Closing Apps

[Harucho]

Hello all, There are just some apps that continually open on my DroidX such as Skype. I never plan on using it and I never open it yet when I run my Task Killer I always see it open...How do I remove apps like this or at least disable it so it won't run anymore? Also, the app "Social Networking" I assume is for that MotoBlur stuff...I would like just to disable all that stuff I don't ever use (in hope to save some battery life). Is there any app or setting? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Backnblack]

Uninstall Task Killer it is not needed.

Read up on the way Android manages memory and stop worrying yourself over something that the OS handles very well.

 

[Harucho]

But i've seen myself get up to 10-15 maybe 20 open apps and half of them I never opened directly...doesn't that kill the battery? Skype is the app I would just love to uninstall...

 

[sonicxtacy02]

its not killing the battery if it doesnt have a connection to a server and is only running in idle state. You can tell alot of former blackberry users are on to the droid X now lol.

 

[Timskis6]

its not killing the battery if it doesnt have a connection to a server and is only running in idle state. You can tell alot of former blackberry users are on to the droid X now lol.

Sonic - as a former blackberry user (and new Droid X user) I'd love to read up on the specific info you're describing. I have no idea where to begin finding it, though. Specifically info on how the OS handles processes (idle or active), and the "special" memory management scheme you mentioned above.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[Sydman]

Ref Skype I did see on another post that if you actually open the program you can go into the settings and tell it to stop loading at boot up. So that will be one less app it will run, but yes coming from BB this phone does run alot of stuff. But general thought is that it's meant to and does not kill battery as bad as you think.

 

[aminaked]

If it has a setting to have it not run, use it. Otherwise, unless it is a really poorly designed app it is probably just sitting in memory. This uses basically no battery power so just relax.

When I first got my droid I was about to return it when I found out that the amazon mp3 store could not be uninstalled. However, I now ignore it. It sits in memory sometimes and doesn't bother me. It was a bit of a hard pill to swallow because on windows I run a tight ship...all services/registry settings set so needless stuff doesn't run. On android, we don't have this control unless we root. Sucks, but the phone is great anyway. Consider rooting if it still bothers you in a month.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

The android operating system is nothing like Windows/Palm/RIM/Etc. Android loads apps in memory so they will be immediately available when you need them. Let me stress, these apps are not "running" in the sense that programs run when started in Windows. They are simply sitting in memory. You don't have to worry about them, as they do no harm just staying in memory until needed. If android needs additional memory, it will remove whatever needs to be removed in order to have the amount of memory it requires. Forget about watching how much free memory you have because it changes as the operating systems needs change. Delete any task killer the idiot Verizon reps convinced you to install, or that they installed. Killed apps will, in most cases, be put right back in memory by android.

 

[Kamau]

Is there another way to close an app other that going into the application settings? I use the back key when the exit option is not available in the menu, but at the end of the day, I will still have any number of apps running in the background.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

 

[furbearingmammal]

Android kills apps to free up memory automatically, so don't worry about them.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Is there another way to close an app other that going into the application settings? I use the back key when the exit option is not available in the menu, but at the end of the day, I will still have any number of apps running in the background.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

The following was written to explain why people don't need Task Killers, but I think it will help explain how the android system handles apps.

Task Killers Per Lifehacker:

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them
How Android Manages Processes

In Android, processes and Applications are two different things. An app can stay "running" in the background without any processes eating up your phone's resources. Android keeps the app in its memory so it launches more quickly and returns to its prior state. When your phone runs out of memory, Android will automatically start killing tasks on its own, starting with ones that you haven't used in awhile.
The problem is that Android uses RAM differently than, say, Windows. On Android, having your RAM nearly full is a good thing. It means that when you relaunch an app you've previously opened, the app launches quickly and returns to its previous state. So while Android actually uses RAM efficiently, most users see that their RAM is full and assume that's what's slowing down their phone. In reality, your CPU—which is only used by apps that are actually active—is almost always the bottleneck.

Why Task Killers Are (Usually) Bad News

Apps like Advanced Task Killer, the most popular task killer in the Market, act on the incorrect assumption that freeing up memory on an Android device is a good thing. When launched, it presents you with a list of "running" apps and the option to kill as many as you want. You can also hit the Menu button to access a more detailed "Services" view, that lists exactly which parts of each application are "running", how much memory they take up, and how much free memory is available on your phone. This set-up implies that the goal of killing these apps is to free up memory. Nowhere on the list does it mention the number of CPU cycles each app is consuming, only the memory you'll free by killing it. As we've learned, full memory is not a bad thing—we want to watch out for the CPU, the resource that actually slows down your phone and drains your battery life.
Thus, killing all but the essential apps (or telling Android to kill apps more aggressively with the "autokill" feature) is generally unnecessary. Furthermore, it's actually possible that this will worsen your phone's performance and battery life. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to aggressively remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't—killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place.
In fact, some of the processes related to those apps will actually start right back up, further draining your CPU. If they don't, killing those processes can cause other sorts of problems—alarms don't go off, you don't receive text messages, or other related apps may force close without warning. All in all, you're usually better off letting your phone work as intended—especially if you're more of a casual user. In these instances, a task killer causes more problems than it solves.
What You Should Do Instead

That said, not all apps are created equal. Many of you have used task killers in the past and actually found that after freeing up memory, your phone works a bit better. It's more likely that this is because you've killed a bad app—one that was poorly coded, and (for example) keeps trying to connect to the internet even when it shouldn't. Any performance increase you experience is more likely because you killed the right app, not because you freed up loads of memory (or, in many cases, it's just placebo). Instead of killing all those apps, find out which ones are actually causing the problems. If you really know what you're doing, you may benefit from using a task killer to stop the one or two inefficient-but-loved apps on your phone.
Note, however, that this is still a contested notion. A lot of developers (including ROM builder extraordinaire, Cyanogen) will not even look at your bug reports if you're using a task killer. In this humble blogger's opinion, your best bet is to stay away from regular task killer usage entirely. If you absolutely have to have that one battery-killing app on your phone, though, kill away—just be aware that when you experience a recurring Android bug later on, the task killer may be at fault. Of course, you can just stop using it to determine whether that is or isn't the case.

 

[Kamau]

Thanks for the info.
I guess coming from BlackBerry, I've still got a lot to learn about androids.
As for those app killers, though they were in the back of my mind, I had no real intenions of getting one just yet. At least now I know to just let them stay where they're at.
Again, much thanks to the both of you.

 

[furbearingmammal]

Quite welcome.

As you learn you'll see there are a LOT of habits you developed on the Blackberry that you really don't need to have anymore on Android.

Andy is much friendlier.