Multitasking - Solutions Found?

**Tical** · 07-26-2012, 10:12 AM

The general consensus is that this phone is awesome with two major negatives:
--Sprint's Network Issues
--Multitasking

We can't do anything about the first besides waiting for Network Vision to go through your area, or unfortunately leave Sprint.

I am interested in pooling SOLUTIONS to the multitasking issue that you have found. Again, this thread is aiming for consolidating/sharing SOLUTIONS. There are plenty of threads to complain about it, deny it (I'm looking at you Bearballz & Mercury :P ), or even to say how much you like it. Please share what you've tried, and whether it worked/didn't work, and credit/source where appropriate.

**I realize a very popular response will be along the lines of 'wait for CM9/10' or a fix from HTC. That's akin to saying fix your MS Windows problem by installing Linux. Technically correct, but not quite the solution... Let's limit responses that keep you 'relatively' stock, though ROM suggestions are welcome**

**Tical** · 07-26-2012, 10:17 AM

I have tried a few things myself, including:

--'Resetting' the keep activities toggle. (No effect)
--Changing Background process Limits (No effect)
--Flashing a few ROMS that claim to help (No effect, though Flex360's Stock+Goodies is AWESOME)
--Tying it to the bed, doing the sign of the cross and yelling "The power of Christ compels you!" (Not sure, I need to reboot first...)

**Darth Mo** · 07-26-2012, 10:32 AM

I don't know how closely you follow the forums, but there are several of us who have been following this issue closely and there simply are no fixes out there right now.

The only thing you can do (and has little effect) is to eliminate any background apps such as battery monitors or weather apps to keep as much memory free as possible.

We're at the mercy of HTC as far as an official fix.

**Tical** · 07-26-2012, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by Darth Mo

I don't know how closely you follow the forums, but there are several of us who have been following this issue closely and there simply are no fixes out there right now.

The only thing you can do (and has little effect) is to eliminate any background apps such as battery monitors or weather apps to keep as much memory free as possible.

We're at the mercy of HTC as far as an official fix.

I've followed it pretty closely. And yes, unfortunately, that's made me depressed. I know there isn't a 'magic bullet' solution, but I think there are a lot of tweaks/behaviors (such as what you mentioned) that could, cumulatively make a difference. I've tried most myself, but thought to see what others have tried, even with minor success, without it being a "OMG this phone/HTC/Sprint suuuuuuuuuks, I'm going to SG3" rant/pity party

**Pigman** · 07-26-2012, 12:07 PM

Well as soon as it's ready, I would recommend rooting and switching your Rom out to CM9( or CM10 if they get the Jelly Bean worked out). I have a Nexus 7 and stock Jelly Bean blows away our Sense crippled phones. CM9 is fantastic as far as the multitasking goes, just not all of the bugs are worked out yet. Keep your fingers crossed, hopefully it will be bug free soon.

**Quis89** · 07-26-2012, 01:36 PM

I'd prefer a solution that allows me to stay with Sense.

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**kronosqq** · 07-26-2012, 01:37 PM

MeanROM is one of the ones that has some tweaks that are supposed to improve things. Might be a placebo but I haven't noticed as many issues since I've been running it.

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**wyrdangel** · 07-26-2012, 03:52 PM

I have tried a few things and have had some success (not perfect but definitely better).

First of all, I do have root and use Rom Toolbox (which I highly recommend). Using it I have adjusted the minfree settings via the "Auto Memory Manager" function to the 'mild' setting.

I also set the VM Heap size down to 75M from 128M using the "Build Prop Tweaks" feature.

Apex is my launcher and it uses much less RAM than the Sense launcher seems to (Nova should have a similar effect) which helps alleviate the whole killing-apps-to-free-RAM thing.

Lastly be sure to disable (or freeze) any apps that you won't use but seem to start up anyway and consume your precious RAM resources.

I can't take credit for any of these tweaks but I'm too old and forgetful to remember where I dug them all up.

Mostly found here on AC or on XDA forum threads. I do remember that Jerry had a nice article on minfree settings and what they do (and how not to hork them up) that you can find by searching on 'minfree' here on the AC site.

Hope this helps somebody out there

**crxssi** · 07-26-2012, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Tical

That's akin to saying fix your MS Windows problem by installing Linux. Technically correct, but not quite the solution...

Actually, I think it is a wonderful solution

Not sure why we need yet another thread.... but there is no solution yet. Nothing you can do to a stock ROM will make any difference. About the only thing that helps is to root the phone and apply patches which alter some of the Sense/Android settings (and this is info from other threads. I have not rooted and not tried that.) See the posting above mine- wyrdangel explains it.

