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Help Apps running in background?

R

ronchito

Newbie
i downloaded Advanced Task Killer just to try it out. According to this app, many of the programs that i use throughout the day are still "open", even though they don't show as running in the phone's native "Running Applications" list. Are apps supposed to close immediately upon exiting them or do they stay active for some time afterwards? I realize there is some debate about the value of app killers but i dont have mine on auto kill setting - only manual.
 
They stay in the background, which means they are stored in memory, but not using any processor cycles / battery power. This just means that they'll reload faster. If another app comes along that needs the memory, they'll get kicked out.
 
Just because their opened doesn't mean anything if they're cached. They are not taking much, if any, processing power and/or battery life. Leave the apps alone and let Android handle it.
 
necosino said:
They stay in the background, which means they are stored in memory, but not using any processor cycles / battery power. This just means that they'll reload faster. If another app comes along that needs the memory, they'll get kicked out.
Click to expand...
So in your opinion there is no need for an app killer, even if set to manual?
 
Edward Fisher said:
So in your opinion there is no need for an app killer, even if set to manual?
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App killer, no. Maybe an app manager with the ability to kill if absolutely necessary, sure. But keep in mind that killing should be the last resort, as people who have an app manager with that extra ability tend to end up using it as an task killer more than managing their apps. You should only kill an app that is seemingly have gone rogue and is tremendously affecting your phone in a negative way.
 
necosino said:
They stay in the background, which means they are stored in memory, but not using any processor cycles / battery power. This just means that they'll reload faster. If another app comes along that needs the memory, they'll get kicked out.
Click to expand...


I agree, i have SYSTEM PANEL and if you start closing apps you'll see the memory circle gage/Pie decreasing which means more memory available. People think because the an App is listed it draining the battery but actually its taking up memory and not power unless you open an App and use it.


When i have to use GPS or search the Internet and i have the time, i try to close as many Apps as possible to increase memory which MIGHT make my open/running App run smoother. The Incredible has a large memory, but like said if i have the time i shut down, or maybe do a REBOOT.

But constantly shutting down Apps with task killer all day may actually use more battery life because the ANDROID OS constantly turns them back on, not opening them... but listing them in memory as mention in necosino post above, the cycle created by killing Apps all day and then the Phone turning them on will use battery power.

I find System Panel to be a great App and recommend it, i did use ATK but switch to SYSTEM PANEL.
 
DroidPower said:
I agree, i have SYSTEM PANEL and if you start closing apps you'll see the memory circle gage/Pie decreasing which means more memory available. People think because the an App is listed it draining the battery but actually its taking up memory and not power unless you open an App and use it.


When i have to use GPS or search the Internet and i have the time, i try to close as many Apps as possible to increase memory which MIGHT make my open/running App run smoother. The Incredible has a large memory, but like said if i have the time i shut down, or maybe do a REBOOT.

But constantly shutting down Apps with task killer all day may actually use more battery life because the ANDROID OS constantly turns them back on, not opening them... but listing them in memory as mention in necosino post above, the cycle created by killing Apps all day and then the Phone turning them on will use battery power.

I find System Panel to be a great App and recommend it, i did use ATK but switch to SYSTEM PANEL.
Click to expand...
Where can I find System Panel?
 
The customer service person said that I shouldn't use System Panel.... I'm starting to think they are full of shit...
 
woop said:
What customer service person? Verizon?
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Yeah. They said it was the cause of the native app manager force closing and the random reboots and haptic feedback intermittently not working. Then they hard reset my phone. Me thinks it was a lie.
They also told me I had to many apps on my phone.
 
Unless they actually proved to you that SystemPanel was related to your issues, then they were just trying to find an excuse because they were unsure themselves.
 
Don't use task killers. If you're really interested, check out the link someone above posted, or look around for the video explaining it.

Basically apps store metadata containing their current state. When you switch applications, the app is still loaded in memory, but not using CPU cycles (unless it registers a service with the OS). If Android requires the memory that app is using, it flushes it. When you return to the app, it's loaded back into the memory, its state is restored from that metadata, and its like it was running the whole time. If you switch back to an app that's still in memory, it's just raised to the foreground. Either way, it's transparent to you, and gives the effect that every app is running in parallel. Quite clever.

Let Android manage running apps. It does a great job at it. A task killer may be useful to have around if you have a hanging app or something, but I've yet to run into that situation.
 
What about data sessions? When you go back to the home screen from an internet or gps session, they are still active. You must kill them with a task manager or with the "Manage Applications" utility under "Settings"; is that not correct?
 
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