Using the gpu to help with the graphical interface - Motorola Droid and Milestone General

I read somewhere that most if not all android phones only rely on the cpu to push all the live wallpapers, and widgets, etc that are on our homescreens. I have read that this could be one reason as to why the iphone (to some) typically seems to work more fluidly. Is it possible to eventually hack or mod our phones to utilize the GPU to help push all our widgets and homescreens and let teh CPU to do what it does best and not try to push a whole phone? Just curious on peoples input. I know I would love it.

Related

2.1 Apps (Launcher + Gallery)

Just wanted to ask why it is that the 2.1 roms out there don't have the new launcher or gallery apps?
For me the most exciting thing about 2.1 is the new launcher but every 2.1 rom I have tried still has the old pull-up tray. I was under the impression that the main things that made 2.1 visually different to 2.0 were the new launcher and gallery?
You have to remember that the developers are trying to "port" this stuff over from the Nexus One... a new phone with a 1ghz processor and more RAM than that of our G1s and MT3Gs...
That new Nexus ONE also has 3D hardware acceleration. This is the primary reason why the gallery and app menus from 2.1 "Eclair" work well on it and not our phones.
Have patience; we'll get them soon, but it will take time to get it working.
Thanks for the response rbrainard.
I get that it probably won't run very well on our older tech. But I just found it weird that it wasn't included in at least some of the roms just as a proof of concept type thing?
Or, is it just that those two particular apps won't run on our phones yet? Constant FC's or something?
It's more or less a "backporting" issue...
Like taking a sweet looking Windows Vista Aero theme and getting it to work on Windows 2000... ??? If that's a good analogy?
The way those softwares are currently developed is specifically for they hardware intended... As we have different hardware... a software revamp is required.
This rom has them, as well as live wallpapers, in the beta version. I've only used the basic rom though, so I can't comment on how it works.
Yeah i saw that one, really impressive that they've managed to get it to work so far! I guess now we just need to wait until someone manages to resize and optimize the App to work on our smaller screens / processors.

Milestone ram management is horrible?

