Apps opening automatically in Froyo

[DevilInPgh]

Since upgrading to Froyo, I've noticed that a few third-party apps have been opening automatically, even after killing them in the task killer. The offenders seem to be Issuu and the MediaFly apps. Neither opened automatically under Eclair. Is there some way to keep them from opening automatically? I mean, the MediaFly apps suck compared to their iPhone counterparts, but I'm waiting on the hope that they'll catch up.

Also, can someone tell me how to keep Slacker from opening automatically as well? That has been happening in Eclair as well and is very annoying.

 

[prodigal27]

Same problem, apps open automatically. After a few minutes there are like 25+ apps open!

 

[dgp2003]

Voicemail, News and weather always seem to be running on mine. Never had that problem before froyo.

 

[tomh1102]

I have noticed this also.

Music app stays on even when I kill it.

 

[Paladin]

Even with 2.1 I had a lot of apps open in the background that I never even used. This is just an Android thing, nothing new.

 

[wturnerharris1]

Can we get a bump?

This happens to me as well on Froyo 2.2 with Evo.

So many apps automatically open themselves, my available memory goes from 272MB to 150MB. Just because I have apps installed doesn't mean I want them always on or always checking for notifications. I've disabled as many of the notifiers as possible, but they always seem to open themselves up.

Particularly Voicemail, Sprint Navigation, Messages, and Mail are frequent offenders.

I know how Android manages background apps, but does it really allow other applications to automatically reopen themselves?

This in my mind is a bug. I don't let my system whether it be Windows, Debian, or OS X, run wild with programs that have no need to run. This is a problem. I'm fairly new to Android, but if anyone has an recommendations to quell this problem, please speak up...

 

[igotsanevo4g]

Force stop them instead of "killing".

 

[Darth Mo]

Can we get a bump?

This happens to me as well on Froyo 2.2 with Evo.

So many apps automatically open themselves, my available memory goes from 272MB to 150MB. Just because I have apps installed doesn't mean I want them always on or always checking for notifications. I've disabled as many of the notifiers as possible, but they always seem to open themselves up.

Particularly Voicemail, Sprint Navigation, Messages, and Mail are frequent offenders.

I know how Android manages background apps, but does it really allow other applications to automatically reopen themselves?

This in my mind is a bug. I don't let my system whether it be Windows, Debian, or OS X, run wild with programs that have no need to run. This is a problem. I'm fairly new to Android, but if anyone has an recommendations to quell this problem, please speak up...

There is no real "fix" for it because it's not a problem, it's by design. The OS manages what apps and services run in the background for a streamlined user experience.

This has been discussed at great length in this forum, you can run a search if you really want details. But, if you just leave it alone, you'll see that Froyo does a fine job at managing resources.

 

[wturnerharris1]

There is no real "fix" for it because it's not a problem, it's by design. The OS manages what apps and services run in the background for a streamlined user experience.

This has been discussed at great length in this forum, you can run a search if you really want details. But, if you just leave it alone, you'll see that Froyo does a fine job at managing resources.

Yes I've seen it discussed at length and I've read the developer's handbook for Android. To me it seems like a real problem when rogue applications open themselves and occupy valuable memory. If the OS has managed these applications to start on their own, then I suppose that is Android's unique flaw. If there is no reason for certain programs to start other than to monitor notifications or to make for an easy startup time, then it should just as easily be taken down.

Let's face it. This is like having a mini PC in our hands except we're relegated to low memory times of the 90s. Control is key especially for power users. I'm sure the rest of Android user population (those who never see these forums) will never even notice the change in their devices, but the moment my messaging app starts to stutter or it takes several seconds to go between settings windows, I notice there are several programs running and my available memory is below 150MB.

Now perhaps this is an HTC problem, that has instituted social networks always run or other HTC apps like Stocks, News, Clock, Footprints, Flickr, Facebook. I didn't ask them to run nor do I use them. They are NOT integral to the OS functioning.

