Task Manager or other?

roadking2013

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I'm patiently waiting for my new DNA in the mail and just curious about an app killer or task manager that may be stock on the DNA? ? Currently Im using a Motorlla ATRIX 4G with AT&T and the
Phone came with a task manager that has an "auto end list" in it that you can add any app onto the list so after 2min of not using the app it auto closes it down and will not activate again until you select it, it seems to have saved some battery life and processor speed. Anything similar or better that's stock on the DNA or suggested APS out there? ?

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MikeLip

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I use SystemPanel App/Task manager. Very good app. It does not do periodic app shutdowns - in other words, it doesn't run unless you tell it to. But it does do a very good job, and it can monitor your system and tell you what is doing what when.
 

nrm5110

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Task killers are counter productive and hard on android as Linux has a different method for memory management.

Using a task killer honestly hurts your battery life and can cause the system to run inefficiently.

Explanation time kiddos. Android is actively trying to fill your ram so that it can call your most used activities faster as that ram fills it will terminate what it needs to on its own with no user interaction required. When you use task killers android goes gkhffyjvdsssjojccWTF and wants to punch your babies. It will then attempt to fill the ram again causing unnecessary drain and strain because its writing to your ram something that was likely already there AGAIN.

Solution kiddos listen closely. Remove task killers don't bother. When you are done with an app use the in app exit option if none exists hit home. If its an app you use like every few minutes leave it as is if its an app you use every few days hold home find the app and swipe it away. Commonly ram is not the cause of lagging phones its background activities that are running from improper termination of apps.

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roadking2013

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Task killers are counter productive and hard on android as Linux has a different method for memory management.

Using a task killer honestly hurts your battery life and can cause the system to run inefficiently.

Explanation time kiddos. Android is actively trying to fill your ram so that it can call your most used activities faster as that ram fills it will terminate what it needs to on its own with no user interaction required. When you use task killers android goes gkhffyjvdsssjojccWTF and wants to punch your babies. It will then attempt to fill the ram again causing unnecessary drain and strain because its writing to your ram something that was likely already there AGAIN.

Solution kiddos listen closely. Remove task killers don't bother. When you are done with an app use the in app exit option if none exists hit home. If its an app you use like every few minutes leave it as is if its an app you use every few days hold home find the app and swipe it away. Commonly ram is not the cause of lagging phones its background activities that are running from improper termination of apps.

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That's basically what was somewhat explained to me in the past so I never used any type of task killer apps but with the Motorola ATRIX the task manager was part of the stock system and basically just shut down an app after 2min if not used, if you choose..
GREAT explanation with the ram and learning process of the adroud system and all, kind of makes sence alot more now...seems like the system is ALOT more smart and self learning then what most users like myself know about ...

Thanks again,
Steve

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MikeLip

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Task killers are counter productive and hard on android as Linux has a different method for memory management.

Using a task killer honestly hurts your battery life and can cause the system to run inefficiently.

Explanation time kiddos. Android is actively trying to fill your ram so that it can call your most used activities faster as that ram fills it will terminate what it needs to on its own with no user interaction required. When you use task killers android goes gkhffyjvdsssjojccWTF and wants to punch your babies. It will then attempt to fill the ram again causing unnecessary drain and strain because its writing to your ram something that was likely already there AGAIN.

Solution kiddos listen closely. Remove task killers don't bother. When you are done with an app use the in app exit option if none exists hit home. If its an app you use like every few minutes leave it as is if its an app you use every few days hold home find the app and swipe it away. Commonly ram is not the cause of lagging phones its background activities that are running from improper termination of apps.

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In android, swiping away doesn't kill the task. It just removes it from the list. This isn't WebOS (QNX) which DOES do that.

Task killers are necessary when a task decides it wants to run in the background, using resources like mobile data or interrogating GPS - things you don't necessarily want it doing. It's true you do not need them to control memory usage. But there are valid reasons for killing tasks. If the task is NOT using resources and is simply resident in memory, that's fine. Go ahead and leave it there. But apps like Super Twist Alarm, which is a thing of beauty, tend to not only stay resident but remain active. Super twist is one of those things that wake up periodically and talk to the GPS. Which annoys the crap out of me.
 
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nrm5110

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No prob a lot of people think the opposite because of windows Lol trust me android is a very well rounded system that's getting more powerful by the day research research research its your friend

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eisenhulk

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Such an awesome post. I never knew this information. Thank you so much.


Task killers are counter productive and hard on android as Linux has a different method for memory management.