Im on got 2.2 but this happened to me with 2.1 too, is really annoying, multitasking is not executed well, my programs keep closing :/ 70-80% of the times i press the home button while im playing music+using the browser+using trillian or behive launcher pro loads the whole homescreen and widgets :/ , if switch to the browser, it reloads the websites or loads the homepage , am i doing something wrong?
i tought 256 mb wasnt that horrible for a smartphone
i blame android.
i was ok with my phone til the last week. i got an ipod touch 4g. 256mb only on that one and people complained it was a neutered iphone but damn it smokes my milestone in day to day tasks. granted it can't make a call, but im pretty pissed that android still lacks the optimization we need.
Chad_Petree said:
Im on got 2.2 but this happened to me with 2.1 too, is really annoying, multitasking is not executed well, my programs keep closing :/ 70-80% of the times i press the home button while im playing music+using the browser+using trillian or behive launcher pro loads the whole homescreen and widgets :/ , if switch to the browser, it reloads the websites or loads the homepage , am i doing something wrong?
i tought 256 mb wasnt that horrible for a smartphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to me on 2.2 but on 2.1 it runs very smooth... Try "Keep in memory" setting from Launcher Pro --> Preferences
is there any method to optimize the ram usage of android. i thought that a milestone is better then iphone, i still think it is,but if the android system dont get better, iphone will smoke all of us in the pipe.
the first thing i noticed when i holded my milestone in my hands was, damn is it fast and brilliant, better then the iphone, the same day i started modding and overclocking and things like that. i gave him a little too much vsel, .... and since then i think it has gotten slower :/ , maybe some of you had the same expirience
Guys, please consider the fact, that google has to optimize their OS for different smartphone setups from different manufacturers ... the iOS featured in the iPhone and iPod Touch has been completely optimized on their hardware, since iOS isnt featured outside the apple family of handhelds. Because of this, the optimisation and integration is WAY more comfortable, Google has a ****load of work to do to consider the many different phones besides their nexus one.
give it time guys. MIUI handles the memory management already pretty good, runs way more responsive that stock android.
It's problem of the apps and widget you are using, download a app call system pannel, you will find out many apps and widget take up so many ram.
and 2.2 got leak have a problem which make the launcher redraw so often.
for launcher pro, there is an options to keep it in memory.
vladstercr said:
Same thing happened to me on 2.2 but on 2.1 it runs very smooth... Try "Keep in memory" setting from Launcher Pro --> Preferences
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just checked that option, it says its experimental tough , theres a couple of exta ptins:
memory usage preset: high,mediu,moderate,low...
homescreen cache type: normal compressed,light
Should i mess with this setings too?
Try4Ce said:
Guys, please consider the fact, that google has to optimize their OS for different smartphone setups from different manufacturers ... the iOS featured in the iPhone and iPod Touch has been completely optimized on their hardware, since iOS isnt featured outside the apple family of handhelds. Because of this, the optimisation and integration is WAY more comfortable, Google has a ****load of work to do to consider the many different phones besides their nexus one.
give it time guys. MIUI handles the memory management already pretty good, runs way more responsive that stock android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
piss poor excuse. there's not much rocket science going into optimizing a homescreen smoothness.
The A4 chip the iPhone 4 uses is more similar to a Samsung Hummingbird.
The OMAP chip the 3GS uses is similar to the one we have in the Droid/Milestone.
The old ARM11 chips in the 2G/3G/iPod Touch 1g/2G/3g 8gb is different too.
The fact is Apple has accounted for 3 types of CPUs and while they are all ARM architecture, it's similar to the fact we have Qualcomm, TI, and Samsung CPUs floating around. Even Google's own Nexus One is piss poor smooth on the homescreen.
Granted here at XDA we've already ROMed the hell out of our phones, but the fact that I'm still ashamed when I whip out my Milestone just to show my friends Facebook, and they ALWAYS comment on how choppy it is despite my 1100mhz overclock or whatever. I'll even reboot just before hanging out with them just in case I need to do some stuff. Android is just too freaking slow.
i am using cronos froyo 1.5 and i must say i am suprised, it is a good rom, fast and stabil,and trust me i testes many roms, maybe all?
so is there a way of modifing a rom (maybe cronos) to get rid of all the services that are not needed for a normal user? maybe it would be more ram available this way... aint it?
I think that 256 mb ram are enough. Try eclair mod v0.3b. It is very fast and i get about 110mb free ram. I use Advanced task killer and Estrong task manager. I have them both on my homescreen and when i tap them both I get 110mb ram free.
ram
the task killer is an option i dont want to use, because android should manage that him self, but maybe tere are some services that are not needed, so we can delete them, and make a slim rom. do someone know what services are not needed, and how we can wipe them?
Granted here at XDA we've already ROMed the hell out of our phones, but the fact that I'm still ashamed when I whip out my Milestone just to show my friends Facebook, and they ALWAYS comment on how choppy it is despite my 1100mhz overclock or whatever. I'll even reboot just before hanging out with them just in case I need to do some stuff. Android is just too freaking slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha ha I have to do that exact same thing, so embarrassing as it always happens just after I've sung praises for Android!
Yriel40k said:
I think that 256 mb ram are enough. Try eclair mod v0.3b. It is very fast and i get about 110mb free ram. I use Advanced task killer and Estrong task manager. I have them both on my homescreen and when i tap them both I get 110mb ram free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On milestone? Don't believe it. Pleas post some screenshots so I can be amazed
As Milestone has really terrible hardware spec (cpu, ram, flash) I am still hoping someone would start to build ultra-lite version of the android without any non-essential services running, applications on flash, launchers, wallpapers, etc.
Regarding the multitasking - yes when I try to open second app I am holding my breath whether the first one will get killed or will survive
IMO it was depend on which rom u were used.
Try live home for launcher its pretty fast and handles multitasking
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Do you use any weather and clock widgets-if yes there is a option called refresh when home is pressed you disable it and your screen would come alive much faster.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
I have never be success on milestone, always restarting
I would say it probably more have to do with Motorola for not taking the effort to optimize Android's software for the Milestone, my friend X8 is smoother than mine despite having only 168MB(!) of RAM and he used live wallpapers too. 2.2 also for some reason seems to be very sluggish as compared to 2.1/2.3
Anyway I also believe that because of our higher resolution screen (854 x 480), more RAM is needed as more resource is needed for greater resolution and phones usually reserved more RAM (slightly) for connectivity purposes (cell tower) which lead to a "shortage" of free RAM on our milestone.
Though no doubt, I would say iOS have a slightly better memory management than Android but Android is not that bad given that the Nexus One prior to 2.2/2.3, the amount of RAM available for them is 40mb less than Milestone due to a bug but it still flies. Shows alot that effort to optimize by the OEMs matter more rather than Android itself.

[[Speed Improvements]] Brainstorming & Testing Thread!!

