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Help advanced task killer

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bgrimey

Lurker
So I have atk installed as a home screen widget and every time I click it it gives a number of apps it killed plus an amount of phone memory. Now if I turn off the phone and turn it back on this number is in the 200 s. But if I leave the phone on this number gradually declines to below 100. Can someone explain what's going on and what I can do about it ?
 
I stopped using ATK after a few days for a couple reasons: 1) I read an article where, I believe, a Google developer said there is no reason to use ATK on OSs beyond 2.0 - that the newer OS versions handled power/memory fine without it; 2) unless you configure everything right, it can cause problems - one example being killing your clock application, causing your alarm to not go off. I know you can fix things like that as you discover them, but the problem is you have to discover them first.

Sorry I couldn't answer your question, just thought I'd throw that out there for you.
 
Because its preloading apps in the background, which is why your battery life is suffering while using a task killer. Unless you need to force an app to close then i'd remove it. The only time i use mine is when an app is hanging or is unresponsive, then i close that app and then close the task manager/killer. Then reload the app and it'll work again.
 
Funny how many people are using it. I wouldn't be surprised if many people using it are also having the battery problems.
 
I use Advanced Task Cleaner 2.0 because you can configure exactly which apps are terminated upon sleep and which apps should always be ignored (use the sleep option not the time option for termination). If you know what you're doing and take the time to put the apps in the correct category, it works great. Do you know how many apps startup every time you reboot? Many of these apps have no business starting up, esp if you only use them occasionally, for example: Advanced Task Manager, Aurora, Backup Assistant, Bar Control, Battery Indicator Pro, Easy Note, MSN Talk, FM Radio, MyBackup Pro, Scanner Radio, ShopSavvy, Skype Mobile, System, The Weather Channel, WeatherBug Elite, etc. etc. NONE of these apps have any business starting up on my phone as I open them when I need them and hit "refresh" to get current data at that time. This is how I use my phone to maximize battery life. For instance, I don't need The Weather Channel updating automatically. When I want weather, "I" will start the app and click refresh. Auto-update is off, so it has no reason to start up automatically. But it does. That's the way I use my device.

If you don't have the expertise or patience to do this, that's fine. But don't knock properly configured task killers. As everyone knows, you must check your Windows XP startup tasks every so often unless you want your system to bog down over time. The same applies to this device.

P.S.: I emailed the author of Advanced Task Manager and he plans on adding the ability to select which apps get killed and how they get killed. Until then, Advanced Task Cleaner 2.0 superior for advanced users.
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/tools/advanced-task-cleaner-20_cqlv.html
 
INTREPID-NY said:
I use Advanced Task Cleaner because you can configure exactly which apps are terminated upon sleep and which apps should always be ignored (use the sleep option not the time option for termination). If you know what you're doing and take the time to put the apps in the correct category, it works great. Do you know how many apps startup every time you reboot? Many of these apps have no business starting up, esp if you only use them occasionally, for example: Advanced Task Manager, Aurora, Backup Assistant, Bar Control, Battery Indicator Pro, Easy Note, MSN Talk, FM Radio, MyBackup Pro, Scanner Radio, ShopSavvy, Skype Mobile, System, The Weather Channel, WeatherBug Elite, etc. etc. NONE of these apps have any business starting up on my phone as I open them when I need them and hit "refresh" to get current data at that time. This is how I use my phone to maximize battery life. For instance, I don't need The Weather Channel updating automatically. When I want weather, "I" will start the app and click refresh. Auto-update is off, so it has no reason to start up automatically. But it does. That's the way I use my device.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. My battery life has increased dramatically when I installed ATK and took the time to configure it. When I start my phone, a huge list of apps start with it that have no reason to be running. One click on ATK and they're gone until needed.

It's the "MSCONFIG" for Android! :D
 
another thing

SystemPanel App / Task Manager - Android app on AppBrain

install this app. it shows you the actual apps RUNNING vs CACHED. if its cached there is NO NEED to kill it. its just stored in memory, not using CPU cycles or draining the battery down. I am sure most people think that their task killer is actually doing something when most times its killed inactive apps. you can also kill the apps you want using the this app too.
 
I have a dream, that someday, all Android users will know the truth about ATK and their brethren app killer applications. And that we can begin a discussion about something else.
 
Oh, and the FAQ posted makes alot of assumptions. Assuming an app is properly written is one of them and it's an incorrect assumption.

One more item: Be sure to check this --

Menu, Settings, About Phone, Battery. Write down the Awake Time on a piece of paper. Push the power button once quickly to make your phone sleep (not turn off). Wake your phone back up in 10 minutes. The Awake Time should be nearly the same. If it's not, you have a bad app installed. You will need to track it down and uninstall it. For me it was Accuweather.com

If you have this issue, here is one of many threads:

http://androidforums.com/htc-incredible/72613-wont-sleep.html
 
Good Point. No harm in keeping cached apps as long as they let your phone properly sleep. No harm in killing them either (if they are not OS related) but probably not necessary.

howarmat said:
another thing

SystemPanel App / Task Manager - Android app on AppBrain

install this app. it shows you the actual apps RUNNING vs CACHED. if its cached there is NO NEED to kill it. its just stored in memory, not using CPU cycles or draining the battery down. I am sure most people think that their task killer is actually doing something when most times its killed inactive apps. you can also kill the apps you want using the this app too.
Click to expand...
 
