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Prevent app from running in background?

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pookieguy

Well-Known Member
Been trying to figure this out for a while now. I have been able to fix this with a number of apps, but there are some apps that are just frustrating to deal with.

I'm wondering what exactly can keep an app running in the background, regardless of what efforts your take to disable it?

If I don't use an app much and don't want it running, I normally freeze the app. If it is an app I tend to use a bit more frequently, I take other measures such as an app manager that allows me to be extremely precise as to how and when it should run such as on startup, battery level, configuration change, application change, etc. This is a pain in the A** though and I really don't have the time to do this for every application.

With that said, I'm wondering what other methods, other than freezing and the other mentioned above, I can take to prevent an app from running in the background?

I will give you a perfect example...

There are some third-party apps I have downloaded that I know I will use occasionally. One example is CamScanner. For the life of me, I can't get this app to stop running in the background without extensive efforts mentioned above. No matter what I do, it just pops up again in running applications.

How can I ensure the app will not run in background while not resorting to freezing the app, which will prevent me from quickly accessing it when needed?

Some clarification on this would be greatly appreciated...

Thank you,

--mike
 
I feel your pain and know what you mean. I have an Atrix 4G that has a stock Task Manager. It list all 3rd party apps, that are running or not, and I can add any of these apps to the end list. So when the screen times out or goes to sleep the apps are no longer running. (Until I open the app again.) I use to use Advanced Task Killer on my Backflip to accomplish the same results. (It didn't have any type of task manager.) Hope this helps.
 
pookieguy said:
How can I ensure the app will not run in background while not resorting to freezing the app, which will prevent me from quickly accessing it when needed?
Click to expand...
I don't know what you are using to freeze apps, but I use Bloat Freezer. It's 1-click to freeze, 1-click to defrost... most apps don't even need a reboot. What could be quicker?
 
Ignore it, because it won't really affect performance. If you are using that app frequently, Android knows it and it will load it on boot to open the app faster. The more you use it, the more likely Android will load it on boot. The less you use it and the more you use other apps, Android will boot only the apps you frequently use depending on how much it decides to allocate RAM for cached apps on boot.
 
I use a few Apps, depending on what I'm doing. I'd hate to assorted to just freezing. Want to keep them available on app drawer and have instant access to them when needed
 
OP, rather rather than take the approach that you are, have you thought to email the Devs for the apps in question, or replace them outright? I use TripIt, and found their app would run in the background (to watch for itinerary updates), despite having a setting for manual updates only. I emailed them, sand they fixed it. I also use Document Scanner, and I don't recall seeing that as a running service; you may find it a suitable alternative, if its Dev doesn't meet your need.
 
Will try and contact dev. Just find this a pain to do so with so many Apps. If no solution, I will try your alternative. Thanks!!
 
Pookieguy are you noticing a performance issue on your phone, that's why you're managing your app so intensely?
 
No, I'm not really noticing any performance issues at all. It is just personal preference. I don't want these background apps affecting my battery. I have had excellent battery life with this phone, even when I first took it out of the box and did not modify anything.

I just don't want unnecessary apps running that might impact battery, even if it is a minor impact.
 
No knock OP, but you do realize that letting stuff run in the background is a core function of Android? You'll probably find success in having a Devs alter, or swapping out apps, to a limited degree. What I think you're trying to do, you will find is an exercise in futility.
 
If its battery you're having trouble with, actually, using task managers to kill apps eats more battery than leaving them alone.
 
RyanB said:
No knock OP, but you do realize that letting stuff run in the background is a core function of Android? You'll probably find success in having a Devs alter, or swapping out apps, to a limited degree. What I think you're trying to do, you will find is an exercise in futility.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, if you prevent some apps to run in the background Android will fill that RAM amount that became free with another app running in background. Thats the way Android works. You can tweak some custom Kernels to leave more free RAM, like some bigmem Kernels, or use some available scripts to modify the OOM`s (out of memory values) and other values to achieve the same thing, but it is normally limited to leave max around 100 MB of free RAM, as more is nonsense for an Android system.
 
If you aren't having a performance issue and your battery life is good, then I would suggest leaving everything as is. Just because you see an app as "running" doesn't mean it is having any affect on your battery. Most of those apps (especially the ones you use on a regular basis) are sitting in a non-active state waiting to run. They aren't really taking anything away from your phone except RAM and if you shut them down another app will start to use the RAM. Constantly trying to shut down apps and having that app restart or another take it's place only leads to battery drain and poor performance overall.

Best advise I can give you is to just leave the phone alone. It is running the way it should. If you are still concerned about these apps then take a minute and read up on how Android works, that may set your mind at ease.
 
I've noticed that turning the phone OFF does about the same as a task manager.
No one tells you to leave the phone on all the time - some of us just turn it off at night.

Airplane mode will stop most noise but I don't think it will stop low battery beeping.
 
pookieguy said:
I use a few Apps, depending on what I'm doing. I'd hate to assorted to just freezing. Want to keep them available on app drawer and have instant access to them when needed
Click to expand...

Same here just a personal preference for me also...would rather every app on my phone does not start at boot(only when I use it).

I have been using Gemini App Manager to configure auto run permissions. Works great! The only app it has not worked on out of say 70 loaded on my Esteem is the Google+ app. It has superpowers to revert it's permissions back to default regardless if I change them...strange :confused:
 
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