Hey guys,
Seems there's a lot of ways you can improve the speed of Android in general. Some seem to be snakeoil... others, work quite well and there's proof to back it up.
I'm only interested in discussing the latter .
A lot of people have helped me gather a better understanding of Android (hyc, stinebd to name a few) in addition to a lot of Google searching. I am going to compile a list of what I have done, I would like to hear what you guys have done! Most app killer apps / app control will already be addressed, so those tools need not apply... I'm looking for real, permanent fixes here without adding more apps!
I am also trying to have topics that are easy working up to advanced. Obviously the more advanced topics are going to be harder to do. You've been warned.
So here's the disclaimer.
****DISCLAIMER****
Speed is as always relative. That basically means I don't want arguments about which build is faster. I want to argue about how to make every build faster .
Also, these tips should apply to any build, any device... they are pretty generic tips, but are obviously specific to Android, with some idiosyncrasies that apply to our port that wouldn't apply to native Android devices. Some is common sense, others are real ways to tear into the system. Hope you enjoy it!
Topic 1
Difficulty Easy - Apps/Widgets​
I've noticed the number of widgets i have on my screens, or the number of apps that I have installed/are running in the background to greatly effect performance, in an obviously negative way.
Once I removed all the widgets (I only have the basic analog clock widget & the Google search widget on one desktop...) this seemed to improve general speed. One minor thing to check is if apps are set to auto/background sync. Only enable the ones you really want syncing, others just check manually.
On this same topic, replacing the launcher (the stock launcher in Android, Launcher2 is quite slow) can help immensely. I like ADW, but I've used LauncherPro in the past and it is good. Zeam also seems like a good launcher. I haven't used Go Launcher EX, I've heard good and bad things about it. Use what works best for you, try 'em all!
The last thing on this topic I would like to mention is animations. Settings -> Display -> Animation -> No animations can make the phone feel quite a bit snappier, obviously at the expense of the look/feel of the OS.
Topic 2​
Difficulty Easy - Controlling app 'net Access​
This leads me into the next topic, DroidWall. I've noticed that blocking apps from accessing the internet has been a very good thing - it's not so much a performance booster (although it probably does provide a little bump) it's mostly about battery life. Just be warned, if you block an app that is set to background sync, it will probably have very negative effects. Only disable an app's access to the internet with DroidWall after you've checked that app's background sync feature is disabled. I have a few apps allowed in DroidWall, and the rest are blocked. You can "whitelist" everything and check apps you want to block, or "blacklist" everything and check the apps you want to allow. It's a little annoying to remember to enable/disable DroidWall (I use the DroidWall widget to enable/disable it globally) but if you do, it is much better - you have complete control over how apps access the 'net on your device. It is available on the Market.
Topic 3​
Difficulty Moderate - SD cache/readahead tweaking​
The only reason I'm calling this one 'moderate' is the number of choices you have for settings for this... It's basically telling the SD card how much to hold on to or... read "ahead" if you will . This was turned way up in FRX07, (from 256kb to 2048kb or 2mb...) and I think this might be the source of a lot of the complaints of 'mini-resets' if you will where the boot animation is suddenly seen after a long system hang...
So some cards will work better with a larger setting - I've heard some with spankin new C6 cards that said 3072kb or 3mb was a good setting. Others have found a sweet spot at 256kb or 1024kb (1mb).
There are two ways of doing this - you can hack the init in the rootfs and adjust the setting manually, or be lazy like me and use SD Booster (from the Market). Adjusts the same settings, and they are applied immediately!
I would like to find a "sweet spot" - a good default if you will. Can folks test out 512kb and 1024kb, see if you have any more mini-resets within Android or any other slowness, etc... Obviously this isn't a cure-all for the slowness or the mini-resets, what we're looking to do is mitigate the effects. So let's focus on that, thanks!
Topic 4​
Difficulty Moderate - Overclocking​
Overclocking is obviously one relatively easy way to improve the speed of Android. In your startup.txt, add a line
Code:
acpuclock.oc_freq_khz=710400
for example to overclock to 710.4mhz. How did I find this value? I actually put in 714000, but if you look at dmesg near the beginning you'll see "ACPU running at ..." - that's what clock is the actual maximum. It goes in 19.2khz increments.
Feel free to experiment with how high your phone can go, just be warned that the higher you go the potential for failure goes up as well . Phone shouldn't blow up, but it might not work correctly or at all. Rebooting and scaling it back will fix it.
Here's the full *example* startup.txt:
Code:
set ramsize 0x10000000
set ramaddr 0x10000000
set mtype 2292
set KERNEL zImage
set initrd initrd.gz
set cmdline "lcd.density=240 msmvkeyb_toggle=off gsensor_axis=2,1,3 pm.sleep_mode=1 physkeyboard=rhod400 acpuclock.oc_freq_khz=710400"
boot
You can put the command anywhere in the cmdline section, just make sure it's between the quotes and at least one space between each command.
Topic 5​
Difficulty Advanced - How Android Manages Memory/apps​
Ok, I'm going to take two approaches to this. The first, is the full explanation on how Android manages memory.