Using a task killer honestly hurts your battery life and can cause the system to run inefficiently.

Explanation time kiddos. Android is actively trying to fill your ram so that it can call your most used activities faster as that ram fills it will terminate what it needs to on its own with no user interaction required. When you use task killers android goes gkhffyjvdsssjojccWTF and wants to punch your babies. It will then attempt to fill the ram again causing unnecessary drain and strain because its writing to your ram something that was likely already there AGAIN.

Solution kiddos listen closely. Remove task killers don't bother. When you are done with an app use the in app exit option if none exists hit home. If its an app you use like every few minutes leave it as is if its an app you use every few days hold home find the app and swipe it away. Commonly ram is not the cause of lagging phones its background activities that are running from improper termination of apps.

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nrm5110

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In android, swiping away doesn't kill the task. It just removes it from the list. This isn't WebOS (QNX) which DOES do that.

Task killers are necessary when a task decides it wants to run in the background, using resources like mobile data or interrogating GPS - things you don't necessarily want it doing. It's true you do not need them to control memory usage. But there are valid reasons for killing tasks. If the task is NOT using resources and is simply resident in memory, that's fine. Go ahead and leave it there. But apps like Super Twist Alarm, which is a thing of beauty, tend to not only stay resident but remain active. Super twist is one of those things that wake up periodically and talk to the GPS. Which annoys the crap out of me.

If a task is running in the background its likely it will just start back up again causing issues. Yes the swipe isn't necessary but its a nice peace of mind thing for a lot of these guys for apps that try to run in the background a lot ( here's lookin at you Facebook) find an alternative or find out how to mitigate its syncing. If you need to find apps causing issues using betterbatterystats can help you see what apps are running in the background. I use android tuner pro but it needs root for a bunch of features. I use it to track app statistics and to control what apps are allowed to startup and can mitigate a lot of my idle battery drain

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MikeLip

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Facebook sucks mobile data like crazy. I don't use it - I just pull up the mobile site. What does annoy me though are apps I love - like Super Twist - which use resources for no apparent reason, like talking to GPS when the app should not be active. It hits GPS like every 2 or 3 minutes - whats the point to that? So I keep it because it's such a great clock, but kill it when I'm done. Other apps - like DropBox - do pop back up when you kill them. I'm not sure what to do about that one since I am a DropBox addict. The killer I mentioned does an excellent job of telling you whats active, running in the background, and cached. Cached apps don't matter. Background ones do, as you note.

On the plus side, the DNA seems to have plenty of cycles to go around so unlike lesser, puny, weenie phones it can handle more activity. But why make it? More processor time equals lower battery life. This guy has more life than my S3, but neither are exactly rolling in milliamp-hours.
 

zero3187

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More processor time equals lower battery life.

The point is that Android is going to try and keep apps in RAM so that it takes less CPU cycles to open them when you need them which strains the battery less. When you use a task manager to close those apps Android is compelled to reopen/restart them so they are in memory when you need to use them. This causes the CPU to waste extra cycles constantly restarting apps that the task manager is closing. This is counter-intuitive.
 

MikeLip

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The point is that Android is going to try and keep apps in RAM so that it takes less CPU cycles to open them when you need them which strains the battery less. When you use a task manager to close those apps Android is compelled to reopen/restart them so they are in memory when you need to use them. This causes the CPU to waste extra cycles constantly restarting apps that the task manager is closing. This is counter-intuitive.

Well, yeah. I thought I made it clear I understood that - as long as the app is cached and NOT ACTIVE WHEN I DON"T WANT IT TO BE, that's fine and dandy. It doesn't impact anything - not performance and not battery life. But there are a number of apps that are either phoning home or, for whatever reason, using resources for no benefit to the owner. The example I used - and it's a fairly minor problem in the big scheme of things - is the Super Twist clock. When it's active it hits the GPS periodically to present location based weather. But even when it's not active it STILL hits GPS every couple of minutes. The task killer wipes the process and it does not restart. Another is Opera. Sometimes it will crash and remain in memory - restarting it just gives me a no connection error. The only way to clear it is, again, the the task killer. So task manager and task killers still have their place. Not as memory managers, but as app managers. Of course if an app is egregiously bad, I will uninstall it and find an alternative. But some, like Super Twist, are too nice to abandon if I can simply kill it.
 

nrm5110

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That's bad code on the app devs side not androids. Again I control apps like that with android tuner and lots of app statistic logging. My stuff never gets out of line and I push my measly 1850mah battery harder than should be allowed.

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