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Enjoying Taskiller - works very well.
Most users know their apps run better once unnecessary background apps / services have been killed.
Another set of users continue to complain about specific games or apps being laggy without taking steps to solve the problem.
Case in point is the camera application which needs more memory than most and often gets out of memory exceptions.
What would be great is if Taskiller or one of the other task closing apps could create a configurable desktop shortcut that would kill all unneeded apps, then launch a preconfigured app, e.g. camera app.
Users would need to understand that clicking this button to launch another app will lose state in any running apps, but will most likely mean the game or app they then run will have far better performance and be less laggy.
Any takers?
Though im the tiniest bit of confused...
A) If this app TaskKiller (never used) worked so well, whats the need for another?
B) I am also unsure if its absolutely necessary for the android platform. Maybe older phones or WinMo phones (<6.1) have this problem. But as far as I know, android has a garbage collector in which it treats its processes with priority and after a certain utilization, it ends it (for instance. I am playing gameboid, then just hit the home button. I can go back to gameboid fine. But if I open a large app after 'minimizing' gameboid (like opening the htc music player), gameboid will end and I will have to reload it again. Though if I open msgs while gameboid is minimized, gb stays up.
Its supposed to do that. So this request I am not sure if its really necessary.
Killing background apps when memory requires is the theory behind the OS but doesn't always work in practise.
For example, play any game on Android and you'll see occasional judders in the scrolling, etc. - this is usually because a Facebook or Twitter app on the phone has decided that its a good time to get some new notifications ... but that spoils the game experience.
I hate to mention the fruity phone but this is one of the places where it beats Android hands down and their games are in a different league to ours.
I think a way to clear the phone's background processes before launching a game / resource intensive app would make a big difference.
Hi fellow XDA'rs.
As most you probably know, the way android and most os's works, every time you start up your device some/many apps startup with it.
This certainly bogs things down on startup but also in the long run when they stay resident idling in mem.
Android allows apps to register for events that are then started whenever triggered.
For example, on my phone prior to getting this app, everytime I pressed the camera button Camera, SMS commander (WTF), ChompSMS (WTFF), and Snaphotopro ran code. I could even see it happening in a task manager.
Sometimes apps stay in memory indefinitely after doing something irrelevant to their function like clicking camera/downloading something .
So I disabled everything except my main camera and everything still works the same, but ONLY SnapPhoto runs code and uses memory.
The real place i think autostarts shines is that it not only allows you to selectively disable what starts on boot, but also control what happens on every event.
It's on the market for like 98cents or some crap, and I REALLY think we should support the dev for this top-notch app.
It does way more for me than overclocking etc.. and i'm not advertising LOL.
What do you guys think??
Stock Apps that May Be Unsafe To Disable
Messaging (Disabling Is Known To Hinder SMS-Retrieval)
Google Talk (Disabling Is Known To Cause Trouble with the Market)
Stock Apps That Appears to be Safe to Disable
Maps (Disabled on startup without issues)
Clock (Disabled on start without any issues thus far)
Camera (Disabled Stock camera from running when camera button is pressed without issue)
Pico TTS (A text-to-speech thing that runs code every time an app is installed Disabled without issue)
MP3 Store (Runs code whenever an app is replaced, disabled, no issues)
i used it before, but i noticed that if you disable some apps on startup, it will make those apps not function anymore. for example, i remember i disabled the default message app and a bunch of other "normal" apps, and then i would not get any SMS anymore or some of my apps stopped loading. also even after you uninstall the app, it would not return to normal. they listed this as a bug for the version i tried so i couldnt restore the apps i disabled.
right now i just use advance task manager and put the one click widget on my home screen. so after every event i get in the habit of just clickin that widget and it iwll close all apps. and everything works fine.
That's true. Disabling messaging will prevent you from getting sms's even if you have chompsms, chomp's main functionality is as a front-end to the messaging app, not the core. This is not the apps fault
The reason I made this post is so we could compile a list of apps that are okay to disable and aren't. I forget to mention that in the OP .
I will edit the first post with the list but I need input from the community.
So far..
Messaging (Disabling Is Known To Hinder SMS-Retrieval)
Google Talk (Disabling Is Known To Cause Trouble with the Market)
For the most part disabling stock apps isn't the brightest idea.
Autostarts will warn you when you try to disable a stock component.
Also you can view only non-stock apps, if you don't want to mess with the settings.
