[/B]for those of us not in the know with regard to task killers being counterproductive on ICS, please detail.
thanks.
In Android apps are in a few basic states of operation. Foreground which means that they are running, background which means they are in a ready state and cached. In any of these states the app can be taking up RAM, but not using the CPU. It isn't until one of these apps is using the CPU that it is using any battery. So you can have 10 apps sitting in the background taking up RAM, but doing nothing with the CPU and therefore not using any battery.
RAM is used differently in Android than on your PC. RAM can get in short supply on a PC and can cause issues if you do not have enough to run a program. With Android the RAM will be released when it is needed automatically. If an app or game needs more RAM to operate the OS will see that and release RAM from background apps for the new app to run. During normal use though the majority of your RAM will be occupied by these apps sitting in the background waiting to run. On your PC free RAM is important. In Android free RAM is wasted RAM.
Over time your phone will learn from what you do with it, jut like the battery stats. The apps you use the most will start to sit in that background ready state just waiting for you to hit the icon that will launch them. Just as above, these will be taking up RAM, but not using the CPU or the battery.
When you use a task killer it will stop these apps from running in the background. It may free up RAM for that period of time, but the OS will see free RAM and find something to fill it. This means another app or many times the same app will be relaunched to take up that wasted RAM. That app that is being launched to fill that RAM will use the CPU to start back up and therefore use more battery power. The constant killing of apps and restarting of other apps (or the same app) will use up more battery power and cause the system to work harder than if it was simply left alone. The whole process is counter productive. Not only are you wasting your battery you are also doing things that conflict with the OS's natural state of operation. You are telling the OS that an app it sees you use often isn't something you want to use often. This in turn causes the system to work harder at other times to launch an app that it has removed from your ready apps which takes a bit longer and uses more CPU cycles which uses more battery.
Not only does all of this put a tax on the system, CPU and the battery it can also force apps that are in the process of writing data to cancel in the middle. This can cause corrupted data which will obviously cause further issues later on.
Many people try to justify the use of a task killer by bringing up problem apps. The fact of the matter is that the OS has a native way of dealing with problem apps in the app manager. An app that is running incorrectly can be force closed natively, but this feature is designed so that the problem app can then be removed. Why would you want an app that isn't coded correctly on your device in the first place?
