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Help How to close web browser when exiting

R

rockette

Lurker
My OH recently treated himself to a smart phone: the Galaxy Apollo. He is having great difficulty coming to terms with it not least because it seems reluctant to close applications. For example, when he accesses the internet, via the web browser, when he wants to exit, there is no x at the top right of the screen, like you get on pc browsers.

Instead he has to back out, or press the Home key on the fascia. This takes him to the main menu, but there is no stop button there. If he later presses the Internet option on the main screen to start a new search, it assumes he wants to continue where he left off and presents him with the earlier screen. He does not, he wants to start a new search, most of the time anyway.

He finds this inability to turn things off

a) infuriating and
b) worrying as it is not clear if he is being charged continuously for web browser running in the background.

Also he was advised to turn on 3G to speed up his internet access and has heard this runs down the battery faster.

Can anyone offer any useful advice on these issues please?
 
Internet browser not doing any harm in the background, and as long as not downloading files, or on a refreshing page (such as live sports updates) it won't be costing him anything.

3G will drain battery quicker, but only really if using it. If these things are really bothering him suggest a task killer app to close apps down (I use ES Task Manager, which can, like most, be even set to close certain apps every time phone screen switched off).

I use an app called Dataswitch to switch off all mobile internet when not in use (i.e. in meeting at work), this saves battery when not using, and suppose puts mind at rest about data usage).
 
I agree with what WilfMoralee said about the data/task managers. I would not however set your task manager to close apps automatically. This will have a constant "polling" of open apps by the task manager, reducing the battery life of your phone even more. Instead, get an app like advanced task manager, and place a shortcut on your home screen. Whenever you're worried about internet running in the background, just open that up, and kill the processes. Advanced task manager is great because it remembers which programs the user wants to be closed.

3G will not effect the battery life severely, wifi drains it much much quicker. If you're worried about certain apps accessing the internet when you're not on wifi, and are on a 3G connection, I suggest rooting the phone and installing Droidwall. This program allows you to specify exactly what apps can access the internet on 3G or wifi networks. For example, I allow all applications to access the internet on a wifi connection, but only my mail, messaging, browser, and maps to access the internet on 3g connection. It's great because this also blocks ads from loading, saving you your precious bandwidth.

Also, the browser seems to store the last page viewed/history in the phone, so even if you kill the task, it'll still bring you up to the last page you were at. The only shortcut way around this I've found is to just pull down the address bar and do a google search right inside the address bar. This way I don't have to go and load the google homepage again.

Let me know if this works for you.
 
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