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Help Are task managers pointless?

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I got in the habit of using task managers/killers when I had a galaxy ace and it did seem to help keep it running faster (well, it still ran like a tortoise with cramp).
I have read that task killers are pointless on android 4+ because it has some kind of intelligent memory management that kills unused apps when it needs to. Is this right?
I have noticed when I do use a task killer, such as the one built into air droid, all the apps closed instantly restart again.
 
shaneydroid said:
I got in the habit of using task managers/killers when I had a galaxy ace and it did seem to help keep it running faster (well, it still ran like a tortoise with cramp).
I have read that task killers are pointless on android 4+ because it has some kind of intelligent memory management that kills unused apps when it needs to. Is this right?
I have noticed when I do use a task killer, such as the one built into air droid, all the apps closed instantly restart again.
Click to expand...
There is no reason to use an auto task killer or to use an app to manually kill apps/processes for the purpose of clearing RAM. However a task manager, like "system panel" can be useful if an app becomes hung up.

http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them
 
shaneydroid said:
I got in the habit of using task managers/killers when I had a galaxy ace and it did seem to help keep it running faster (well, it still ran like a tortoise with cramp).
I have read that task killers are pointless on android 4+ because it has some kind of intelligent memory management that kills unused apps when it needs to. Is this right?
I have noticed when I do use a task killer, such as the one built into air droid, all the apps closed instantly restart again.
Click to expand...

The devices that are coming out come with plenty of memory and more efficient OS. My cell phone is two years old and use the task killer but that phone has about 170 mb of ram available when the phone turn on. The device actually comes with 512 mb of ram but the processes really take up a lot. It also comes with a single core that is 1 GHz.

The nexus 7 on the other hand comes with double the memory, a quad core processor and the best Android OS yet. In other words you don't need any task manager.
 
I use Watchdog to keep an eye on misbehaving processes on my FroYo Incredible. Not used it on my ICS Xoom but may consider it.

I like the way it warns about out of control apps only (e.g. Facebook).
 
The always seems to be some kind of - task killer installed on phones but not on the Nexus 7 if you don't count the card view of running apps :) the truth is you do not need it except for the Facebook app - I have noticed it does some wonchy stuff like running on background and using 53% percent on my phone processor - that is is simply not cool with me.

That one is the the only app I have noticed doing funny stuff so still you do not need it but for battery life purposes you might want to make sure facebook is closed if you use it.
 
Yea I'm not really concerned about the ram on the nexus, I'm more bothered that apps are running without having the decency to ask me.

For example, Facebook (as mentioned). I may not use the app for a couple of days but it is always running and always appears in the battery summary.

I had a live wallpaper running that I hadn't used in days. Things like that.
But I'll not worry about. I'm sure Google and my nexus know what they're doing :-)
 
sdrawkcab25 said:
There is no reason to use an auto task killer or to use an app to manually kill apps/processes for the purpose of clearing RAM. However a task manager, like "system panel" can be useful if an app becomes hung up.

http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them
Click to expand...

You don't even need a separate app to deal with apps that freeze.

Just go to the homescreen, hit the recent apps button and then find the frozen app and swipe up on it. That'll force close it for you without needing a 3rd party app.
 
Xyro said:
You don't even need a separate app to deal with apps that freeze.

Just go to the homescreen, hit the recent apps button and then find the frozen app and swipe up on it. That'll force close it for you without needing a 3rd party app.
Click to expand...

Correction, that does not force close the app, just removes it from the stack. To force close an app you still need to go into Settings | Apps | [misbehaving app] and force close from there. We had this discussion when the GNex was first release. I'll try and find that thread and link it.
 
What's the difference? I haven't had any hanging apps, but the recent apps trick seems to have helped in those cases.
 
I looked for the thread but it apparently has sunk too far into history in the GNex forum for me to find. IIRC it removes it from active memory thereby making it first in line for Android to wipe out when another app needs memory. The test is to take something on the stack and swipe it off, then goto Settings | Apps | Running and check a) it still shows up and b) the time isn't a few seconds which would imply that Android restarted the app.

I believe EM was in the convo (surprise, surprise :rolleyes:) which is why it sticks in my head.
 
Claghorn said:
Far better than a task killer app, if you are rooted, you can use Gemini App Manager to prevent things (like the facebook example above) from starting in the first place unless you deliberately start it yourself.
Click to expand...

You mentioned this on another thread as your number one root app, so I checked it out.. I don't know how I ever lived without it! HUGE props, man :D
 
Unforgiven said:
I looked for the thread but it apparently has sunk too far into history in the GNex forum for me to find. IIRC it removes it from active memory thereby making it first in line for Android to wipe out when another app needs memory. The test is to take something on the stack and swipe it off, then goto Settings | Apps | Running and check a) it still shows up and b) the time isn't a few seconds which would imply that Android restarted the app.

I believe EM was in the convo (surprise, surprise :rolleyes:) which is why it sticks in my head.
Click to expand...

I just gave it a go with a few different apps. You need to hit the 'Show cahced apps' button too.

It looks like lighter apps, like dolphin HD, stay cached even if you clear them from the recent apps, so I think you're right. That said, I tried a few games and those imediately dropped out of cached apps when cleared from recent apps. This was with about 50% of my RAM free, too.

That explains why I've had some sucess with it, but I guess it won't work with every app.
 
Yeah, it's somewhere between hitting home and forcing a close. I wish I could find the original thread but being limited to 100 results in search is killing me.
 
Unforgiven said:
Yeah, it's somewhere between hitting home and forcing a close. I wish I could find the original thread but being limited to 100 results in search is killing me.
Click to expand...

I find using the site:URL syntax with google searches usually works much better than any native web site search function.
 
Every time I hit task killer there's 11+ apps open, without me opening them. Is there a way to keep them off until I open them?
 
First, get rid of the task killer! You are thinking from a Windows state of mind. Android might "load" apps, but it does a much better job managing memory. Killing apps that want to automatically load is only going to make your device work harder since it is just going to load it again later. If you don't believe me, just do a search on task killers and you will find hundreds of threads explaining it. It has been unnecessary since version 2.2 of Android.
 
what UKCatFan said, and then some.

there will always be system apps that will load. closing them is akin to walking in circles- it passes the time, but you never get anywhere.

I stopped using Advanced Task Killer over 2 years ago, and have never had a problem. You can see what is using the battery by going to settings> battery.
 
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