchmark
The first one is v10c stock, some apps like f-secure, carapp etc frozen, second one is with using autokiller memory with preset extreme, third one is to compare, this was while using cm7.1 rc
now we'll see if autokiller works stable ^^
edit: realized that with cm7 something seemed to be wrong with the sd-card, so don't forget to compare the single-scores

spadb said:
I disagree, my phone runs way better now, maybe due to the fact that in part it’s killing more background tasks and enforcing better garbage collection. I want a phone that when I go to it, it responds immediately, I don’t want my phone to chug along whilst a new app is launched and android then decides to kill lower priority background tasks resulting in a choppy experience. These are my findings, and I wanted to share them. As a result using this particular application I now have a phone I can enjoy, rather than being frustrated by pausing, choppiness etc.
I would welcome your reasoning to why my post is useless, or explain why my phone is now running so well? Are you saying I’m suffering a placebo effect? Remember, this app is not a task killer, it reconfigures Androids internal memory management, see here:
http://andrs.w3pla.net/autokiller/details
and
http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/158846-autokiller-vs-setcpu.html#post1452069
Finally, I’m very happy with the results.
Spadb (HTC G1, HTC HD2[CM7], LG Optimus x2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure Rusty knows what he is talking about. Thing is, this talk about "the more free ram the better" has been repeated so many times, and at the end of the day, it seems to be more about user preference.
The default LG ROM seems to allow tasks to run in the background until it reaches around 50MB free RAM, then it starts to close tasks one by one. For multi-taskers like me, this is fine, I love how I can switch between facebook, tweetdeck, miren browser, google+, gmail, and messaging without seeing the apps reload.
For some, they'd want to open a task, close it, and move on to another without looking back. I guess that is where the 100MB of RAM is good for.
If you guys will be looking at benchmarks, I can guarantee that you will have higher scores with RAM optimizers. As benchmarks do not test multitasking, they simply check the performance of your phone at that point in time. (Which is also why some modders pump up their CPU freq to insane values before doing their bench then posting it.)
I have nothing against AKMO, and I find it very effective for Froyo builds. But I would recommend that each user try it out themselves. It's not a "1 fix for all" thing.

spadb said:
I disagree, my phone runs way better now, maybe due to the fact that in part it’s killing more background tasks and enforcing better garbage collection. I want a phone that when I go to it, it responds immediately, I don’t want my phone to chug along whilst a new app is launched and android then decides to kill lower priority background tasks resulting in a choppy experience. These are my findings, and I wanted to share them. As a result using this particular application I now have a phone I can enjoy, rather than being frustrated by pausing, choppiness etc.
I would welcome your reasoning to why my post is useless, or explain why my phone is now running so well? Are you saying I’m suffering a placebo effect? Remember, this app is not a task killer, it reconfigures Androids internal memory management, see here:
http://andrs.w3pla.net/autokiller/details
and
http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/158846-autokiller-vs-setcpu.html#post1452069
Finally, I’m very happy with the results.
Spadb (HTC G1, HTC HD2[CM7], LG Optimus x2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll just say this once: Free RAM is wasted RAM. If you feel´your phone is slow try adding some swap space

kiljacken said:
I'll just say this once: Free RAM is wasted RAM. If you feel´your phone is slow try adding some swap space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does O2X already support swap space in EXT? (Or are your referring to VM heap?)

Doesn't play well with Fr19 at all (2 reboots in 2 minutes). Maybe I touched some settings that I shouldn't though.

akyp said:
Doesn't play well with Fr19 at all (2 reboots in 2 minutes). Maybe I touched some settings that I shouldn't though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, FR19 is one of the more stable ROMs out there. Try full wipe then reflash maybe.

[q] best autorun task killer

Please tell my which is best software that stops applications to run automatically at startup
tell me the application which works

no one is using any app. to stop unnecessary start up of tasks

try autostarts its very good
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

Ditto on Autostarts. Also, Autokiller Memory Optimzer works really well, it doesn't kill tasks itself, it tweaks the Android function thar does it to work better.

auto killer mem optimizer workd well for me.but now i simply don use any of those batt saving app,mem apps etc i jus kill apps in inbuilt task killer...iam using my phone to the peek cause at the end ill b getting a 2ghz dual core by selling sgs.......cant stick to old things lol........cheeerz

tarunagg said:
Please tell my which is best software that stops applications to run automatically at startup
tell me the application which works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... what?
Do any of you even understand how Android works?

so mind sharing ur exp wiv us on how it works???

manosv said:
try autostarts its very good
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Autostarts. It amazes me what runs on the phone after start-up, after you switch states or update apps. The perfect cure for batt draining nonsense

rocky23 said:
so mind sharing ur exp wiv us on how it works???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google it. Android is Linux based. Its memory management is not the same as Windows. I'd explain further, but you're the 4,753,857,195 person to ask.

I spent 10s and googled it for you. Here's a quick link that explains it in simple terms.
http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them
Basically having applications in RAM is a GOOD thing. Constantly killing them is likely to WORSEN PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE.

Shanakin said:
I spent 10s and googled it for you. Here's a quick link that explains it in simple terms.
http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them
Basically having applications in RAM is a GOOD thing. Constantly killing them is likely to WORSEN PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right. On the other hand - permitting almost every app to load at startup isn't the best approach, as you will soon run out of memory - therefore using apps like autostart makes sense imho. But constantly killing everything isn't the right approach either. Android removes "old" apps automatically.
Bottom line:
- just letting those apps load at startup, which you use on regular basis, is fine
- using a "ram tweaker", auto-kill app, etc. is not
Kind regards,
ww

webwude said:
That's right. On the other hand - permitting almost every app to load at startup isn't the best approach, as you will soon run out of memory - therefore using apps like autostart makes sense imho. But constantly killing everything isn't the right approach either. Android removes "old" apps automatically.
Bottom line:
- just letting those apps load at startup, which you use on regular basis, is fine
- using a "ram tweaker", auto-kill app, etc. is not
Kind regards,
ww
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And when you run out of memory, Android will free memory by automatically killing cached (unused) apps. Therefore, I don't see the point of stopping apps from running at start--unless they're actually doing something in the background and not letting your phone sleep.
RAM tweaks (or memory management), on the other hand, is the only thing I use. I adjust OOM settings to adjust which apps Android closes to free memory, as well as how much free RAM Android should keep open in various situations.

upichie said:
And when you run out of memory, Android will free memory by automatically killing cached (unused) apps. Therefore, I don't see the point of stopping apps from running at start--unless they're actually doing something in the background and not letting your phone sleep.
RAM tweaks (or memory management), on the other hand, is the only thing I use. I adjust OOM settings to adjust which apps Android closes to free memory, as well as how much free RAM Android should keep open in various situations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually I don't see the point that an app, that I hardly use once per month should be loaded everytime I start the phone or change my internet connection. Also more apps at startup increase the time when the phone is available...
But on the other hand, you are certainly right, after a while, only the latest apps are still in background / memory. What I have recognized nevertheless: if you use a lot of apps with push functionality and load on startup, the phone runs out of memory...
Kind regards,
ww