INTREPID-NY said:
If you don't have the expertise or patience to do this, that's fine. But don't knock properly configured task killers. As everyone knows, you must check your Windows XP startup tasks every so often unless you want your system to bog down over time. The same applies to this device.
Advanced Task Cleaner 2.0 for Android
Click to expand...

The problem is, most of us are not advanced users.

We click market, we click apps, we click top free, and there is ATK. Makes sense to get it, why would I want apps to be able to decide for themselves if they are open. I agree, many apps run at improper times but I'm not convinced ATK or other task killers are the solution.

Right now whats happening is people are getting their brand new fancy smartphones and wanting to load up tons of apps to make it work how they want and to show off all the fun features. What happens is some of these apps start hogging up the battery and so without being able to figure out which ones are, we blame the battery.

If people are scheduling ATK to auto kill tons of apps every x hours, then it makes sense that ATK itself would have to use battery in order to function.

I'm not an expert by any stretch, I just know that I get 8-15 hours of use out of my battery without using any task killers. I suspect task killers, messaging apps, and other continuously updating apps that have access to GPS are killing peoples batteries.
 
TheSultan said:
I have a dream, that someday, all Android users will know the truth about ATK and their brethren app killer applications. And that we can begin a discussion about something else.
Click to expand...

^ I partially blame VWZ! When I bought my Eris the sales rep put it on my phone right away and told me how I needed it. My Eris was an impulse buy (went in for a BB Battery walked out with a new phone) & I didn't know much about Android phones.
VWZ sales associates should stop putting it on ppls phones.
 
sunthas said:
We click market, we click apps, we click top free, and there is ATK. Makes sense to get it
Click to expand...

Dead on.

Plus, as been mentioned,anyone coming from BB (or windows XP) will be used to piss-poor memory management and "think" Android suffers from it (which it does not) and likely freak out when they see their memory drop into the 30's.

Other than repeat the "leave it alone" mantra, not much else is going to help (or slow down the frantic posts.)
 
And for the disbelievers, take the time to look at how many CPU cycles these Apps you are "shutting down" with ATK have used. a 1 sec uptime in 24 hrs is not using any juice.

A Task killer is NOT msconfig for an android, it does NOT help your battery(regardless of what you keep posting in the forums) and does not make the phone run better, smoother, faster etc.
 
I've been using system panel and in two weeks I have killed just two apps that were acting goofy. It's nice to have the option to nuke a runaway, but if you have OCD for keeping things orderly stay away. You're doing more harm than good.
 
INTREPID-NY said:
So, having 19 running applications you seldom use is ok? That doesn't sound right to me.
Click to expand...

yes it is fine. normal. ok. etc.

Android handles these sorts of things very well.

If you take a look at System Panel, it will show you the difference between running and cached apps. But, honestly, you would probably be happier just ignoring them all together ;)
 
nightfishing said:
And for the disbelievers, take the time to look at how many CPU cycles these Apps you are "shutting down" with ATK have used. a 1 sec uptime in 24 hrs is not using any juice.

A Task killer is NOT msconfig for an android, it does NOT help your battery(regardless of what you keep posting in the forums) and does not make the phone run better, smoother, faster etc.
Click to expand...

In your humble opinion!
 
I've Read: FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android Geek For Me – Android CDMA Sprint Hero
I'm always open to different opinions and frankly task killers (properly configured) are either going to increase battery life and performance or they're not. I'll test using my Inc with Advanced Task Cleaner turned off and see if I notice a difference. I'll keep an eye on things using SystemPanel and see how things go.

I must say that some apps are coded to start-up at boot and either run or stay cached for no reason. This is a programming decision by the developer and is often arbitrary. But they do seem to use little or no CPU, although they do take up memory (which according to the above article should be managed by the OS).
 
You kill them and they keep turning on, you kill them again and they start running again, you kill them again later in the day and they turn on again, you kill them again, and ten minutes later their on again.... you know what the definition is of doing the same thing over and over expecting different results...

If your OS is constantly running needing to keep the Apps running, it has to use battery life trying to keep the ANDROID system properly in order to maintain its features and capabilities.

I think the battle of killing Apps and the system restarting them is a battery killer by itself. i haven't use a TASK KILLER on the Incredible like i did on the Droid because of the larger Memory in the Incredible compared to the Droid allowing the Incredible to handle a system load.

I decided when i got the Incredible to let the system work on its own, i installed a 1750 slim battery and i haven't been disappointed leaving the Incredible alone.

Just remember to REBOOT once-in-a-while, or if your phone acts funny.
 
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