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Please stop using task killers...

aohus said:
bloatware does NOT slow down Android OS. its not like other OS's where less memory = more lag.

Android OS keeps applications in memory, and kill tasks on its own at kernel level.
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Good to know you know my phone better than I do. Before I used atk's or autokiller my phone would come to a halt almost and close my tabs on the browser I'm using saying "closed due to memory" but when I look to see whats in memory its all the bloatware, most of which I've never used. It doesn't matter if my phone is stock or if I have 200 apps installed (I've tested both) My phone lags a little when it gets below 90 mb's free, it lags a lot under 70 mb's and comes to a halt under 50 mb's. Before I rooted and used autokiller atk's were the only way for me to combat the lag since the Android OS wouldn't kill things until it got below 50 mb's and then it would kill what I was using instead of the bloatware.
 
WIth less than 50 mb free, some of my apps lag. ATK fixes it. Specifically, Angry Birds is not smooth if I don't kill everything before running it. Dungeon Hunter takes forever to load if I don't kill everything first. Plain and simple, tested it many times. ATK makes those two apps work better. However, the phone itself if faster and smoother if I don't use ATK. It has its purposes.
 
Steven58 said:
I agree with OP.
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Me Too !


I had installed it, like the VRW csr's asked me to do. My Battery life was quite down as it was... and I never knew it could be improved.

I have now DOUBLED my battery life. How? Delete all task killers. Then, go to Settings > Applications > Running Services > Click on all the apps running that you don't need > STOP. Eventually all the apps you don't need to use (at that time) will be temporarily stopped. They will come back on after a day or so, or when you power off/on the phone. I check mine at least twice a day and shut off all apps not needed.

Result? Double the battery!
 
Xman007 said:
Me Too !


I had installed it, like the VRW csr's asked me to do. My Battery life was quite down as it was... and I never knew it could be improved.

I have now DOUBLED my battery life. How? Delete all task killers. Then, go to Settings > Applications > Running Services > Click on all the apps running that you don't need > STOP. Eventually all the apps you don't need to use (at that time) will be temporarily stopped. They will come back on after a day or so, or when you power off/on the phone. I check mine at least twice a day and shut off all apps not needed.

Result? Double the battery!
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You can do the same with atk (on 2.1) one click to kill everything you don't use. All you have to do is turn off the auto setting and it will quit draining your battery, then anything you use or are not sire of its purpose put on the ignore list. Now its set to kill all that you don't use with one click instead of the hassle of going through one by one and closing out the apps every hour or two. The battery issue is due to having it set to auto, turn that off so it only runs when you hit it
 
well your wrong, at least by my droid....i uninstalled my task killer and installed the auto one and my battery life actually decreased and home run battle 3d actually didnt work all that well, so i reinstalled taskiller, it doesnt do anything automatically, i just hit the widget when changing tasks and i get 10 percent more battery life

so i guess your entitled to your opinion but it is just that, an opinion
 
If Task Killers are set on a schedule to machine gun all the active processes, you run into problems. If TKs are used as snipers to kill the occasional app, that will help your battery life as not all apps are well-coded. Some are awesome apps that don't release resources properly (e.g., like in Windows, which is why they need "exit" buttons and Android does not) -- So TKs are necessary to help kill those poorly-coded apps. Just *don't put them on a schedule to kill everything*.

If you find that doing a kill everything helps your battery life, then you have an app that is not well-written and is using up your CPU/resources and/or not releasing them properly.

Find out what that app is and kill it (the specific app) before using an app that needs a lot of CPU, like Angry Birds.
 
I was in a Best Buy Mobile mini store in a mall yesterday looking at the Galaxy Tab *drool* and overheard the sales girl who was sporting an iPhone advise an Android customer that he had to download a task killer because background app were eating his battery. It took every bit of my self restraint not to jump into the conversation and beat her down.

BTW, she was drooling over my Fascinate and said it was her next phone. Hopefully, when she gets it, she will head her own advise and install a task killer...serves her right ...haha
 
Funny OP, Ive had my ATK on my DX from day 1 (about 5 months ago) and never had a battery issue. Im on 2.2 Deodexed rooted, and my battery lasts me all day.
But none the less I will certainly uninstall and see if it improves my battery. But so far i have absolutely no issues at all. Maybe its the FlyX rom im on. IDK but we will see what happens.
 
aohus said:
you may think its improving your battery life, but its not.

additionally, if ure on froyo 2.2, there is absolutely no need for it, as you can still kill apps via settings -> applications -> manage applications

task killers are bad. PERIOD. let Android OS inherently kill its own tasks on its own. it does this at kernel level. you're draining the battery, causing instability issues by manually closing apps.

