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Suddenly, apps launching themselves, not auto-ending

B

Botch

Lurker
About a week ago, I started noticing that my phone was using up its battery life much faster than usual. At one point I went to bed with the phone at about 40% power and woke up to it being completely drained. Looking at my Task Manager, I notice that a ton of unrelated applications are regularly being launched, and though all of them belong to the Auto-End list, none of them are auto-ending. In fact, even if I manually kill them all, I notice several minutes later that some of them have re-launched. It's inconsistent which apps are self-launching at any given time. There doesn't seem to be any correlation.

I run Norton Security, which has found no malware. The only applications I've installed recently are Opera Mobile and Dolphin, neither of which are among the "running for no reason" apps. I uninstalled them anyway, to no effect.

Here is a list of some of the spontaneously running apps. There's usually about 6 to 10 of them running at any given time. The ones near the top of the list are probably the most common.

Gmail
Facebook
Car Dock
Wiki Encyclopedia
Pandora
Skype Mobile
Slacker
Maps
Bookmarks Widget
IM Presence
Voice Commands
Apps
Voicemail
IM
eBay

Is this maybe the result of a recent Verizon or Droid update?

I wouldn't make an issue of all these apps running except for the suddenly decreased battery life.

Model number: DROID X2
Android Version: 2.3.5
Baseband version: N_03.13.31P
Kernel version: 2.6.32.9-00008-gc406305, hudsoncm@il93lnxdreoid80 #2
Build number: 4.5.1A-DTN-20-18

Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
 
Hello and welcome to AF. :)

Some apps just run in the background and there is really no reason to kill them since android is smart about running apps and kills them when it needs to. You aren't using a task killer are you? I noticed you said they belong to the auto end list. If so, than the apps will continue to re-open and they will be ended as soon as they open causing the phones battery to drain much faster. This can also cause problems as well as faster battery drain.
 
To solve your problem please root your device. This will help you to have full control over your device. This will not allow automatic running of apps.
 
Rooting is NOT the solution. Finding what is causing the battery drain is. And fixing that will not require root.
 
Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them address the core issues.

I understand that many applications run in the background and are no problem. The things that bother me are:

1. Until about 10 days ago, applications like Pandora, Facebook, Skype, Maps, etc, did NOT spontaneously launch themselves, run in the background, and resist auto-end. What changed?

2. The battery life is being used up much faster since this behavior started.

I'm not currently using a task-killer, but unless I can figure out why all these unrelated apps are suddenly being launched (or launching themselves) with a corresponding drain on battery, I may have to consider it.

Do Google or Verizon have a place where they note or discuss software updates?

Again, thanks in advance for any suggestions or insight.
 
Sounds like you're using some kinda auto task killer, which you call a 'auto end list'. Likely that is causing the problem. DO NOT use any type of task killer - they only make problems worse.

First, uninstall the 'auto end list' app.
Second, look in Settings at your battery stats to see what's using power.
Third, disable or uninstall unusually power-hungry apps or widgets.
Fourth, let Android handle running processes and memory. It needs NO help.
Fifth, relax and enjoy your phone.
 
Crashdamage is correct. You need to find exactly where the power drain is coming from before you can resolve the issue. The running apps list is very deceiving in that it lists all apps cached and not necessarily running. If you got to menu>settings>about phone>battery usage you can see which app or process is consuming the most power. You could also try a 3rd part app like Watchdog Lite to monitor your apps.

You may also have a process or service stuck in an perpetually on, sync or seek condition. Shut your phone off, pull the battery, wait a minute or two and put back the battery and reboot. It might clear up your problems.

You might want to read up on this:

Why You Don't Need a Task Killer.

NOTE: @Crashdamage. The Auto End App List feature is something that Motorola started including with their phones and unrooted devices won't be able to get rid of it. Even rooted users should be cautious removing that app. It could negatively impact the operation of blur.
 
I'm sorry, but I feel like the responses are focusing too much on whether or not I'm using a task-killing app (I'm not) or trying to find a specific battery usage drain. So let me narrow it down to one question.

Until 10 days ago, the apps I listed above -- including, but not limited to: Gmail, Facebook, Car Dock, Wiki Encyclopedia, Pandora, Skype Mobile, Maps, Bookmarks Widget, Voice Commands, Apps, Voicemail, IM, eBay) -- did NOT spontaneously run without my activating them.

What could have changed in the last 10 days that my phone would suddenly spontaneously start running all these unrelated apps?

A change to the Android OS code? A Verizon update?
 
Botch said:
I'm sorry, but I feel like the responses are focusing too much on whether or not I'm using a task-killing app (I'm not) or trying to find a specific battery usage drain. So let me narrow it down to one question.

Until 10 days ago, the apps I listed above -- including, but not limited to: Gmail, Facebook, Car Dock, Wiki Encyclopedia, Pandora, Skype Mobile, Maps, Bookmarks Widget, Voice Commands, Apps, Voicemail, IM, eBay) -- did NOT spontaneously run without my activating them.

What could have changed in the last 10 days that my phone would suddenly spontaneously start running all these unrelated apps?

A change to the Android OS code? A Verizon update?
Click to expand...

Understood, but until we know where the drain is coming from, it's next to impossible to troubleshoot.

Think back to the point exactly where your phone changed and ask yourself if you applied any updates (or were notified that automatic updates were applied) or if you installed any new apps. There can be many things going on here. Please try my suggestion of a battery pull and reboot, because sometimes things do get stuck.

You could also have signed into an account which is now sync'ing frequently, or added a widget that looks for live data. It could be as simple as a short in the USB port (Car Dock could be an indication of that, especially if you don't have a vehicle dock.) or as complicated as a corrupt file in the OS.

As for the task killer/auto end comments, many people try to use those apps or features to manage resources when things go awry and it almost always ends up being the apps themselves that are the culprit.

Just trying to help you get your phone back to the way you want it. :)
 
I may have similar symptoms as those reported by Botch.

My Droid X2 updated earlier this week to Android 2.3.5.

Before the update, I could comfortably operate the phone for one day without charging.

Since the update, my battery life is about half. This week I didn't install any application nor I changed my use pattern.

I don't see any evidence of applications starting on their own as reported by Botch.

As suggested, in the forum, I checked the battery consumption and I found that the Android system was using 20% of the power.

Any suggestion?
 
I'm having the same trouble. I was linking it with something called PopupuiReceiver, which I've gotten rid of but these problems began around the same time of its advent. I'm on automatic update.
 
Welcome to Android Forums.

What device and what Android system version are you using? (This thread is four years old.)

I strongly suggest that you turn off automatic updating. Reviewing before updating is a requirement for a healthy Android device. There are incremental problems introduced to the unsuspecting users.

... Thom
 
Rooting can lead to another issue also. I think it is better to turn off the auto update options on your Android phone. Then before updating anything it will ask for the permission.
 
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