Some can be disabled without any apparent trouble.
In my case..
Maps (Disabled on startup without issues)
Clock (Disabled on start without any issues thus far)
Camera (Disabled Stock camera from running when camera button is pressed without issue)
Pico TTS (A text-to-speech thing that runs code every time an app is installed Disabled without issue)
MP3 Store (Runs code whenever an app is replaced, disabled, no issues)
There are several more instances of the same apps that are disabled.
So far no FC's or problems. I've reduced the amount of times I need to end all apps by about 90%
Feel free to help add to the list!
I don't disable any stock apps as they seem to die by themselves after a while. Meanwhile I disable pretty much all 3rd party apps (except things like Sim Checker).
This app is amazing!
By the way, if you disable "Widget updating" it also removes unwanted widgets (I tend not to use any).
Glad it's working well for ya Karolis.
Thanks for the tip!
I havent actually tried it, but i'll remember that if I ever have too many widgets in the list.
Another tip is to check out Menu -> View.
You can enable the unknown's and have more options to disable
Is anyone else annoyed by devs who don't allow their apps to be purchased through your T-Mobile account? Something about putting $0.99 on my credit card annoys me. No biggie, but it would be nice if that option was available for this app.
TeeJay3800 said:
Is anyone else annoyed by devs who don't allow their apps to be purchased through your T-Mobile account? Something about putting $0.99 on my credit card annoys me. No biggie, but it would be nice if that option was available for this app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well what can we do except take it
I use Startup Auditor, works pretty well, compared to Autostarts. I also believe it doesn't list anything that would damage your bootup.
tehseano said:
I use Startup Auditor, works pretty well, compared to Autostarts. I also believe it doesn't list anything that would damage your bootup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't heard of Startup Auditor either, but after reading about it, it seems a little more appealing than Autostarts. Especially the part about not disabling anything important from starting. Thanks!
Startup auditor isn't bad.
It doesn't have even a third of the options as autostarts though.
I tried it and although the GUI was nice, and it worked, the lack of choices made me uninstall it in a matter of minutes.
Also, if you're worried about messing up your phone with autostarts just go to Menu -> View -> Hide System Apps and its pretty much the same thing as startup auditor.
I just purchased Startup Auditor and it seems like a nice app. However, I disabled a few apps and then rebooted. When the reboot finished, some of the apps that I had just disabled were still running! I've e-mailed the dev and will post if I get a response. Has anyone else experienced this with Startup Auditor or any other startup app?
I've been using Autostarts for a while and I really notice the difference on boot up time. Before Autostarts it would take forever to boot up the system, then it would be super sluggish. Now since it doesn't start nearly half the apps on boot, it's much faster.
Some apps I question on why it's doing what it's doing. Like Tunewiki for instance. Why does it need to start when an application is replaced or removed? Cleared those out and everything is much speedier!
A lot of them are triggered by strange things.
Like you said, tunewiki when adding or replacing an app.
I think this is their way of staying in the background, which speeds up opening tunewiki but at the cost of slowing everything else down.
I hate developers that do this..
How does the system determine which apps to run at boot?
Whenever i try to disable the amazon mp3 autostart the program tells me to wait and gets stuck on the please wait screen... Any clue if this is normal operation?
amazon mp3 does not seem to want to be disabled.
edit: i think i figured out the problem with amazon mp3. you have to disable it in two places, once in the after startup but also in the connectivity changed section. also i was having trouble with other programs but i forgot i those had widgets. i think for apps that have widgets will cause those apps to load on start up. if you want to disable them you have to do so in the widgets section. just dont do it for widgets you actually have in use.
Does this app not work on latest superd? i get fc everytime on g1.
Anyone know where there are two (2) Messanger apps AND two (2) Handcent apps listed for after startup?
Seems like I should be able to disable messanger, but from these posts perhaps not.... can I disable handcent with no issues... seems like a text received would trigger it to open with no problems.
Why (and can I stop) is Voice Dialer involved with all changes to applications (installed/removed)?
s15274n said:
Anyone know where there are two (2) Messanger apps AND two (2) Handcent apps listed for after startup?
Seems like I should be able to disable messanger, but from these posts perhaps not.... can I disable handcent with no issues... seems like a text received would trigger it to open with no problems.
Why (and can I stop) is Voice Dialer involved with all changes to applications (installed/removed)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering this too. Maybe it starts to read the app names so it can "read" the filename so if you call it through Voice Search it knows what app to call up. Not sure.
