How do you get by without a task killer?

[qoncept]

I see a lot of people are pretty adament about the evils of task killers. I understand that Android will monitor apps and kill them automatically as needed, and background tasks that aren't doing anything really aren't using any resources, but killing tasks helps, period. How do I get by without it?

1) Backgroud tasks aren't using zero resources. They aren't using much, but they are sitting in memory and occasionally stealing a CPU clock.

2) Maps and browser just won't go away. How do you stop them? My battery was dead Sunday morning because I'd left Maps running (but not open) and it was polling my GPS all night.

3) My phone runs slow as hell when I first start it. First thing I do is kill 15 tasks and it's great. Again, I know background tasks aren't using many resources, but I don't want GTalk using ever, period. But there it is, along with Maps, Market and a dozen others, running automatically when I boot.

 

[RW-1]

I have not had any reason to use an apparently killer, my Droid runs fine, with exception of running launcher2...

 

[Backnblack]

Only app I ever killed was a rouge app (beta) that the developer had jacked up.
No need for a task killer IMHO.

 

[krazykarl]

I have not had any reason to use an apparently killer, my Droid runs fine, with exception of running launcher2...

Know how I know you posted this from your droid? haha I don't get why app isn't in the default dictionary.

I'm with the OP on this. If I don't manually kill the browser, the google homepage sits there polling gps and kills the battery.

 

[mantis5]

Never found the need for a task killer, either, Droid seems to manage pretty well on its own.

 

[Sam]

if maps is running in the background when you aren't using it, you need to change your settings. same with gtalk. the reason you have to kill 15 things when you boot your phone up is because you have a bunch of apps set to start on boot.

those of us that are against task killers are because we believe it is just another app taking up space and resources. every time you need the browser for something, your phone would have to reboot it, whereas if you just let it sit in the background it just loads up faster.

look into your settings on all your apps that you are having issues with and see if you can cut down on some things.

 

[masterxchief]

You could just change the homepage to about:blank

 

[FlipBack]

I never noticed the need, however, I do run minfreemanager now that I am rooted(basically just makes androids built in task killing more robust).

 

[davidtaylorjr]

I don't use one, when I am done using a maps app I just make sure my GPS is turned off. I don't have any issues with it, and my battery life is great!

Dust under my screen is another story though......

 

[cereal killer]

I just never use them and have not had a single issue

I have let Android manage itself for months now and have yet to have any battery or performance issues. As an FYI I reboot about once a month and whatever starts simply stays.

I do turn off the obvious GPS and wifi but other than that I let it go.

Your maps should not be polling when not in use. Off a fresh boot and without using maps its still showing it using up clock cycles/CPU?

 

[qoncept]

the reason you have to kill 15 things when you boot your phone up is because you have a bunch of apps set to start on boot.

I just rebooted and checked.
G1 IM app - no option to start on boot
Email - no option to start on boot, NEVER USED IT
Note Everything - no option
Maps - no option
Settings - no option
Last.fm - no option
Pandora - no option
Gallery - no option

These tasks are started and sit in memory so they'll open faster when you decide to use them. In the meantime, the resources they're using are wasted.

those of us that are against task killers are because we believe it is just another app taking up space and resources. every time you need the browser for something, your phone would have to reboot it, whereas if you just let it sit in the background it just loads up faster.

I assumed before I had my phone that you'd be right, and for a long time I didn't use one. But I tried Advanced Task Manager and it makes the phone faster. It doesn't run in the background, it runs when I click the widget in my home screen. And even if it was running in the background, I'd take that over the dozen apps that would be running otherwise.

The idea is to make apps more stateless -- have them sitting there, ready to go, and abstract what "running" actually is. It doesn't matter if its running or not, just make sure it's running when I need it. Macs work this way, and Windows 7 Microsoft trying to emulate that. But our phones, apparently, don't have the resources to do it right. The evidence is that killing tasks makes it notice`ably faster.