**Va1ha11a** · 07-26-2012, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by crxssi

Actually, I think it is a wonderful solution

Wait, there are people who've found a different solution? What is it?

**kbp08tls** · 07-26-2012, 06:42 PM

It's my understanding that a lot of the actual memory management is handled in the kernel. So all we're going to be able to do in the OS is treat some of the symptoms with band-aid tweaks rather than really getting to the root of the problem. I'm hopeful that with the kernel source released that the devs will be able to make some true headway here.

I've tried all the various tweaks mentioned and run several roms, but so far nothing provides much more than a small improvement. CM9 multitasks beautifully, but that's a whole other animal than Sense and it's not fully ready yet. Kernel source should help here, too.

So, we're pretty much stuck biding our time until some real fixes are made in the kernel.

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**Quis89** · 07-26-2012, 06:49 PM

This thread is rather pointless. There is no solution and all the tips outlined here don't actually fix the issue. Plus they are things discussed in other threads about this very problem. Not sure why we needed another thread about it.

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**Tical** · 07-27-2012, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Quis

This thread is rather pointless. There is no solution and all the tips outlined here don't actually fix the issue. Plus they are things discussed in other threads about this very problem. Not sure why we needed another thread about it.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

...Says the person that replied 2x to said thread, including once that effectively restated the last sentence of the original post...

I think most of use are aware there is no perm fix yet. However, there are quite a few 'band-aids' out there. I was under assuming that culling those partial fixes from the ZOMG THiS pHoNe SuKs" threads and consolidating for a goal oriented discussion (rather than the b!tch sessions that they are typically found in) would not be 'pointless', but rather helpful. Thankfully, the forums have a natural way of letting unecessary threads die a lonely page 3+ death should they be deemed such by the community. But thanks for checking it in the first place (that is NOT internet sarcasm, I've seen you post some helpful stuff, so it was sincere).

**Tical** · 07-27-2012, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by wyrdangel

I have tried a few things and have had some success (not perfect but definitely better).

First of all, I do have root and use Rom Toolbox (which I highly recommend). Using it I have adjusted the minfree settings via the "Auto Memory Manager" function to the 'mild' setting.

I also set the VM Heap size down to 75M from 128M using the "Build Prop Tweaks" feature.

Apex is my launcher and it uses much less RAM than the Sense launcher seems to (Nova should have a similar effect) which helps alleviate the whole killing-apps-to-free-RAM thing.

Lastly be sure to disable (or freeze) any apps that you won't use but seem to start up anyway and consume your precious RAM resources.

I can't take credit for any of these tweaks but I'm too old and forgetful to remember where I dug them all up.

Mostly found here on AC or on XDA forum threads. I do remember that Jerry had a nice article on minfree settings and what they do (and how not to hork them up) that you can find by searching on 'minfree' here on the AC site.

Hope this helps somebody out there

I've tried adjusting the minfree settings manually, but didn't think to just pick a pre-determined set. The values that I've found here and on XDA are pretty wide-spread. I'll try again and see if I can get anywhere.

Ironically, the most effective solution I've found (that keeps Sense launcher) is the simplest, which you mention. Disabling any apps that I don't actually use. Most aren't huge start up apps, but I definitely noticed less frequent reloading afterwards. I'm not much of a facebook/twitter/footsteps/places user, so there was a lot of small items that seemed to make a marginal difference.

**Nreeldeep** · 07-27-2012, 09:42 PM

I tried returning mine to Sprint. Haven't experienced anymore multitasking issues since.

**PreMo15** · 07-28-2012, 08:55 AM

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't mind the multitasking "issue"...in fact, I kinda like it. I prefer not to have a bunch of apps that I'm not using running all the time and killing my battery. I'm wondering if this isn't one of the ways that the LTEVO achieves better battery life than its predecessor. One of the features I was sad to lose coming from CM7 on the OG EVO was the "Long press back button to kill apps" option in the developer settings because I would ritually kill every app when I was done with it...but with Sense 4 I've found that I don't really need it. That's not to say I won't be flashing CM9 as soon as a stable build is released though

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**crxssi** · 07-28-2012, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by PreMo15

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't mind the multitasking "issue"...in fact, I kinda like it. I prefer not to have a bunch of apps that I'm not using running all the time and killing my battery.

I think you have a misunderstanding about how multitasking works and affects total system behavior. Just because applications are loaded and not suspended does not mean they are necessarily using CPU or battery. The only thing they are guaranteed to consume is memory. If they don't need to do anything that requires the CPU, they won't. For example, with true multitasking a game that doesn't have the screen will just sleep, using zero resources. It isn't suspended and then reloaded when you return to it, it just instantly continues where it left off. In cases where you are downloading something, for example, that should continue, regardless of if it has the screen or not. In such a case, you WANT it to use CPU and battery to finish what you told it to do.