Imho, this app is absolutely amazing.
I had the problem, that although i am using Handcent only, still every text was shown as new in the message application as well (and the icon on the homescreen shows one new message). Now i have removed message completely - only my handcent widget shows any test infos
Besides that, i could disable a lot of useless or at least strange applications starts triggered by certain events.
In this point of view, it's very useful, for Galaxy S as well!
Why do several apps randomly start up?
It feels like I constantly have to open task killer and kill over a dozen apps even when my phone hasn't been touched since the last time I killed almost the exact same list of apps.
Att Navigator, stocks, countdown, etc. seem to be the regular culprits. Any help with this situation would be awesome.
I've noticed the same thing on my Aria. AT&T Navigator always restarts by itself and I've never even used it. So I just set ATK to auto kill.
Look at the sync settings and you can disable things you dont need (News, stocks etc)
A "Running" app behaves differently on android. The app may be "Running" but it is also "Sleeping" which means that it may not be using any resources (battery, cpu, etc).
Using a task killer may actually be hurting your performance and battery life.
http://androidspin.com/2010/05/25/why-you-dont-need-a-task-killer-app-with-android/
I just check the running apps on my Aria and I understand why every single one is running. AT&T Nav is NOT running. You should check all the widgets you are using, having the widget on the home screen start app automatically.
If you're rooted....
I can't tell you why it does it, but I can tell you how to stop it. If you're rooted, spend the $.89 (approx.) for Autostarts. One of the best programs I've installed.
I was having the same issue, I use AT&T Nav, but it always seemed to show up on the task list even when I hadn't started it. For whatever reason, it's set to start whenever you get a text message! With Autostarts I was able to stop it (along with many other things).
Best of luck to you!
armyengineer51 said:
I can't tell you why it does it, but I can tell you how to stop it. If you're rooted, spend the $.89 (approx.) for Autostarts. One of the best programs I've installed.
I was having the same issue, I use AT&T Nav, but it always seemed to show up on the task list even when I hadn't started it. For whatever reason, it's set to start whenever you get a text message! With Autostarts I was able to stop it (along with many other things).
Best of luck to you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One caveat to this, BE CAREFUL. This is a powerful program and it will let you stop just about any service/program on your phone. You could really do some damage if you don't watch it.
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.
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Hey Guys,
Android multitasks like a boss, unlike iOS it doesn't pause it's apps on pressing the home key, while completely letting it stop running code, but i'm still missing something in android:
For example, when i'm at home and i connect my phone to my speakers in the living room, i sometimes use youtube to play tracks that i don't have on my storage. This works fine but when the track is nearly finished and i switch tabs in the dolphin browser to open another song before the track is over, the playback immediately stops because i changed tabs.
Or when i'm listening to a song on youtube through and i want to go back to the homescreen to open another app, the playback also stops.
I know it drains the battery like crazy if the browser would continue, but i wonder if there isn't an app or something that would let android run a couple of non-system apps at a time once in a while.
I hope you guys know something
Thanks
I have the same issue, and I use the YouTube App. I think it's because Google assume's you're watching the video, not just listening to it.
Radio/Music Apps don't have this limitation. Try any these three FREE Internet Radio stations and you'll be hooked: Pandora Internet Radio, TuneIn Radio, iHeartRadio and Sky.FM Internet Radio.
You can't be serious, Android doesn't have "real multitasking". Not even ICS.
You can separate "Multitasking" into 6 categories.
1) True Multitasking - you can see AND interact with two (or more) RUNNING applications.
2) True Multitasking - you can see two (or more) RUNNING applications, only interact with them one at a time.
3) Multitasking - you can only see and interact with one application but all other applications RUN in the background.
4) Pseudo-Multitasking - you can see and interact with one application but only RUN several applications in the background.
5) Pseudo-Multitasking - you can see and interact with one application and can SAVE STATE (to ram) other applications.
6) No Multitasking - you can see and interact with one application and can see a list of other applications which can be called upon.
The only mobiles that can multitask (that I know of) is the N900/N9/N950, the Blackberry Playbook, Palm Touchpad/Pre/Pixi/etc.
