Question about Task Killers

[Scooter217]

I just loaded the Advanced Task Killer and I was looking at what was running and noticed some apps running that I have not used in days. I was wondering if there is any benefit to using the Task Killer or if it is going to make the phone act up and decrease performance?

 

[GenericMessage]

It can actually cause more harm that help.

Your OS was designed to be able to open and close programs when needed, to maximize performance, stability, and battery life.

When we put a task killer on our devices we remove the OS's ability to properly handle things.

So yes, you will can and more than likely WILL decrease performance.

 

[pstinger]

Now, I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but might as well ask it for clarity anyway:

Is it putting the TK on the device that interferes with the OS or using the TK that interferes with the OS? (spare me the why have a TK if you're not going to use it question, please. )

 

[prometheus]

Are you asking if it will interfere with operations by merely being installed?

I haven't used a task killer for a while, so I forget all of the settings. But, if I remember correctly, the only way to have it installed and NOT continually killing running apps would be to put every app in the ignore list.

If you're looking to have a seldom used "kill all running apps" button, there is other options (search market).

 

[Scooter217]

What I am trying to get at is when I open facebook, gmail, market, browser, or even settings they all stay open. I usually keep gmail running at all times, but is there a benefit to killing facebook, market, and browser or any other apps that I am not using at the time.

Forgive me I am a previous Storm owner and I got into the habit of making sure apps that you were not using were closed. Is this the case for the droid? I didn't notice a way to close out of some apps properly by using the back button or the home button. Only some of the apps have an actual close button when hitting menu.

 

[that1bb]

Personally I would strongly recommend to never install a task manager in the first place. Keep it simple and let android do the work, just as it has been designed to do. Also, in keeping it simple, I only keep the programs I need, and I purge everything else. My Droid is plenty fast now. Cheers.

 

[acidsamuraix]

A good in-between solution is Astro file manager. It's a great tool to begin with, but it also has the ability to view and kill running processes, should the need arise. I uninstalled ATK because i didnt want to actively monitor anything, but once in a while my browser will act up or freeze or something, and killing it with astro and restarting the app is much easier than restarting the phone.

 

[Scooter217]

Won't the running apps in the background such as the browser, facebook, and anything else that is running kill the battery faster?

 

[acidsamuraix]

I could be wrong on this, but just judging from the little Android development that I've done, the standard behavior is for programs to go into a sort of sleep state when not in focus. Their resources are cached if you need to bring it back, but if the OS runs out of room, it'll start dumping those caches first. The program isn't actually actively running/updating like it would if it had focus. So any additional power draw over the normal cycles of the phone is negligible if anything.

You can sort of experience this by switching to and from update-y apps like twitter and facebook clients. When you open/refocus them, they generally have whatever data you left them with (if it was running in the bg), then upon being refocused, it kicks off a refresh event that updates your view in the first couple of seconds that it regains focus. This leads me to believe that while running in the background, it is only doing periodic updates for notification type data at intervals instead of actively.

 

[pstinger]

Are you asking if it will interfere with operations by merely being installed?

I haven't used a task killer for a while, so I forget all of the settings. But, if I remember correctly, the only way to have it installed and NOT continually killing running apps would be to put every app in the ignore list.

If you're looking to have a seldom used "kill all running apps" button, there is other options (search market).

Hmm. I never paid attention for the three days I had TasKiller installed so I never noticed whether it continually killed things or not... good to know. Disregard the question, then.

A good in-between solution is Astro file manager. It's a great tool to begin with, but it also has the ability to view and kill running processes, should the need arise. I uninstalled ATK because i didnt want to actively monitor anything, but once in a while my browser will act up or freeze or something, and killing it with astro and restarting the app is much easier than restarting the phone.

Astro = My all-time favorite app (so far... I tend to be a little on the fickle side, lol).

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I could be wrong on this, but just judging from the little Android development that I've done, the standard behavior is for programs to go into a sort of sleep state when not in focus. Their resources are cached if you need to bring it back, but if the OS runs out of room, it'll start dumping those caches first. The program isn't actually actively running/updating like it would if it had focus. So any additional power draw over the normal cycles of the phone is negligible if anything.

You can sort of experience this by switching to and from update-y apps like twitter and facebook clients. When you open/refocus them, they generally have whatever data you left them with (if it was running in the bg), then upon being refocused, it kicks off a refresh event that updates your view in the first couple of seconds that it regains focus. This leads me to believe that while running in the background, it is only doing periodic updates for notification type data at intervals instead of actively.

Yes, that's exactly how it works (or at least is supposed to), but so many of us are coming from BlackBerry backgrounds we tend to get anxious about free memory. I recommend one of the following:

1. If an app has it's own shut down option from the menu use it or else just let Android do it's thing.
2. Install a task manager but then makes sure to add all of the apps that may need to sync or receive background notifications to your ignore list and then forget it (this is what I do)

 

[takeshi]

Won't the running apps in the background such as the browser, facebook, and anything else that is running kill the battery faster?

Nope. Don't assume that Android works the same way your BB did.

 

[pstinger]

I was using ATK with its nice little auto kill feature for a while... then it pissed me off. I was listening to the AC podcast and the darned thing killed Listen!! I kicked it to the curb. Astro has a task manager anyway.