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Should You Use a Task Killer?
- Thread starter lekky
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- htc desire
Let people do what they want, if they sleep better at night knowing they have a task killer then so be it
yenrod
Well-Known Member
Take your point Dan, BUT, quite a bit of the Market is taken up with Apps that do quite a bit of wot the Desire does ie I've got chomp.sms - mainly for the fact of not straining the eyes when txting at night...YET the Desire has an ok txt facility. There are many many other more menial apps around...that do existing stuff in a slightly different way...yet the same !
With app killers - it frees up more stuff & I'll stand by the fact the fone does run better...
Thats my personal choice...i'll add the fact HTC have put more ram in the HD backs up the fact that that running apps is a prob. for the processor ! FACT - why else put more ram into the device ?
SUroot
Extreme Android User
RAM is designed to keep things in memory in a kind of pre-fetch manor. If they are in memory, it is quicker to access the application or file than to open it fresh everytime. It has nothing to do with the CPU's capabilities at all.
Look at it like this: Free RAM is useless RAM.
Look at it like this: Free RAM is useless RAM.
widehead
Android Enthusiast
Frees up what? RAM? Free RAM in Android is useless. You are showing a basic misunderstanding of how Android works. FULL RAM is a good thing in Android! It means more apps are stored in memory, ready to be opened up when you need them, with less drain on your battery. If RAM is required Android will kill apps itself - this is what it is designed to do.
Task killers interfere with Android app management. They clog up the system and drain your battery.
Eris Ed
Android Expert
+1 for this!
The amount of battery needed to store an app *in the background* in RAM is tiny compared to the power needed to kill it and open it again the next time you want to use it.
Android is NOT a Windows PC. It works in a completely different way so any comparisons to pre-installed antivirus software and the amount of RAM is meaningless here.
wuthton
Android Enthusiast
This says it all really:
Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them
Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them
Wow, this thread has a huge amount on task killers, and some good links too. I do use a task killer, in fact I use Advanced task killer, and I auto kill, though I use the least aggressive setting.
From my perspective, and I'm a Windows and Linux engineer, both these O/Ses have task management tools and allow you to manually kill tasks.
Lets be honest, Android is a Unix variant, on which I can run a terminal emulator, and I can get a list of tasks that I can manually kill if I so desire, by virtue of my root access.
As with any O/S (Though Unix seems to be more resillient than Windows in this respect), the amount of free memory is important, especially when it is in limited quantaties.
So, being a bit OCD, I like to clear up apps that are idling taking up CPU cycles and RAM. My phone runs fine, far better than it did as a stock 2.1 phone.
I also have been through the settings, and adopted features like auto brightness and auto Wi-Fi off, changed sync frequencies etc.
My phone is rooted, and uses rooted Froyo and runs like a dream. I charge on the way to and from work, but tbh, the battery life is so good, I don't really need to.
Ultimately, it is down to just what works for you though. Mine runs fine with the Advanced task killer, and I'll keep using it until it stops it running fine.
It is by far the most reliable phone I've ever had, and the battery life is not much different to my last phone, a Nokia E71.
From my perspective, and I'm a Windows and Linux engineer, both these O/Ses have task management tools and allow you to manually kill tasks.
Lets be honest, Android is a Unix variant, on which I can run a terminal emulator, and I can get a list of tasks that I can manually kill if I so desire, by virtue of my root access.
As with any O/S (Though Unix seems to be more resillient than Windows in this respect), the amount of free memory is important, especially when it is in limited quantaties.
So, being a bit OCD, I like to clear up apps that are idling taking up CPU cycles and RAM. My phone runs fine, far better than it did as a stock 2.1 phone.
I also have been through the settings, and adopted features like auto brightness and auto Wi-Fi off, changed sync frequencies etc.
My phone is rooted, and uses rooted Froyo and runs like a dream. I charge on the way to and from work, but tbh, the battery life is so good, I don't really need to.
Ultimately, it is down to just what works for you though. Mine runs fine with the Advanced task killer, and I'll keep using it until it stops it running fine.
It is by far the most reliable phone I've ever had, and the battery life is not much different to my last phone, a Nokia E71.
I used to be a task killer fan but I got sick of all these kind of topics, so I thought well lets see if there is any truth in the word of the anti task killer brigade and guess what...there is! My battery is lasts at least 10 hours longer WITHOUT task killer, un-installing ATK is all I did and my battery life improved!
Widehead, not sure why you think a comparison with an E71 would remove credibility?
Symbian is one of the most successful phone platforms ever, and the E71 was a top notch phone, with a good battery life.
Considering the extra power the Desire has, for it to last as long as the E71 is not bad going.
Symbian is one of the most successful phone platforms ever, and the E71 was a top notch phone, with a good battery life.
Considering the extra power the Desire has, for it to last as long as the E71 is not bad going.
StevenSeed
Android Enthusiast
I've said this before and I'll say it again. Regardless of your background (whether it be Linux, Unix, Windows, whatever) if you have a task killer installed, you do not understand how Android works.
It really is as simple as that.
It really is as simple as that.
StevenSeed, I'm not one of these people who says, 'I'm right, you're wrong, get over it'.
In fact, if I'm wrong, I'll happily admit to it, and be more than willing to change my point of view.
However, before I'll do this, I need to know why. I read this article last night: Android Task Killers Explained (Possibly already linked earlier in this thread). Up to that point, I had no good explanation, and I need facts before I'll act.