So IF the OS operates as stated in the handbook, then the lifecycle of an application only is killed when it's given the onStop() or the onDestroy() method where onStop() is given when an another application needs the memory. I don't see any "exit" options or ways for apps to end naturally other than opening the App Manager.

If my above assertion about how Android handles application lifecycles is true, then both HTC's apps and 3rd party apps from the Market all have bugs because they do not have a Destroy method to remove them from memory.

 

[Geezer Squid]

The apps are not opening themselves. The android os is opening them. The andorid os will also close them or anything else it needs to in order to perform whatever task you ask of it. When loaded into memory, these apps are not drawing battery power nor cpu cycles. Here's a write up I found quite a while ago that explains it pretty well:

From Google Devs:
Android was designed from the ground up as an operating system (OS) for mobile devices. Its built-in application and memory-management systems were engineered with battery life as one of the most critical concerns.
The Android OS does not work like a desktop operating system. On a desktop OS, like Windows, Mac OS X, or Ubuntu Linux, the user is responsible for closing programs in order to keep a reasonable amount of memory available. On Android, this is not the case. The OS itself automatically removes programs from memory as memory is needed. The OS may also preload applications into memory which it thinks might soon be needed.
Having lots of available empty memory is not a good thing. It takes the same amount of power to hold "nothing" in memory as it does to hold actual data. So, like every other operating system in use today, Android does its best to keep as much important/likely-to-be-used information in memory as possible.
As such, using a task manager/killer to constantly clear memory by killing apps is strongly NOT RECOMMENDED. Generally speaking, you should only "End" applications if you see one which is not working correctly.

 

[Darth Mo]

Yes I've seen it discussed at length and I've read the developer's handbook for Android. To me it seems like a real problem when rogue applications open themselves and occupy valuable memory. If the OS has managed these applications to start on their own, then I suppose that is Android's unique flaw. If there is no reason for certain programs to start other than to monitor notifications or to make for an easy startup time, then it should just as easily be taken down.

Let's face it. This is like having a mini PC in our hands except we're relegated to low memory times of the 90s.

...

While capabilities are getting near each other, a cell phone and a PC are worlds apart from an operating system basis. A PC's OS has to be able to run on millions of possible combinations of hardware and functions as well as interact with thousands of other devices so as such, the user has to help manage resources. With a cell phone OS, you're dealing with a very narrow variance in hardware and function, as well as an OS that is customized for each combination. So saying it's like a mini PC couldn't be further from the truth. There is a reason why PC resources are hundreds of times larger than those of cell phones: there is an enormous amount of overhead to keep a PC operating system up and running. Just read up a little on embedded devices (cell phone) vs the personal computer.

If you are steadfast in your opinion, I don't know what else you can do. 2.2 went as far as to disable the ability to kill tasks because it does more harm than good. So unless you want to get into some hardcore programming and recode the OS, you'll have to move on to another platform if you believe this one is too flawed to deal with.

 

[kennycrudup]

... I've read the developer's handbook for Android.

OK, but:

To me it seems like a real problem when rogue applications open themselves and occupy valuable memory.

... you didn't really understand it.

("Valuable memory"? UNUSED MEMORY IS USELESS MEMORY. HTH.)

 

[RayStinkle]

The problem I see is sense UI. My nexus one boots up with only 10 apps running, all ones I want and use frequently. On boot I have 230 mb free RAM.

Sense phones seem to load all extra sense stuff. I bet HTC set their apps to have priority to always run somehow. Cause stock android seems to learn which apps I use and want running, and which I never use and don't want running.

 

[Bigtuna00]

There is no real "fix" for it because it's not a problem, it's by design. The OS manages what apps and services run in the background for a streamlined user experience.

This has been discussed at great length in this forum, you can run a search if you really want details. But, if you just leave it alone, you'll see that Froyo does a fine job at managing resources.

There is absolutely no reason for Sprint Navigation to run at all on my EVO. I never use it. I would uninstall it if I could.

I hope this example illustrates that the "by design" excuse does not apply here. There's no reason for apps we do not use the run at all.

I understand the how Android manages task scheduling and memory resources...but I don't think you understand that is not the issue.