The ONLY time you should be killing apps is if it keeps force closing, or not responding as it should.
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I don't just think it, it's real. I tested it again after reading your post, uninstalled ATK and my battery life was terrible for a few days. I re-installed today and my battery life is much, much improved and phone works smoother.
 
Didn't whitesnake do a song called here I go again? Yep, they did.

Just get of the damned in here and lmao.

I am not sure why Verizon employees are insisting on Task Killers. There was never an official memo and they are actually worthless. They were worthless prior to the latest release, you just didn't know it.

They are worthless because of how Linux manages memory.Just because it is running does not mean it is using resources. Sorry.

There are plenty of resources on the internet that will tell you that they are worthless. If store employees tell you that a task killer is needed, decline and tell them to go home and research it.
 
Personally I just put the advanced task killer on the front page as a widget. Takes up 1 space. and I just have to tap on it once and all apps close so its not running 24/7 which does kill the battery, it only runs for that one tap as long as you tap it and ive gotten into the habit on tapping on it everytime im done using an app.
 
PepoG. said:
Personally I just put the advanced task killer on the front page as a widget. Takes up 1 space. and I just have to tap on it once and all apps close so its not running 24/7 which does kill the battery, it only runs for that one tap as long as you tap it and ive gotten into the habit on tapping on it everytime im done using an app.
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make sure you have the things you use regularly and the OS stuff ignored
 
This is just one of those topics that is doomed to be argued until the end of time.

Here's what I see, those people who are in favor of task killers say it's because task killers get rid of lag. People against task killers say that it has nothing to do with the lag. So instead of arguing that point, let's hear some theories, both proven and those that are just that, 'theories', as to what actually does cause lag, and what can cure it. Because coming on here and simply telling someone who has seen an improvement with their phones lag time after installing a task killer (I'll just add Autokiller in with them for the sake of argument) that they don't do anything for lag certainly isn't going to convince them of anything. You have to give them an alternative cure to try so that they can see for themselves that there is another way to beat lag if they're having issues with it.

I know lag is real, I've experienced it on my phone before. And I've had the 'closed due to lack of memory' message pop up on me before as well... I didn't dream it, I saw it on my phone. Why would the OEM's of Android phones even have a message put on their phone that says 'closed due to lack of memory' if their governing system was flawless?

I don't use task killers, except for Autokiller. So anyone who is of the opinion that nothing at all is needed and only hurts the phone please let us know what else can be done to combat low memory and lag problems. Thank you.
 
Outlaw71 said:
This is just one of those topics that is doomed to be argued until the end of time.

Here's what I see, those people who are in favor of task killers say it's because task killers get rid of lag. People against task killers say that it has nothing to do with the lag. So instead of arguing that point, let's hear some theories, both proven and those that are just that, 'theories', as to what actually does cause lag, and what can cure it. Because coming on here and simply telling someone who has seen an improvement with their phones lag time after installing a task killer (I'll just add Autokiller in with them for the sake of argument) that they don't do anything for lag certainly isn't going to convince them of anything. You have to give them an alternative cure to try so that they can see for themselves that there is another way to beat lag if they're having issues with it.

I know lag is real, I've experienced it on my phone before. And I've had the 'closed due to lack of memory' message pop up on me before as well... I didn't dream it, I saw it on my phone. Why would the OEM's of Android phones even have a message put on their phone that says 'closed due to lack of memory' if their governing system was flawless?

I don't use task killers, except for Autokiller. So anyone who is of the opinion that nothing at all is needed and only hurts the phone please let us know what else can be done to combat low memory and lag problems. Thank you.
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I've had lag even with a completely stock system, and everyone against autokiller and task killer always just says "it's a bad app"
 
As I haven't seen anyone mention this, I will interject here. First off, I understand the want of some of you to use a task killer to kill specific task that you don't want running. My question to you is why are these task running to begin with.

If you use the back key to exit the application, the process with shut itself down. The only way a process would be running inadvertently in the background is a) its set to update itself periodically (which should be tweaked within the apps settings) or b) you use the home key to return to the home screen, which tells the OS that you want it to continue to run and will be coming back to that task soon. As far as bloatware like Skype, backup assistant, etc. If you haven't set those apps up and have never used them, then they are not "running" in the background. Androids OS has a place holder for them and is keeping them in a "ready" state in order to a) be accessed or opened quickly or b) store information (like contacts) that could be needed by other applications. In both cases these apps should either be removed from the phone if you are rooted and they are not useful to you, or be left alone so that apps that require their information can function properly.