I'm wondering if this isn't one of the ways that the LTEVO achieves better battery life than its predecessor.

Extremely unlikely. Maybe 1 or 2%, nothing that amounts to anything useful.

One of the features I was sad to lose coming from CM7 on the OG EVO was the "Long press back button to kill apps" option in the developer settings because I would ritually kill every app when I was done with it..

That approaches obsessive behavior and is completely unnecessary when things are working they way they should be.

**PreMo15** · 07-28-2012, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by crxssi

I think you have a misunderstanding about how multitasking works and affects total system behavior. Just because applications are loaded and not suspended does not mean they are necessarily using CPU or battery. The only thing they are guaranteed to consume is memory. If they don't need to do anything that requires the CPU, they won't. For example, with true multitasking a game that doesn't have the screen will just sleep, using zero resources. It isn't suspended and then reloaded when you return to it, it just instantly continues where it left off. In cases where you are downloading something, for example, that should continue, regardless of if it has the screen or not. In such a case, you WANT it to use CPU and battery to finish what you told it to do.

Extremely unlikely. Maybe 1 or 2%, nothing that amounts to anything useful.

That approaches obsessive behavior and is completely unnecessary when things are working they way they should be.

I will admit that I'm not the multi tasking authority, so I could be wrong...it just makes logical sense (no pun intended

) to me that if I'm not using an app, it doesn't need to be running. And like I said, my needs probably differ greatly from the majority of users.

As far as my obsessive behavior, you nailed it...I can be that way sometimes, especially where technology is involved. The qualifier you used is "when things are working the way they should be", which I'm sure you're aware is not always the case when using custom ROMs and kernels as I did with the OG.

Just trying to offer a counter opinion to the overwhelming disdain towards the issue...

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**Mikey47** · 07-28-2012, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Nreeldeep

I tried returning mine to Sprint. Haven't experienced anymore multitasking issues since.

Are you saying you scared your phone into behaving?

**crxssi** · 07-28-2012, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by Mikey47

Are you saying you scared your phone into behaving?

LOL! I was thinking the same thing

**ufergus** · 07-28-2012, 07:28 PM

Hello all, I don't post here often but I ran into a friend at a bbq who is an engineer for HTC. After chatting for a while I asked him about the multitasking issue and if HTC was going to do anything about it. He said they are aware of the issue and working on a solution but didn't know anything about a time line. Take it or leave it but I trust him as a source. He carried a One X himself so he would appreciate it getting fixed too.

**evang07** · 07-28-2012, 09:08 PM

Interesting, if this actually happened then all we have to do is wait. I'm hoping for the best.. Thanks for the info.

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**zmann** · 07-29-2012, 10:33 AM

Funny, I got a email back from HTC and they told me I'm wrong,, multitasking is just fine. They said they are aware that the "enthusiasts" are not happy but tuff,, nothing is wrong. I wrote back and said "please don't insult my intelligence" and went on to give them my experience again. They wrote back once again and the dude explained to me everything he does with his and he has no issues. So from my point of view there seems to be a stand off going on here.

Sent from my EVO 4g lte

**crxssi** · 07-29-2012, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by zmann

Funny, I got a email back from HTC and they told me I'm wrong,, multitasking is just fine. They said they are aware that the "enthusiasts" are not happy but tuff,, nothing is wrong. I wrote back and said "please don't insult my intelligence" and went on to give them my experience again. They wrote back once again and the dude explained to me everything he does with his and he has no issues. So from my point of view there seems to be a stand off going on here.

That is a standard response they send to everyone. I am not going to make excuses for them, but it is pretty "normal" for a company to have a "party line" which minimizes and glosses over issues. You did the right thing to complain- I wish everyone would.

Getting hundreds of complaints, they are going to sound pretty stupid telling us that we are all wrong. I am confident there are people at HTC that completely agree with us, but they are not allowed to say so...

**zmann** · 07-29-2012, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by crxssi

That is a standard response they send to everyone. I am not going to make excuses for them, but it is pretty "normal" for a company to have a "party line" which minimizes and glosses over issues. You did the right thing to complain- I wish everyone would.

Getting hundreds of complaints, they are going to sound pretty stupid telling us that we are all wrong. I am confident there are people at HTC that completely agree with us, but they are not allowed to say so...

Yea I got the standard response but it was funny, the second response was this guy telling me how he uses his phone and tells me he has no issues with multitasking on his phone, lol.

Sent from my EVO 4g lte