PLEASE READ: Do NOT worry about Apps running in the Background

[Googleaddict]

I'm happy about this. I was worried about always having to kill my apps using a task killer

 

[ThisIsMyName]

I'm definitely keeping Task Killer - Some apps don't let you quit and task killer is a quick easy way to manage stray processes. 2 clicks and things you don't want running aren't running anymore. Some apps do eat up battery life too, like Pandora. I find it easy to just use task killer than to go back into the program and quit it (assuming you can).

It makes sense. I have that app killer program but it doesn't seem to close all of them anyway.

I think some of the automatically restart when they're closed.

 

[ThisIsMyName]

is it normal for 50 apps to open simultaneous (be running in the background) without me starting them?

My phone has nowhere near 50, but some apps just start themselves.

 

[LordKastle]

And as lots of stated before... if you do ever need to kill an app, a 3rd party killer is not necessary. While I do indeed have Advanced Task Manager (not killer), it isn't truly vital.

You can always go to in to settings/apps/manage applications and kill them when needed.

 

[713King]

it is true what they say because i had Advanced Task Killer i belive its on the Top Apps section. Well i thought i was doing the right thing about ending task on all apps and exclude certain apps but what i came to find out is that it was one of the reasons for my phone acting up, because one app might need another app to run and each time you end task, like on the 1st post it says it will take longer to load and will cause battery drainage. Just use the Task Manager that the phone has and click on Force Stop and save all the trouble, like ur phone freezing on you or acting retarted i cant wait to get the Droid again lol

 

[bergdev]

is it normal for 50 apps to open simultaneous (be running in the background) without me starting them?

My phone has nowhere near 50, but some apps just start themselves.

Android's architecture allows any application to use components of another application to get work done. For example, one could write an app that allowed the user to choose a picture without having to write the code to choose a picture, instead utilizing the capabilities already written in the Gallery app.

I suspect that when you see an app running without you having started it, you actually ran some other app which utilized one or more of the self-started app's capabilities. I'm new to the app development world but I suspect that it's up to each app to decide what components it exposes to the system, thereby making its functionality available to other apps.

It may be that some of the weird behavior being reported in this thread is a result of the user killing an application whose functionality is being used by another running application.

Without a doubt, killing individual processes is probably not a good idea, especially processes on which the system relies. The Android architects can only protect against so much. Using the Windoze XP analogy, try killing all instances of Explorer in the process view and see what happens. Sometimes it recovers and sometimes you're left with a desktop that has no icons (the stupidity of that is another story).

I would recommend keeping ATK but only using it to kill and uninstall entire applications - avoid killing individual processes.

 

[D3C4F]

App Killer = uninstalled, thanks for the info!

 

[vzwmandroid]

so should we uinstall A.T.K - TASK PANEL or any other task manager we might have?

 

[vzwmandroid]

how would not using a task manager effect your battery life?

 

[bergdev]

The analogy goes like this. The Droid is to the iPhone what the PC is to the Mac. One is open and, as a result, less stable but offers far more choices. The other is limited in choices, but admittedly more stable.

I personally prefer more choices, which I am fairly certain will be the case on the Droid within a year or so.

However, with choices and flexibility, come responsibility. Being a software developer and not terribly needy about having lots of games and every app on the planet, I feel confident that I can install a mix of apps which run in a reasonably stable fashion.

For example, I installed SportsTap, which, after running all night, caused my system to slow down big time. So, using ATK, I killed it and then uninstalled it - simple as that. Haven't had any sluggish issues like that since then.

I'm currently trying to figure out if the Dolphin browser is well-behaved. Overall, it seems to be OK. But on occasion, it seems to get greedy and start causing the system to become slightly jerky. So I use ATK and kill it - no worries.

Bottom line: Eventually, I'll end up with a set of apps that work well together and meet all of my requirements. Until then, I don't mind having to babysit the mix of apps on my Droid, occasionally having to wack the ill-behaved one.

 

[LordKastle]

I do not agree with that logic.

The Mac is open just like any other computer. You cannot say the iPhone and Mac are similar in that regard.

 

[D34THDroid]

This is good to know because I use " advandced task killer" a lot, and I was always unsure about what was actively running on my phone.

 

[Kemp]

When my phone has 20 apps running it is slow. I kill them and it is fast.

What am I missing or is my phone different?

Would love to believe this, BUT it's not working like that on my phone.

 

[713King]

because everytime ur killing them ur causing other applications to run slow and some applications need to each to run good. So with task killer it does free up the memory but it will cause the phone to lag like you said and like i said before it causes the phone to use up battery every time it restarts.

 

[Martin030908]

i found that after getting rid of ATK and letting my phone settle into it's usage that it ran faster than it had while using ATK. Seemed that constantly killing the apps forced the OS to open JVM's for each app as it kept opening apps... when I just let them open and hold their space the phone runs great... and has no problem calling on more memory when it needs it.