I personally use autokiller in order to have control over how android manages my memory. I keep a lot of memory free so that if I do need to access several apps at once (think, web browsing, while listening to music while checking gmail and responding to a text) the android system doesn't hiccup trying to decide which task are important and which task need to be shutdown because there is enough free memory to handle it.

In the end task killers are band aids. If you set your phone up properly, and you don't hang on to apps that misbehave, and you back out of things when you are finished with them, there is absolutely no need for them whatsoever.
/subject
 
jreed2560 said:
As I haven't seen anyone mention this, I will interject here. First off, I understand the want of some of you to use a task killer to kill specific task that you don't want running. My question to you is why are these task running to begin with.

If you use the back key to exit the application, the process with shut itself down. The only way a process would be running inadvertently in the background is a) its set to update itself periodically (which should be tweaked within the apps settings) or b) you use the home key to return to the home screen, which tells the OS that you want it to continue to run and will be coming back to that task soon. As far as bloatware like Skype, backup assistant, etc. If you haven't set those apps up and have never used them, then they are not "running" in the background. Androids OS has a place holder for them and is keeping them in a "ready" state in order to a) be accessed or opened quickly or b) store information (like contacts) that could be needed by other applications. In both cases these apps should either be removed from the phone if you are rooted and they are not useful to you, or be left alone so that apps that require their information can function properly.

I personally use autokiller in order to have control over how android manages my memory. I keep a lot of memory free so that if I do need to access several apps at once (think, web browsing, while listening to music while checking gmail and responding to a text) the android system doesn't hiccup trying to decide which task are important and which task need to be shutdown because there is enough free memory to handle it.

In the end task killers are band aids. If you set your phone up properly, and you don't hang on to apps that misbehave, and you back out of things when you are finished with them, there is absolutely no need for them whatsoever.
/subject
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I have check when my phone was lagging I checked and nothing but the android OS was running, but all the bloat ware was in the memory. I don't care what any one says about free memory blah blah, mine and many others have lag at a certain memory free point. If your not rooted and running autokiller then task killers are the only answer (besides going into settings and closing out the apps one by one.) I SBF'd my phone and ran completely stock for 2 days and had lag STOCK, without anything like animation or pushed email.The only things I even used was the stock browser and gmail
 
jreed2560 said:
Yeah, you should probably read the other half of my post.
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I read the whole post and see your running autokiller which tells me the stock settings weren't working for you, but for people that aren't rooted that's not an option. For those people task killers is the only fix.
 
I just find it interesting that the anti task killer people feel the need to tell others how they should use their phone. Thank you but I will use my phone the way I want to. If you don't want to use a task killer, don't.
 
Stealthman said:
I just find it interesting that the anti task killer people feel the need to tell others how they should use their phone. Thank you but I will use my phone the way I want to. If you don't want to use a task killer, don't.
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Well its obvious they know how OUR Phone acts better than we do. I don't disagree that they may be right about SOME peoples phone when the keep saying "bad app" but I know that doesn't apply to my phone because I've tested it. The only reason I keep defending task killers (even though I quit using them because autokiller works better) is because when I was new to Android I got a task killer because my phone lagged. Then because so many people were saying task killers hurt your phone I uninstalled it and had a lagging phone for a little over a week until I reinstalled because my phone was useless at 50 mb free. They are not bad but need to be setup correctly.
 
Does anyone know if there is an app that scans your phone for these so called 'bad apps'? That would be one hell of a useful app. I wound up having all sorts of problems with forced closes, random reboots, and slow performance. I just about pulled my hair out trying to find the culprit. Spent a few weeks trying to sort it out. Everytime I thought I'd had my 'bad app' rounded up (would go into TiBU and freeze a suspect app, the phone would go maybe a day or so without a random reboot, and I would get the false impression I'd fixed it), the reboots would return after a day or so. REALLY drove me nuts.

In the end I finally did find it, it was the LCD Density changer I'd been using. I never suspected it because when I first installed it I don't remember anything being wrong for at least a few weeks. Perhaps the problems came up after an update or something? Whatever it was, with close to 150 apps on my phone it was hard to say the least to narrow it down. It's expecially hard to find when, like in this case, I really didn't suspect it at all since I'd not noticed any problem with it after I initially installed it. You don't expect an app to degrade after a few weeks and THEN start causing problems. If you download an app, and then your phone starts acting up it's pretty easy to figure out what's going on. But not an app that starts acting up weeks later.

So if there is an app that scans your phone to find an app that's causing problems, I would be most interested in hearing about it.
 
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