Please feel free to read the post I originally read that inspired me to start looking at this stuff - How to configure Android's *internal* taskkiller. It was very helpful for me to grasp how Android manages applications. This is the reason why application killers are not a good thing...
If you want to do it manually, Starfox suggests:
Code:
echo "1536,3072,8192,10240,12288,20480" > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree
To try to do these commands, adb is very useful. Once you get adb shell working, then you just need to "su" (provides 'super user' privileges (root)) and put in the echo command above ^^.
I had another user (thanks icevapor) suggest this script -
[Script] V6 SuperCharger! HTK & BulletProof Launchers! The ONLY Android MEMORY FIXER!
I tried it myself, and it works very well. This thread is a little overwhelming, but the jist of it is this:
Install Script Manager (on the Market)
Run the V6 SuperCharger script. I use "Aggressive 1 Settings" (#2) and then I use the OOM Grouping Fixes & "Hard to Kill" launcher (#17)
Point Script Manager to run /data/99SuperCharger.sh to run as root & on boot. This will ensure the tweaks are reapplied after a reboot.
Topic 6​
Difficulty Advanced - Managing Apps that auto-start on boot​
This is one of the most annoying things in Android. When you have no apps installed, it seems very fast. Then you install apps, and you never seem to get that original speed back... Now you can!
This is kind of difficult to do, I am still getting the hang of it... but here goes. All credit goes to hyc, his original post.
The basic idea here is you run a logcat (adb logcat is easiest here, or you can use GetLogs to pull logcat...) Look in this log for "for broadcast" and find apps that start on boot. For example,
Code:
Line 41: I/ActivityManager( 1394): Start proc nextapp.systempanel for broadcast nextapp.systempanel/.monitorservice.BootReceiver: pid=1752 uid=10060 gids={3003, 1015}
Notice there are two sides of the "for broadcast". The name of the package (nextapp.systempanel) and the name of the service, "nextapp.systempanel/.monitorservice.BootReceive". I made the mistake of disabling the app (the left side). Do not do this, you want to disable the right side!
So in the shell,
Code:
pm disable nextapp.systempanel/.monitorservice.BootReceive
This will be persistent across boots, it will go with your data.img.
Obviously this was just one example of an app to disable. So long as you disable the right side (after the 'for broadcast') you shouldn't disable anything that will cause a serious problem. The apps should still work, but for example if you disable Google Voice you won't get messages until you open the app. So think about that... You disable Titanium Backup schedules.BootReceiver, the schedules for Titanium Backup (if you have any) won't run. Stuff like that. Disable calendar, you won't get calendar events... Disable clock no alarms. Get it? Good. I have been rebooting several times, and I keep checking what is set to start on boot. I'm not quite happy with it yet, but there's some things I'm leery of disabling. Just be wary, if you do disable something and don't like it - just pm enable <whatever you disabled>.
Now experiment away! The one caveat is if you do break something with pm disable (and it's serious) you might get a failure to boot. It really depends on how bad you mess up. If you make a copy of your data.img before you start making these changes, you can revert to that data.img and start back there.
Alright guys. Going to use this thread as a way to brainstorm about ways to improve the speed. Read up what I've posted, let me know if I did anything wrong... Also let me know what you guys do to improve speed!
Don't care about what build you're running, this thread isn't about what build is fastest - this is a how do I make every build faster thread.
I also realize I posted this in the Rhodium section - I want to see if there's any TOPAa-specific tweaks that others should be made aware of!
Update to this - I changed around how topic 4 is done. Feel free to re-read that section.
Thanks arrrghhh, but for startup stuff, there are some apps doing the job, like Startup Manager or Startup Cleaner pro (found in Market), honestly haven't tried them yet but from rating, some of them has got 4.1/5.. What do you think mate?
metho88 said:
Thanks arrrghhh, but for startup stuff, there are some apps doing the job, like Startup Manager or Startup Cleaner pro (found in Market), honestly haven't tried them yet but from rating, some of them has got 4.1/5.. What do you think mate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the pm disable stuff? If you find an app that does it, more power to you. I want to control Android directly, hence the reason I went with a script that utilizes that concept. The pm disable stuff is obnoxious I know - so if you do find an app that'll do it for you, have at it. I didn't want to add any more apps into the mix if it wasn't necessary .
Rhod400 in startup.txt
Does physkeyboard=rhod400 cahnge the keyboard layout when texting?Does it make it bigger or what is that cmdline for?
1edge1 said:
Does physkeyboard=rhod400 cahnge the keyboard layout when texting?Does it make it bigger or what is that cmdline for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, that part is completely irrelevant to TOPA. It is for a RHOD400, sets up the physical keyboard. You were only supposed to look at the acpu clock command, as it fits in the startup.txt... lol.
Use the startup for your device, I'm just showing you how the line should appear in the startup.txt...
arrrghhh said:
Sorry, that part is completely irrelevant to TOPA. It is for a RHOD400, sets up the physical keyboard. You were only supposed to look at the acpu clock command, as it fits in the startup.txt... lol.
Use the startup for your device, I'm just showing you how the line should appear in the startup.txt...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i do use the startup for topaz. Was just wondering. haha. thanx for clearing it up