Android can technically do True Multitasking (or even True Multitasking2) but it needs to be hacked and made to do so in a very different way, as Inoxos shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E1ckOoeRJg&feature=player_embedded
Right now, the best you can get is ICS Pseudo-Multitasking were the core services RUN in the background, you can run a few (6 iirc) applications in the background, and have unlimited* applications SAVE STATE.... and put them into a *Multitasking List* The reason for this move by Google is simple: Battery life. However, for smart users aka power users this is quite intrusive and we rather have True Multitasking because we know what we are doing.
ekin said:
However, for smart users aka power users this is quite intrusive and we rather have True Multitasking because we know what we are doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your point, but isn't this why Android is open source?
When you buy a device, you are getting a "consumer level" OS, which isn't really configured for power user - this is why the manufacturers go to such lengths to lock down the device.
What I would like to see in Android is the ability to designate a process/application as unkillable by Android task management, so that I can ensure that when I switch task, that process isn't killed. I could achieve this via a custom AOSP build, but I don't want it enough to actually bother doing it myself!
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Real multitasking is possible but it must be enabled in the app. I use Igo navigation which can be forced to run in the background, and just today i had navigation running and giving verbal instructions whilst listening to a podcast all while browsing the web. If thats not multitasking i dont know what is.
Saying android cant do real multitasking is rubbish im sorry but thats the nicest way i could have put it. Go back to your iphone lol or learn how to use android properly before making such comments.
Using your definitions there If i can run navigation in the background while using the headset to control the music app and at the same time use the browser normaly what type of multitasking is that? All 3 apps are running simultaniously and I can control 2 apps at once. Whilst this is happening I can be downloading something from the market and answer a phone call.
Nice long post full of crap info you have there.
martcerv said:
Real multitasking is possible but it must be enabled in the app. I use Igo navigation which can be forced to run in the background, and just today i had navigation running and giving verbal instructions whilst listening to a podcast all while browsing the web. If thats not multitasking i dont know what is.
Saying android cant do real multitasking is rubbish im sorry but thats the nicest way i could have put it. Go back to your iphone lol or learn how to use android properly before making such comments.
Using your definitions there If i can run navigation in the background while using the headset to control the music app and at the same time use the browser normaly what type of multitasking is that? All 3 apps are running simultaniously and I can control 2 apps at once. Whilst this is happening I can be downloading something from the market and answer a phone call.
Nice long post full of crap info you have there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@martcerv i know android can multitask like that, on an iphone you can let the music play in the background too.. but igo navigation and music are ment to work in the background.. i was wondering if there's a way you can choose yourself what apps you want to run in the background. Because you can't let the browser run in the background
@ekin, will ICS let me to select the browser to be one of the 6 apps that run in the background?
I think its down to each app, by default most aren't enabled to run in the background but the os is capable of it. Even igo will only work in background if you change the advanced settings to work that way.
As mobiles are limited in ram and battery, most app developers trend to disable this feature otherwise lots of people would complain that there system its lagging and battery life is being killed by the app. I'd like to see an option in most aps so people that want it can use it but they will be aware of the possible performance and battery issues.
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martcerv said:
I think its down to each app, by default most aren't enabled to run in the background but the os is capable of it. Even igo will only work in background if you change the advanced settings to work that way.
As mobiles are limited in ram and battery, most app developers trend to disable this feature otherwise lots of people would complain that there system its lagging and battery life is being killed by the app. I'd like to see an option in most aps so people that want it can use it but they will be aware of the possible performance and battery issues.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The solution for that is for android's multitasking capabilities to advance further to the decree of Maemo/WebOS/etc and a smart ux overhaul that makes such process easy.
For instance, look at Win7's Superbar. Many years were spent getting it to its current state, and it handles this problem in a cinch!
@martcev
What you described is Pseudo-Multitasking as I have defined. As stated by another, even iOS does this (but less advanced). If you use a device from a different (multitasking) mobileOS you might actually grasp my comment.
Kangal said:
The solution for that is for android's multitasking capabilities to advance further to the decree of Maemo/WebOS/etc and a smart ux overhaul that makes such process easy.
For instance, look at Win7's Superbar. Many years were spent getting it to its current state, and it handles this problem in a cinch!
@martcev
What you described is Pseudo-Multitasking as I have defined. As stated by another, even iOS does this (but less advanced). If you use a device from a different (multitasking) mobileOS you might actually grasp my comment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kangal, I get you totally.
