Task Killers According to Lifehacker

[bunjy]

Interesting article from a Lifehacker blogger on task killers.

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

Personally, I've gone both routes but have decided not to use a task killer.

 

[gabbott]

With newer versions of android and phones with more resources (memory and cpu) task killers have pretty much become obsolete.

 

[HawaiianLaker]

interesting.

 

[318sugarhill]

Will someone PLEASE pass this along to the moron sales and tech reps and VZW stores? The morons in there will actually install a TK for you! Since they work there, people think they must know what they are doing. But the reality we all know is that they really know jack squat most of the time. I can't tell you how many friends of mine I have REMOVED the TK for them and they like their phone better afterwards.

 

[Psycomantix]

Will someone PLEASE pass this along to the moron sales and tech reps and VZW stores? The morons in there will actually install a TK for you! Since they work there, people think they must know what they are doing. But the reality we all know is that they really know jack squat most of the time. I can't tell you how many friends of mine I have REMOVED the TK for them and they like their phone better afterwards.

Same happened to me. They asked if this was my first smartphone. I said no that I have had one for a while now. They said oh good, go download this TK. I told him i didnt want it and he said that he had to do it before I left the store because it is such a mandatory thing. I told him to just finish up the purchase and that its my own phone so dont try to make me do something when its my own device.

 

[Redneck Trash]

Good article. Watchdog is far more valuable than those worthless task killers.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

 

[wryun]

I started out using a TK but uninstalled it shortly after. I don't use them, they are pointless, unless you are super OCD. LOL

 

[s_franchise]

Will someone PLEASE pass this along to the moron sales and tech reps and VZW stores? The morons in there will actually install a TK for you! Since they work there, people think they must know what they are doing. But the reality we all know is that they really know jack squat most of the time. I can't tell you how many friends of mine I have REMOVED the TK for them and they like their phone better afterwards.

Mine also came installed and i removed it, i feel my battery works better without it, and naturally how the phone works these like said previous are obsolete. The guy that set up my phone [or tried too] saying the task killer was pivotal to having prolonged battery life.

 

[bunjy]

Good article. Watchdog is far more valuable than those worthless task killers.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

I'm going to try Watchdog. I do agree with the premise that runaway tasks are really what should be monitored and that haphazardly killing tasks with a task killer causes more problems than they solve. I was using ATK and it seemed to just cause issues with the OS.

 

[PvilleComp]

Every DInc I have seen in town has had ATK on it installed by a Verizon or Reseller Dufus. I have removed it from all of them, with the owners permission of course, and explained to them how it was doing more harm then good. Every one has come back and said the phone works better now! Who'd a thunk!

 

[_JKK_]

We use task killers because we have been trained by Windows and Mac's poor use of RAM.

In other words, on a Desktop or Laptop, more RAM is better. Android is built to actually use RAM, which is very nice.

 

[beef5stew]

I gotta disagree here a bit. I've downloaded apps in the past that would persistently do things in the background (like try to connect to the Internet) and I did not have an option in the app to stop it. This is the result of bad coding, not the Android system itself. Even this doc agrees that a task killer could be useful if you use an app that was poorly coded:

"That said, not all apps are created equal. Many of you have used task killers in the past and actually found that after freeing up memory, your phone works a bit better. It's more likely that this is because you've killed a bad app—one that was poorly coded, and (for example) keeps trying to connect to the internet even when it shouldn't. Any performance increase you experience is more likely because you killed the right app, not because you freed up loads of memory (or, in many cases, it's just placebo). Instead of killing all those apps, find out which ones are actually causing the problems. If you really know what you're doing, you may benefit from using a task killer to stop the one or two inefficient-but-loved apps on your phone."

I have ATK and I have it tuned to kill some apps that I like, but will drain my battery without an option to stop. I think you are being a bit misleading to say that task killers in every instance are worthless.

b

 

[318sugarhill]

I gotta disagree here a bit. I've downloaded apps in the past that would persistently do things in the background (like try to connect to the Internet) and I did not have an option in the app to stop it. This is the result of bad coding, not the Android system itself. Even this doc agrees that a task killer could be useful if you use an app that was poorly coded:

"That said, not all apps are created equal. Many of you have used task killers in the past and actually found that after freeing up memory, your phone works a bit better. It's more likely that this is because you've killed a bad app—one that was poorly coded, and (for example) keeps trying to connect to the internet even when it shouldn't. Any performance increase you experience is more likely because you killed the right app, not because you freed up loads of memory (or, in many cases, it's just placebo). Instead of killing all those apps, find out which ones are actually causing the problems. If you really know what you're doing, you may benefit from using a task killer to stop the one or two inefficient-but-loved apps on your phone."

I have ATK and I have it tuned to kill some apps that I like, but will drain my battery without an option to stop. I think you are being a bit misleading to say that task killers in every instance are worthless.

b

I think you missed the point here. To blindly install a task killer under the premise that it is needed is bad advice. Yes, YOU have found that you have runnaway apps that are poorly coded. However, the article points out that it is then up to you AFTER you have done the due dilligence finding what apps are causing the battery drain. To run a task killer blindly as most have found out, causes more harm then good. If you know you have an app that runs all the time, THEN you can have your TK selectively just for that app.

The reality is MOST of the customers buying their phones know how to use very little of the features, and even worse no nothing about how it really works. They do things because they are told, and feel they are educated about it, when it reality they know nothing. You happen to know what causes problems on your phone, and you use the TK appropriately. No one is saying they are useless in every instance. The article doesn't even say that. It says for "most" they are unnecessary.