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Minimum running apps for optimal battery and memory life?

T

Taiken84

Lurker
Hey guys,
Not sure how to phrase this but I'll try. I want to save as much battery life as I can by having the least amount of applications running in the background. Which processes for the mytouch 4g are needed to keep the phone running? I know of course I can turn off "facebook" as an app but there are other processes/apps like com.smithmicro.DM or com.htc.provider.settings that I don't know if I can turn off w/o having the phone run properly. I want just the skeleton apps, so theoretically I just want the apps running for a phone that has no misc. apps installed.

Also I don't understand the difference between "Running Processes" and just turning the app off in "Manage Applications." THanks in advance.
 
Android doesn't work that way. If you read through the posts linked above you should have a pretty good understanding of Android application management.

If you want to run minimal power consumption, i'd keep WiFi GPS and Bluetooth radios off except when needed and remove all widgets from the home screen as these most likely will need to poll data. Reduce sync frequency, or turn it off altogether. Of course each of these things reduces the functionality of your phone.

I used to worry about battery life to the the detriment of enjoying my phone. I have since use more apps and widgets and enjoy it more. If I have to charge more frequently, well that's the cost of power.
 
Can't a person save power though, not with a task killer but controlling what starts automatically from a reboot?

there's an app to do this, can't remember what it's called, you need root though.

I know on my non-rooted at&t inspire: youtube, htc mail, camera, asphalt 5, stocks, fm radio, friend stream, news, peep, htc weather, htc facebook, htc music, at&t hotspots, stock android browser and more are always running and in memory after a fresh reboot, I use none of these things except youtube and camera every once in a while.

I'm guessing they do this for a better user experience trying the stock apps out in the store before you buy, but when you use none of those things it's kind of a waste* even if it is just a negligible one.

*not really a waste of memory, I have somewhat of an understanding of how the memory management works and that they'll be cleared out when ram is needed, but a waste of battery and time loading them into ram as well as possible network activity from them.
 
John Redcorn said:
Can't a person save power though, not with a task killer but controlling what starts automatically from a reboot?

there's an app to do this, can't remember what it's called, you need root though.
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If you have root, just uninstall the system apps that you don't want.

If they are apps that you use, let them run. It's more efficient. Read the links above and try to understand how Android works.

I know on my non-rooted at&t inspire: youtube, htc mail, camera, asphalt 5, stocks, fm radio, friend stream, news, peep, htc weather, htc facebook, htc music, at&t hotspots, stock android browser and more are always running and in memory after a fresh reboot, I use none of these things except youtube and camera every once in a while.
Click to expand...

Then delete them.

Note though, that "running" and "in memory" are two different things. They are probably "in memory" but if you have never used them, they aren't "running".

From the article I linked: In Android, processes and Applications are two different things. An app can stay "running" in the background without any processes eating up your phone's resources. Android keeps the app in its memory so it launches more quickly and returns to its prior state.

I'm guessing they do this for a better user experience trying the stock apps out in the store before you buy, but when you use none of those things it's kind of a waste* even if it is just a negligible one.
Click to expand...

That's not the reason. From the article I linked:

Android uses RAM differently than, say, Windows. On Android, having your RAM nearly full is a good thing. It means that when you relaunch an app you've previously opened, the app launches quickly and returns to its previous state. So while Android actually uses RAM efficiently, most users see that their RAM is full and assume that's what's slowing down their phone.

Please also note that most of the apps you referenced are not the normal Android apps, they are the apps added by the Manufacturer (HTC) and your provider (AT&T). They have "told" Android that those apps will be commonly used, thus Android loads them at the beginning to try to make your experience with the phone faster and more smooth. If you don't want them, and you have root, just remove the app completely.

a waste of battery and time loading them into ram as well as possible network activity from them.
Click to expand...

If your phone isn't loading those, it will be loading something else instead. It wants to keep the memory somewhat full. If you kill them, your phone will just try to load them again (or load something else to keep the memory full). Then you are creating a circle or constantly re-loading the app and that will use your battery.

Again, "loaded into memory" does not mean they are doing anything. Why would there be network activity?
 
I used to have a Motorola V180 flip phone. It didn't do squat, but the battery would last for days. Now I have a myTouch 4G that probably has more memory and processing power than a mainframe computer I operated lo those many years ago. The stuff my 4G does is amazing, but the battery life is MUCH shorter than my old V180, so I have to charge it more frequently. I keep an AC charger close at hand at home and have a car charger in my car. I can enjoy all the wonderful stuff my 4G does and plug it in whenever I have to. Seems like a small price to pay.
 
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