Database Develop

Any app to auto kill on exit?

Seems the N1 has memory management issues. Instead of constantly closing apps to free up memory or have some app try to manage things, be nice to just kill the thing on exit. Any app that will auto-kill when an app exits?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

It would be nice to have, say, long press back key to kill the current app.

Big_O said:
Seems the N1 has memory management issues. Instead of constantly closing apps to free up memory or have some app try to manage things, be nice to just kill the thing on exit. Any app that will auto-kill when an app exits?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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You obviously didn't search for this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=678205
You DON'T need to intervene with N1 memory management, since you don't know how it works. You assume wrong. And most bad gossips are created by people wrongly assuming something, thinking they know something while they actually don't.
My N1 runs equally well with 40MB and 250MB free. The only reason I use a task killer is to kill apps that I want to return to their "initial" state for some reason, or to kill apps that I suspect of wrongdoing.

Exactly, the nexus has no memory management issues. It is just your misunderstanding of how Android works. Leave your tasks alone.

If you have one or two particular apps that are bad citizens and should be shutting down in the background but don't... you can use "1Kill" from the market to create a home screen shortcut that kills that specific app when you press it.
Fring used to be a bad citizen - it would lock my wifi on even when I didn't want to be using it, and had no exit feature. So I'd always have to kill it after finishing up with it. Now it does have a proper exit, thankfully.

Jack_R1 said:
My N1 runs equally well with 40MB and 250MB free. The only reason I use a task killer is to kill apps that I want to return to their "initial" state for some reason, or to kill apps that I suspect of wrongdoing.
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Ditto!
1 app running or 50 apps running they all still run the same.

I find it even funnier how iOS4 users in Apple-land are suddenly freaking out that so many applications appear to be open "in the background" and complaining that they have to spend so much time "killing" apps.

Big_O said:
Seems the N1 has memory management issues. Instead of constantly closing apps to free up memory or have some app try to manage things, be nice to just kill the thing on exit. Any app that will auto-kill when an app exits?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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I think you have the memory management issues.

Before anyone gets tarred and feathered, that explains why many users on unrooted stock roms ha e frequent touchscreen lockups, hesitation and freezes. Guess theres a reason why the market has so many task killers. Maybe the devs should read this thread also lol. Instead of flaming, positive feedback is appreciated. I did search, but its a bit time consuming sifting through 5000 posts. Maybe you guys o rooted phones have no lockups, but google shows an azzload of people with similar issues.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

1) You've been given some answers in the thread, if you cared to look.
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. Seriously, what kind of answer would you expect, if you want to turn multitasking OS into non-multitasking?
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.
6) Task killers are a good source of lockups and freezes too, did you know? I guess you didn't read that thread...
All this meant to say: instead of looking for a way to cripple your OS, learn to select your apps, and don't solve issues that you don't have.

cmstlist said:
I find it even funnier how iOS4 users in Apple-land are suddenly freaking out that so many applications appear to be open "in the background" and complaining that they have to spend so much time "killing" apps.
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Yeah, I think Apple needs to tweak their multi-tasking still. I've played with my gf's iPhone a bit this week, and it's a little annoying how now you have to explicitly quit every app. For example, with the Settings app if I go to change a preference quickly then return to home Settings app is still in the running apps list. I think little utilities like that should be able to quit themselves automatically.
I know the app isn't wasting memory or CPU down there, but I just don't see why you would want it cluttering up your app switcher forever.
Oh well, it's progress though. At least now you don't have to quit everything else you're doing to listen to Pandora

well android does the same thing. if you go into the settings menu, then hit home button, the settings is still running in the background. of course andoird will kill it later when it needs to.

Memory management app

I was looking at an article about memory management on android. They say that android runs better without any manger. Correction it runs better without a memory manager. Question for you people, what programs do you use and what are your thoughts?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Most people use these app think it would enhance their performance.
I would certainly not object to such hypothesis.
However, I find that using these app would kill apps either too quickly or too late.
I do realize that there are advance options that would optimize such hassles. But after configuring these options, I found that it's easier to use my device without it.
So my final advise is not use it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I think this is true in most cases. However who wants a 3D game running in the background eating up resources?
I recommend using a Task Killer but only killing heavy tasks like games, etc. I used to kill all tasks (which doesn't hurt anything really) but doesn't seem to be 100% necessary.
I also recommend that if you use a task killer (and want to kill all tasks) and a home clock widget (like beautiful widgets) that you add it to the ignore list or the time will eventually become off.

my captivate slows down within 5 mins of heavy use without me killing all tasks periodically with taskiller. thats why apple uses fake multitasking...u cant slow the iphone 4 down with applications in the background even if you try, because essentially there not running.......just paused and resumed.

It seems that one that is a good one to consider is one that tweaks the settings that the native task killer to android uses.
Here is an interesting thread on it. Out of that thread 3 of them have developed. I originally was using Advanced Task Killer, but after reading this thread, I am now using AutoKiller, and think it is doing a good job. And the end result of what to kill is decided by the OS, not the task killer.
The name of it is misleading, ad it does not kill tasks. It just changes the settings that the OS uses to make that decision.

I use ATK. I have security set to high (doesn't show processes), I don't use auto kill, and I have established an ignore list. I find that my device is faster with the way I use the TK.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Riddle me this

Every time I start my phone and run the task killer it usually has about 155-160 free mb of ram. As the day goes on and I run task killer every 2-3 hours the total ram available keeps dropping and by the end of my work day my phone is left with about 60-70 mb free, even tho all I do is text and email. Shouldn't my free ram be staying about the same through out the day if all I do is text and email? My phone is rooted with Unleash the Beast, found on this forum.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Actually, you do not need the task killer. Android has a task killer built in. You are most likely doing more harm than good. How Android works is that it sets a value to apps and processes closes them on its own when more RAM is needed based on that number. So, all those things you killed off with your task killer have to restart. This uses more CPU and battery every time your task killer kills them. . A lot of new Android users have a Windows mindset and want to kill off programs because they are hogging memory and resources. This is not the case with Linux and Android. Just because it is "running" does not mean it is using CPU or resources. Besides, your phone has plenty of RAM to run all those things. I want to smack ATT and Verizon reps for telling Android users to install them. Do yourself a favor and uninstall. Are you rooted? If so, download AutoKiller app from the market and set it to the preset Extreme and it will change Android's internal memory manager to kill off apps faster. For more info and more details on this visit a website by a great developer named Flipz. I hope this helped you. Spread the word to the others that don't know.
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/
-Ken
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.

I see, thanks for the reply, Ill check that app out.

No program. Task killers have great short term benefits but it is best to just let Android do what it does.
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.

[Q] Final word on task killers?

So I have heard that using a task killer app could do more harm then good. Is this true? If not, whats a highly recommend task killer app?

Why you shouldn't use them.

a.n said:
Why you shouldn't use them.
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I read this article via a link from gizmodo and it was very informative. I was using ATK for some time and thought it was doing well. I had no idea that many of the issues I was running into were actually coming from the task killer nixing items I needed running. I realized this after I removed the task killer and installed watchdog.
I am not going to say watchdog was streamlining power house for my phone but, it did allow me to see what was really going on in a much more efficient manner. The information it provides is useful and gives a much better idea of what is consuming all those battery eating clock cycles. I feel more comfortable now knowing what is actually active and whether I need it to be.
Since the change over I have been consuming more battery power but I just changed to Cognition and I have significantly less FCs. This is on top of my recent full time GPS usage and frequent music streaming.

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
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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
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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
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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.
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Yeah, FR19 is one of the more stable ROMs out there. Try full wipe then reflash maybe.