Given what I've read in the last day or so, I've stopped Advanced task killer from auto starting, and rebooted this morning, and I'm going to see what sort of a difference it makes in terms of battery and performance.
If Android is smart enough to do it's own task killing, as the article suggests, then I do understand as to why you shouldn't run one.
I guess I'll have an idea by the end of the day.
Well, I've looked at my battery stats for yesterday whilst not running Advanced TaskKiller, and compared to the day before when I was. In terms of battery life, there really isn't much in it. See for yourselves:
The red dots indicate the start and end of the period during which the phone runs on battery on the 6th and 7th November, whilst I was at work on a 12 hour shift. When running without Advanced Task Killer, the charge at the end of the day was just 2% higher, which could be attributed to slight differences in what the phone did i.e. Received more/less emails, Twitter updates and slight variances in WiFi usage because of that.
Performance wise, the phone felt no different at all. However, I do admit it felt more stable. That is quite a difficult call, but I noticed that certain things that my phone would do whilst Advance Task Killer was running, didn't seem to happen without it.
The answer I think is that I'm going to keep Advanced Task Killer installed, but not auto run it. I'll keep it as a diagnostic tool for if I'm having issues and need to see whats going on.
I'm perhaps converted......
The red dots indicate the start and end of the period during which the phone runs on battery on the 6th and 7th November, whilst I was at work on a 12 hour shift. When running without Advanced Task Killer, the charge at the end of the day was just 2% higher, which could be attributed to slight differences in what the phone did i.e. Received more/less emails, Twitter updates and slight variances in WiFi usage because of that.
Performance wise, the phone felt no different at all. However, I do admit it felt more stable. That is quite a difficult call, but I noticed that certain things that my phone would do whilst Advance Task Killer was running, didn't seem to happen without it.
The answer I think is that I'm going to keep Advanced Task Killer installed, but not auto run it. I'll keep it as a diagnostic tool for if I'm having issues and need to see whats going on.
I'm perhaps converted......
widehead
Android Enthusiast
There is no way the Desire comes close to the battery-life of the E71. NO WAY.
widehead
Android Enthusiast
If felt no different but felt different. Cool.
StevenSeed
Android Enthusiast
This is quite interesting, although I would do it a few days to make it completely fair (I find with mine that sometimes the battery lasts longer on some days than others for no specific reason that I can work out).
I use System Panel, as this lets you monitor each app so if you find your battery is draining you can switch the monitor on and compare each app's CPU usage. You can also kill tasks, but of course knowing the Android system and how it works, I never do that.
Sorry if my last post sounded a bit sharp - I'm just very tired of this debate that really shouldn't be a debate any more.
Well, maybe not quite as long E71, but close.
I use very little in the way of Social Networking on the Desire, and have adjusted a lot in order to reduce power consumption.
I've also upgraded my radio rom which also seems to have helped.
If you're a socialite and need to be informed of everything that's going on every minute of the day, you will get crappy battery life.
I don't and my battery life is great.
BTW, Widehead, Performance and Stability are two whole different areas, so it's quite reasonable to say performance was the same, but stabilty was better.
You sound jaded about your Desire, since you seem to be getting an iPhone. I have spent time getting my Desire working well, being a techy, and enjoying tinkering.
If you don't enjoy that sort of thing, the iPhone will be better for you, but it isn't perfect.
I use very little in the way of Social Networking on the Desire, and have adjusted a lot in order to reduce power consumption.
I've also upgraded my radio rom which also seems to have helped.
If you're a socialite and need to be informed of everything that's going on every minute of the day, you will get crappy battery life.
I don't and my battery life is great.
BTW, Widehead, Performance and Stability are two whole different areas, so it's quite reasonable to say performance was the same, but stabilty was better.
You sound jaded about your Desire, since you seem to be getting an iPhone. I have spent time getting my Desire working well, being a techy, and enjoying tinkering.
If you don't enjoy that sort of thing, the iPhone will be better for you, but it isn't perfect.
No worries about that post StevenSeed, it helped me to change my mind
I monitor the battery all the time, so I'll be looking at the stats over the next week to see what a differnce it makes.
I also have a genuine and non HTC battery, which also makes a difference. I rotate them around, so it would be interesting to see if that makes a difference.
I have also noticed that some days are better than others, and can only guess its down to things like number of app updates, number of emails received, no of Twitter updates etc.
1208
Member
Apologies if I overeacted before, makes me laugh re-reading it!
Anyway I uninstalled ATK about a week ago and have actually noticed no difference in battery life compared to before. may go down the "master reset" route as I cant get 24hours use out of my battery, probably got too much junk in there!
Anyway I uninstalled ATK about a week ago and have actually noticed no difference in battery life compared to before. may go down the "master reset" route as I cant get 24hours use out of my battery, probably got too much junk in there!
furious duck
Well-Known Member
Are you a light user? I'm not an overly heavy user but I expect to charge mine every night. Whether you have ATK or not...it's not going to make much of a difference to your battery life either way.
1208
Member
I would probably class myself as a medium user, the odd phonecall & text, plenty of internet (rarely via wifi though), gaming & music. The battery drain could be me not used to a phone like this (came from a SE W980) so I was used to 4-5 days without charging before!
I may have a couple of rogue apps in there somewhere, perhaps a clean out as opposed to a complete reset maybe in order.
furious duck
Well-Known Member
Personally I'd be happy to charge daily based on that usage.