I recently dropped my N900 on the floor and finally killed it. I chose to get a SGS3 as a replacement because I already got my wife a N9 a while ago so I don't see the point of getting another one. Anyway, I've been trying to find a way to true multitask on my SGS3 like Maemo does but it seems that it's not possible (maybe at least not on stock). I like the SGS3 for its screen and the fact that it can handle videos in pretty much any resolution but I can't help to think that I actually own a "dumbphone" for the fact that it can't true multitask.
I mean, if it can't multitask properly, what's the point of having 4 cores?
there used to be an opensource Window switcher on windows mobile, same maker as wififofum that rocked. its funny it dissapeared and never was implemented for android. That rocked
It indeed is strange that android doesnt have it natively, there are paid solutions on the market thought
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xdadJeroen said:
Hey Guys,
Android multitasks like a boss, unlike iOS it doesn't pause it's apps on pressing the home key, while completely letting it stop running code, but i'm still missing something in android:
For example, when i'm at home and i connect my phone to my speakers in the living room, i sometimes use youtube to play tracks that i don't have on my storage. This works fine but when the track is nearly finished and i switch tabs in the dolphin browser to open another song before the track is over, the playback immediately stops because i changed tabs.
Or when i'm listening to a song on youtube through and i want to go back to the homescreen to open another app, the playback also stops.
I know it drains the battery like crazy if the browser would continue, but i wonder if there isn't an app or something that would let android run a couple of non-system apps at a time once in a while.
I hope you guys know something
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the only problem with Android's multitasking is that it drains battery. there's so much applications running in background, and i have to manually kill them. to minimize my manually killing these applications, i have to check their settings and for those applications that have sync, i have to increase the sync timing for example from every 5 mins to 24 hours. its a nightmare to go through all my applications (i figured it out late), and it gives me headache when some applications there's no such option!
i know for some applications it is useful for example if u want to download something in a different application while doing something else with another application. but i dont download much(well... its a phone, not a computer). so because of that, i really hate Android's multitask approach. i hope at some point, there's an option where Android can switch multitask configuration, where i would love to use iOS's solution, where they pauses background apps... it would certainly solve S2's battery problem.
Actually android can does allow true multitasking just like on your desktop. It not android that has the limitation, its some of the apps. My wife's SGS2 on gingerbread 2.3.6 can run Aircalc, floating browser & overskreen all on the screen at the exact same time running simultaneously & I can still cycle through my homescreen without minizing anything. This is straight stock right out of the box. Android has had the capability for years, there just hasn't been many apps that take advantage of it. Android is the most powerful, versatile OS out there because the possibilities are endless
lol, just cause an app has a workaround doesnt mean that the OS shouldnt have it natively... thats the issue, it should be natively supported, not random by some genious developers...
If that were true than you can program any app on any os and call the os genious... because a programmer invents something... I remember people building awesome stuff in dos, that didnt make dos awesome lol.
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I made multitasking alot better - even on sense 4.0 and 4.1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1900626
Testers welcome.
zeppelinrox said:
I made multitasking alot better - even on sense 4.0 and 4.1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1900626
Testers welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zeppelinrox you rock with yer scripts, automagically lmao
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Popup play its multitasking
I can write here.. Whatsapp, mail while watching videos.. Also power amp running music and do the same.. That's multitasking... Would be cool to let YouTube play the video in the background.. Or save the state of a website when you stop using the browser..
Other than that I don't see any other use
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You're confusing multitasking with a band-aid fix that's good for only one single purpose.
Call it what ever you want.. Multi-tasking(wiki) : "In computing, multitasking is a method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, are performed during the same period of time. The tasks share common processing resources, such as a CPU and main memory"
When ever I can accomplish this no matter what.. This can be called multitasking....
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---------- Post added at 08:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:19 PM ----------
Back in DOS days you could only run 1 task at a time.. Play a game? Sure but you could not do anything else...
Develop software in gwbasic? Sure but again you can not do anything else.. Copy some files from a diskette to another? Sure but once again you can not do anything else.. Mean no multitasking allowed
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lol some dudes created a shell, in which a windowed environment allowed multitasking
anyways strictly speaking your correct. But then my requirements of multitasking is a bit higher
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multitasking app?
zeppelinrox said:
I made multitasking alot better - even on sense 4.0 and 4.1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1900626
Testers welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds quite promising. Is it possible to make an app that you can adjust the number of simultaneous tasks allowed. Simiar to, say setting, maximum cpu using gui? I'm sure many people that are not familar with all the inner workings of android would appreciate having this capability.
Thanks for your efforts!