Apps restart when I switch despite large RAM available

[Homme Crabe]

Hello! I own a BQ Aquaris A4.5 (a good Spanish brand, not very famous). It is equipped with Android 7.0 and 1 GB RAM. I don't have any RAM-eating app like Facebook installed.

I have trouble using two apps at the same time. For instance:
1. I start Chrome, and navigate on a single website (only one tab opened)
2. Then I start my text app (Textra)
3. Few seconds later (literally), I switch back to Chrome (using the "recent" button)
4. Chrome restarts, and reloads my tab
5. I switch back again to my text app: it restarts
6. I press the home button: my launcher (Evie) takes 5-6 seconds to start

It looks like my Android is flushing all cached apps very shortly after I start one. It may look like I don't have enough RAM. You'll probably say so, considering 1 GB is quite low nowadays. But the strange thing is that, according to my phone, I have a lot of free memory available.

If I go to Developer Options -> Running services -> Show cached processes, I only see 3 or 4 processes listed and the Free line always says 300-400 MB of RAM. Even if I play with my phone by starting a dozen apps, then immediately go to Running services, the list of cached processes will quickly decrease, even while the Free RAM remains larger than 300 MB. What's the point of having 1 GB RAM if my Android clears every cached apps when the RAM used is larger than 600 MB?

I've restarted the phone and wiped the cache partition several times, no difference. I hope I'm clear with my explanations! Thank you very much for your help

 

[Tim1954]

Some devices have a "don't keep activities" option. This means when you leave a page, the device "forgets it".
Perhaps you have this function. It's in developers options in settings..
It looks like that in my Samsung...

 

[Mooncatt]

Android is designed to use a lot of RAM, but it also has a set amount left free. The minimum amount left free is set by the manufacturer (or whoever programmed the OS itself) and is to allow for some core processes that need to run immediately without waiting for other apps to close. That 300MB you see as free may be in large part due to that minimum setting. Combine that with the 1GB total, and I'm kinda surprised that phone runs at all (must be a very bare bones version of Android). For comparison, I'm running an LG V20 that's also on Android 7.0. It has 4 GB total memory, and the OS alone eats about 1.5GB. So I doubt there's much you can do to make yours run better. About your only option would be to see if there's a custom third party ROM available for your device that is more streamlined and with a lower minimum free RAM setting. Otherwise, buy a replacement phone with more RAM.

Also of note, Chrome is just dumb with page reloading. For whatever reason, it never holds on to a page while in the background for long, and often reloads it when you switch back. It even happens when switching between tabs. I wouldn't use that for benchmarking RAM management.

 

[Homme Crabe]

@Tim1954
Thank you for this setting. But it is disabled as shown in your screenshot. And the "limit background processes" is also set to "standard".
@Mooncatt
Ok I didn't know that, thank you. I thought it was only clearing cache when it needed RAM immediately. Clearly the minimum free RAM setting is too high for 1 GB. It even closes my launcher if I'm using one app for a long time. Do you know if this setting can be modified with some tool?
My phone is one of those Android One phones Google used to make. So the Android installed is pretty much a vanilla version. When I bought my phone, it was on Android 5 and it had consecutive updates to Android 6 and then Android 7.
Do you know if Android 7 eats more RAM than Android 6 or 5? Should I try to downgrade to one of the earlier versions? I think (not sure) I remember it was working better before. I will also have a look at custom ROM as advised.

I should also mention that there is a difference between the value of free RAM shown in Settings -> Memory and the one in Developer Options -> Running services -> Show cached processes.


Both screenshots were taken a few seconds apart, just after waking up so no apps have been used for 9 hours. Do you know why I have 103 MB on the first one and 374 MB on the second one?

 

[Mooncatt]

Clearly the minimum free RAM setting is too high for 1 GB.

Not necessarily. It would be prudent for the manufacturer to set the minimum free requirement to a worst case scenario amount in case all those core processes need to fire at once for some reason. If that requires 350MB, then it requires 350MB. If they set it lower, then it could have undesirable consequences.

Do you know if this setting can be modified with some tool?

Not on a stock phone. At the very least, you'd need too root the phone to get that sort of control, but even that may not do it. If the minimum free setting is hard coded into the OS, then you'll need to install a custom ROM. I know I've seen mention of some over the years that address that sort of issue, but you'd have to find one specific to your device and that comes with its own set of risks.

Do you know if Android 7 eats more RAM than Android 6 or 5? Should I try to downgrade to one of the earlier versions?

You can pretty much bet that any software or OS update is going to use more RAM because they usually add in more features. You can try downgrading, but that is also risky and may not be possible. You'd have to search around to see if there's a way to do it on your phone. If you're successful, then it'll try to update again unless you also find a way to block it. Blocking those updates also means no security patches, so there's risks with that as well.

I should also mention that there is a difference between the value of free RAM shown in Settings -> Memory and the one in Developer Options -> Running services -> Show cached processes. Both screenshots were taken a few seconds apart, just after waking up so no apps have been used for 9 hours. Do you know why I have 103 MB on the first one and 374 MB on the second one?

The memory screenshot is showing an average for the past 3 hours. You may not be actively using apps, but they would still show there if they are initialized in the background. The running services is more of an immediate snapshot. When you started using your phone, it activated more processes.