[Q] Real multitasking

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.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
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
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
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
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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.
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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.
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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!

Battery Monitor App, is it possible on this OS?

I had Android for a while, and I remember there was an App that broke down Battery/Cpu usage. It would even keep track of how long the screen was on, what was being used most that could potentially be using the battery more.
Ive yet to see an App like this for WP7, let alone 8. Is it even possible? Or is it just yet another thing impossible due to MS lock down on some aspects of the phone OS?
I really do like this OS, but it seems more and more, MS's lock down really hurts development, preventing Devs from really bringing out the most of the OS and prevents functions and abilities youd normally think would exist.
I can understand the want for an app like this (I had it on android myself), but since switching over to WP8 I don't see the need.
All the apps on here run very well and nothing is going crazy like it does with android. Locking down the OS is a good thing sometimes, devs have a much harder tune creating system level apps that run way out of control or have memory leaks that cause battery to run dry in an hour. The only thing I have done is gone to the background apps in settings and stopped what I didn't want running in there.
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LudoGris said:
I can understand the want for an app like this (I had it on android myself), but since switching over to WP8 I don't see the need.
All the apps on here run very well and nothing is going crazy like it does with android. Locking down the OS is a good thing sometimes, devs have a much harder tune creating system level apps that run way out of control or have memory leaks that cause battery to run dry in an hour. The only thing I have done is gone to the background apps in settings and stopped what I didn't want running in there.
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I initially thought this when I had WP7 and a Trophy. Now that I have the 920, I would love to have this. Partially just to prove out that using my phone (screen on) and games and other things just eats up the battery like crazy. Others over at WPCentral have also posted issues with the battery. Many people have in fact. It would be very useful to some of us who are experiencing issues.
I know some claim to get over a day or more use out of their 920. I, among many others, could only dream of such a thing, or perhaps achieve it if we just didnt do much with our phones.
I disagree on the lock down. While I get your point, having used Android also, I enjoyed many great apps that just wont ever be possible on WP's. No other email clients, no true 3rd party browser not built on IE, no new keyboards to name a few. Some of these apps I had used on Android really were superior to what Ive seen MS do with WP. Which is why I think sometimes 3rd party Devs or home Devs sometimes can just do things better as well as think outside the box and give us real options. You dont get real options for many thing on WP. Everyone is stuck with the same keyboard, browser, mail, messaging client, etc.
True...but remember, there was a time when nothing like that was available for Android either.
Devs have made things more than possible - granted an open system helps - but don't discount what may become available in the future.
Yes there are battery monitor apps for Windows Phone 8. Battery Level for Windows Phone 8 seems to be the most popular. The nice part is that it will autoupdate the live tile with the battery level and you can add it to the lockscreen to show it there as well. It's not quite as in depth as Android with regards to telling you what is pulling the most power but as others have mentioned on WP8 it's a slightly different mechanic than Android as the background processes are a lot more regulated with regards to how they can do that (as are the developers when making their apps). It would be kind of interesting to see something like Android's built-in battery stats but I honestly haven't really haven't had any problems (not that I was really having problems on Android either).
Battery Measure is similar, and has a free version with ads - live tile, graph over time. etc.
and can you tell us where we can get the battery monitor for th WP 8? I want one...
Battery App
inconceivable said:
Yes there are battery monitor apps for Windows Phone 8. Battery Level for Windows Phone 8 seems to be the most popular. The nice part is that it will autoupdate the live tile with the battery level and you can add it to the lockscreen to show it there as well. It's not quite as in depth as Android with regards to telling you what is pulling the most power but as others have mentioned on WP8 it's a slightly different mechanic than Android as the background processes are a lot more regulated with regards to how they can do that (as are the developers when making their apps). It would be kind of interesting to see something like Android's built-in battery stats but I honestly haven't really haven't had any problems (not that I was really having problems on Android either).
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That sound very good but where can I get the apps Battery Level?

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