 

[patriot839]

i dont use a task killer seemed to me atk made my phone act up but if you feel the need to kill tasks there is a stock one in the settings menu built right in the droid setting - applications - running services checkm it out its stock so no need for those buggy task killers

 

[qoncept]

i dont use a task killer seemed to me atk made my phone act up but if you feel the need to kill tasks there is a stock one in the settings menu built right in the droid setting - applications - running services checkm it out its stock so no need for those buggy task killers

Tasks killers aren't buggy, you just need to make sure you exclude things that need to be running. That's a whole lot easier than navigating through the menus and killing each task one by one.

 

[Sam]

the reason you have to kill 15 things when you boot your phone up is because you have a bunch of apps set to start on boot.

I just rebooted and checked.
G1 IM app - no option to start on boot
Email - no option to start on boot, NEVER USED IT
Note Everything - no option
Maps - no option
Settings - no option
Last.fm - no option
Pandora - no option
Gallery - no option

These tasks are started and sit in memory so they'll open faster when you decide to use them. In the meantime, the resources they're using are wasted.

those of us that are against task killers are because we believe it is just another app taking up space and resources. every time you need the browser for something, your phone would have to reboot it, whereas if you just let it sit in the background it just loads up faster.

I assumed before I had my phone that you'd be right, and for a long time I didn't use one. But I tried Advanced Task Manager and it makes the phone faster. It doesn't run in the background, it runs when I click the widget in my home screen. And even if it was running in the background, I'd take that over the dozen apps that would be running otherwise.

The idea is to make apps more stateless -- have them sitting there, ready to go, and abstract what "running" actually is. It doesn't matter if its running or not, just make sure it's running when I need it. Macs work this way, and Windows 7 Microsoft trying to emulate that. But our phones, apparently, don't have the resources to do it right. The evidence is that killing tasks makes it notice`ably faster.

well that is quite a list.. the difference between us (i guess) is that i don't use many of those apps, so my list is much smaller. maybe a task killer is a good idea for some people

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

the reason you have to kill 15 things when you boot your phone up is because you have a bunch of apps set to start on boot.

I just rebooted and checked.
G1 IM app - no option to start on boot
Email - no option to start on boot, NEVER USED IT
Note Everything - no option
Maps - no option
Settings - no option
Last.fm - no option
Pandora - no option
Gallery - no option

These tasks are started and sit in memory so they'll open faster when you decide to use them. In the meantime, the resources they're using are wasted.

those of us that are against task killers are because we believe it is just another app taking up space and resources. every time you need the browser for something, your phone would have to reboot it, whereas if you just let it sit in the background it just loads up faster.

I assumed before I had my phone that you'd be right, and for a long time I didn't use one. But I tried Advanced Task Manager and it makes the phone faster. It doesn't run in the background, it runs when I click the widget in my home screen. And even if it was running in the background, I'd take that over the dozen apps that would be running otherwise.

The idea is to make apps more stateless -- have them sitting there, ready to go, and abstract what "running" actually is. It doesn't matter if its running or not, just make sure it's running when I need it. Macs work this way, and Windows 7 Microsoft trying to emulate that. But our phones, apparently, don't have the resources to do it right. The evidence is that killing tasks makes it notice`ably faster.

Breakfast/Lunch Analogy: My old grand dad used to say, "Just because Lunch comes after Breakfast every day, does not mean that lunch is caused by breakfast".

Your phone is slowing down and when you "kill" some apps, you think it is the fact that these apps were in memory that caused your phone to slow down. Consider this, your phone is slowing down due to either a rogue app or a couple of apps that don't work well together. Find that app(s) and your sluggish phone gets well. I had this problem with a couple of apps along the way.

Killing all your apps with a task killer is like getting a shot every day for the pain in your elbow instead of going to the doctor and getting your elbow fixed. The sluggishness is a symptom of apps not working right or a bad app.

An app in memory uses nothing! It requires no cpu resources to keep it there and virtually no power to keep it there. Kill it and it does require cpu resources to load it back into memory and it delays the availability of that app to you.

You ever wonder why Android apps don't normally have an exit button? Do you really think it's an oversight by the developers and the android engineers? They don't need one - that's why there isn't one. When an android app is not open on a screen, it is inactive. Shutting down programs is a "Windows thing". Find what is really slowing down your phone. It's not apps in the that are inactive, but still in memory. In your Windows computer you free up memory and programs will load faster and run better. Well, Android does that automatically for you. Find your problem app(s) and then delete your task killer.