How do startup managers work? Are they worth having installed?

[pawprints86]

I was watching a video on "best apps of 2014" on youtube, and a startup manager was one of them.

I downloaded it and tried it out with skype, rebooted, skype wasnt under the running apps, barely anything was actually. i thought it worked with the skype, until i rebooted the phone again wtih nothing selected to not start at startup, and all the same - few - visible processes were running. I was hoping this would help me disable some of the rarely used but always running background processes. for example, a game that i use and enjoy, but not every day and would like it to run upon my request. thats what i thought startup manager would do.

am i wrong? was skype a bad thing to try with it first?

 

[B. Diddy]

I don't know the exact details of how these startup managers work, but with Android, it doesn't make much sense to me how they'd give you any benefit. Android will automatically open certain apps depending on how the system prioritizes those apps, as well as how usage patterns develop. The only way to prevent apps from opening is to uninstall them (if you installed them yourself) or to disable them (if they're system or preinstalled bloatware apps). I don't think Android has a functionality to manually decrease the priority of the app, or to prevent it from being opened upon startup. But I might be wrong--anyone else out there who knows for sure?

 

[Mooncatt]

I don't think Android has a functionality to manually decrease the priority of the app, or to prevent it from being opened upon startup. But I might be wrong--anyone else out there who knows for sure?

The only way I know of requires root and can be a hassle if you have more than a few apps needing changed often. I used the App Quarantine app (needs root, but even disables bloatware that can't be disabled through the normal settings menu) to disable the AC Forums app, which is obviously not a stock app. It was removed from my app drawer, app history via long press home button, circle launcher, and every other way I could think of to access it. Going to the manage apps settings under the ALL tab, it was moved to the bottom of the list like the disabled bloatware and removed from the running apps tab. Going into the app info for it, there isn't an enable option. You will have to use the freezing app like App Quarantine to also thaw/enable the app again.

So it's technically possible without uninstalling the an app, but not an option for everyone.

 

[B. Diddy]

But ... but ... the AC app!?! What would Phil say?

 

[pawprints86]

But ... but ... the AC app!?! What would Phil say?

I have an app called "master uninstall" i believe it is (icon looks almost like a blue "play" button), is that similar to the app quarantine you are talking about?

I am rooted already so that part is no issue.

I dont have too many self-installed apps yet. im just trying to stay on top of keeping things as clean and smooth as possible.

But basically, it sounds like theres no way without completely disabling them? and having to re-enable later?

I was just hoping that they could be there/available, but not running unless requested.

Even with the root im nervous to remove things that arent obvious factory crap. basically if i dont know what it does i havent touched it. (when you go into the "view all" in app manager, i dont know what many of those are)

Speaking of keeping things smooth though, i have read and learned that even moving apps to the SD card isnt truly moving apps to the SD card - meaning your external SD card. why is that? Is there a way to actually do this?

 

[Mooncatt]

have an app called "master uninstall" i believe it is (icon looks almost like a blue "play" button), is that similar to the app quarantine you are talking about?

I am rooted already so that part is no issue.

I dont have too many self-installed apps yet. im just trying to stay on top of keeping things as clean and smooth as possible.

But basically, it sounds like theres no way without completely disabling them? and having to re-enable later?

I was just hoping that they could be there/available, but not running unless requested.

Here's the one i used

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...?id=com.ramdroid.appquarantine&token=8YJlkcnb

It doesn't remove an app, just disables them. I agree, I wish there was a way to set apps to only enable when manually requested but haven't found a way to do this.

Speaking of keeping things smooth though, i have read and learned that even moving apps to the SD card isnt truly moving apps to the SD card - meaning your external SD card. why is that? Is there a way to actually do this?

I don't know the full specifics, but I guess a laymens way to put it would be like comparing it to installing a program on your computer that still needs the disc to run. It runs a lot from the disc itself, but still requires some info on the hard drive to run properly.

Plus moving an app to the SD card would break any associated widgets functionality. Thankfully the internal storage on most modern day phones is large enough to store a lot of apps without worry, and then just use the external card to store pictures, videos, and other miscellaneous files.

 

[pawprints86]

Plus moving an app to the SD card would break any associated widgets functionality. Thankfully the internal storage on most modern day phones is large enough to store a lot of apps without worry, and then just use the external card to store pictures, videos, and other miscellaneous files.

Speaking of misc. files... can someone help me with why my phone has so much? Its the biggest chunk aside from free space available. Ive (hopefully, if i did it right) attached a screencap.

 

[pawprints86]

Downloaded an app called "disk usage".

Just dont know what to do with the info it gives me.

is it safe to delete caches at least?

 

[Mooncatt]

Caches are usually ok to delete and can also clear up some problems.

 

[pawprints86]

So, ive determined that the startup manager (or at least, the one i tried) did absolutely nothing. I tried putting quite a few apps to start when requested... rebooted my phone. checked the app settings to see that "force stop" was enabled for all of them, which means they were running. which means.... waste of time.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yeah, that was my experience, too.

 

[Rukbat]

I wish there was a way to set apps to only enable when manually requested

That would be a problem in Android, because the app you want to run may need a process that runs in another app, so that other app has to load, slowing down the first app. The Android app manager does its job well, and the only reason for a startup manager is the same as the reason for an ignition timing control on the dashboard of a car - if you have to ask if you should use one, the answer is "no". If you know which app runs at startup, and shouldn't in your particular setup, then you can run a startup app to keep that app from starting at boot.

Running apps you're not certain of can cause major problems. In another forum we had a question today from someone who disabled an app he thought he didn't want running. It turned out to be his launcher. So the phone boots and ... err ... well .... And that's not easy to fix when you have as little experience as some phone users have.