Application Memory Usage

[New2u]

Ok i know I should probably know this, but when i turn my phone off and turn it back on, after i kill all the apps that i don't want running, i cut it down to 4 programs running right now. I have 115MB of application memory available, after hours of usage and just those 4 programs still running, i'm now down to 78MB of Application memory. Now i'm not talking about the space for applications to go, but the amount of memory left for applications to use.

I'm extremely tired so if I could get a reply to this that would be amazing.

(Just hoping it's not some sort of memory leak)

 

[Droider]

Well, I can run TasKiller and kill 15 or so tasks and free up a bunch of memory but then when I look again in 5 minutes there's another 10 apps running in the background (things like calendar, gmail, email, settings, etc.) and this is when I don't even use the phone during those 5 minutes. If I'm using the phone then even more things are resident in memory. I can keep killing them but they just pop right back up. So are you sure that isn't what's happening. I think this is normal for Android (Linux) and that in theory Android should dump those unneeded apps from memory when the space is needed for an active app.

 

[New2u]

No i'm quite sure of what i posted, have tested it numerous times, the only thing that pops up now when I need to kill an app is the advanced app killer. As time goes on the memory available for apps to use goes way down. The only thing that pops up for me once in awhile is the calendar app (damn annoying thing).

 

[andjarnic]

I've noticed too that the Corporate Calendar AND the calendar both show up, along with alarm clock, messaging, phone dialer, and so forth. I don't even use them. I kill them and they start back up. I am curious why this is? I am guessing android internally runs these or something? Or..perhaps they are service based apps and there is something within them that they attach to android in some way to be restarted, much like a service on a computer that shuts down for any reason and restarts on it's own.

I am curious how Android handles swapping of memory.. if you got 7 apps running and one needs 250MB of ram.. how does it handle this.. swap to the 512MB ROM (which should be only readable and not usable?). I am guessing the android OS, linux OS, etc is in the 512MB ROM.

 

[New2u]

Yes the android OS is on it's a 256MB area within the 512MB.

 

[cereal killer]

Hey New this is what I was told by a guy I know that knows Linux and android pretty well.

He said to not even bother "killing" apps via ATK that are "running" He said basically that they are not in fact running in the background. The are merely in a ready state.

Linux/android handles memory EXCELLENT and it is a non-issue. As you have already seen it will drive you crazy trying to stop them from coming back "on" : )

He recommended I uninstall ATK and let the OS do it's thing......so thats what I did.

So there you have it. do what you may with the info but I got tired of trying to figure out wtf was going on as well lol

 

[New2u]

KK, I think I will still use it, just kill the ones that don't come back . When I restart it, there is a crap load, and only about 6 will come back so ill just take those off the list that i kill. Seeing as it only happens when i restart, shouldn't be an issue very much. I guess the other memory shifts to the main system for use. But thanks for posting it.

 

[cereal killer]

yeah exactly the memory is constantly swapping in and out from what i understood. He did say several times that Linux/Android is excellent at handling memory and that I/we would never have an issue with it....

He's a developer for....uh oh here it comes......Apple lol

 

[andjarnic]

I believe he is correct for the most part. I however am having an issue with my phone where it seems to not come on no matter what I do. I have to pull the battery out and back in. I thought maybe there was a hibernate mode or something kicking on, because my phone wont wake up no matter what I press, slide open, etc. It's really bothering me now, as I woke up late since I set the alarm on it and it did it again this morning. Verizon apparently will only help if I bring it in like this... I am a bit annoyed that I can't just replace the unit and let them take mine and go debug it themselves. I can't remember the stupid number to call, *81 or something, to get them on the line for things like this.

At any rate, either I have bad hardware, or perhaps I got some build of the linux OS that indeed goes into a hibernate mode and no button/key on this phone can work to wake it up.. there is no ESC key or sleep key on it. Or, perhaps an app I have on here is crashing the whole phone.. which would go against everything Android says about how apps run in their own VM and crash alone, not bringing the phone down.

 

[New2u]

yeah exactly the memory is constantly swapping in and out from what i understood. He did say several times that Linux/Android is excellent at handling memory and that I/we would never have an issue with it....

He's a developer for....uh oh here it comes......Apple lol

I don't mind what he does for a job, or even if he's an iphone freak, as long as his information is correct. People do what they do, and like what they like, i'm not going to bash someone, nor should anyone else on this forum, for where they work or what they like. I'm just glad that i got an answer, even though it does make me uneasy while looking at it, but I do trust those who know alot more about it then I do.

 

[New2u]

I believe he is correct for the most part. I however am having an issue with my phone where it seems to not come on no matter what I do. I have to pull the battery out and back in. I thought maybe there was a hibernate mode or something kicking on, because my phone wont wake up no matter what I press, slide open, etc. It's really bothering me now, as I woke up late since I set the alarm on it and it did it again this morning. Verizon apparently will only help if I bring it in like this... I am a bit annoyed that I can't just replace the unit and let them take mine and go debug it themselves. I can't remember the stupid number to call, *81 or something, to get them on the line for things like this.

At any rate, either I have bad hardware, or perhaps I got some build of the linux OS that indeed goes into a hibernate mode and no button/key on this phone can work to wake it up.. there is no ESC key or sleep key on it. Or, perhaps an app I have on here is crashing the whole phone.. which would go against everything Android says about how apps run in their own VM and crash alone, not bringing the phone down.

If i were you, I would try a hard reset and see if that fixes it, I know that you loose all the data on your phone, but if this is an issue that is reoccuring, that would be my first step, seeing as it would most likely be verizon's first step also.

 

[andjarnic]

Not sure how to do a hard reset? I can try that.. but I did call them and they are sending out a new phone to me and I'll send them this one back.. so perhaps I shouldn't just so they can diagnose this issue. I am curious tho if it's the flash card. I would guess that their might be some faulty flash cards out there and like memory in a computer.. writing to one can cause a OS crash if there are problems. That said, I've not saved anything purposely to it, so not sure if the phone does it on its own or not.

 

[thegipper]

Purely anecdotal but at one point i happened to open the task killer out of habit (former touch pro / mogul /700wx user) and was surprised to find like 20 apps available to kill, but phone didn't seem sluggish at all. My former phones would definitely slow down the more apps you had loaded, so i trained myself to religiously kill unused tasks/apps.

 

[cereal killer]

yeah exactly the memory is constantly swapping in and out from what i understood. He did say several times that Linux/Android is excellent at handling memory and that I/we would never have an issue with it....

He's a developer for....uh oh here it comes......Apple lol

I don't mind what he does for a job, or even if he's an iphone freak, as long as his information is correct. People do what they do, and like what they like, i'm not going to bash someone, nor should anyone else on this forum, for where they work or what they like. I'm just glad that i got an answer, even though it does make me uneasy while looking at it, but I do trust those who know alot more about it then I do.

I'm not bashing on him : ) he's a great guy. I brought it up because he likes Linux/Android but develops for Apple..