Apps starting up like CRAZY

[Momo#AC]

Ever since I upgraded to 2.2, I have apps starting up to the tune of like 15 at a time... I use the task killer widget religiously, and also noticed that my memory use has gone WAY up since the upgrade. I'm used to having from 160 to 198 mb of memory, but now I have as low as 109 to 145 mb average. Anyone know what gives?

 

[Cory Streater]

Do not use task killers. Android has it's own memory management functionality that deems task killers to be unecessary. Most task killers are not compatible with Froyo and by using them you are doing more damage than good, resulting in a decrease in battery life and higher CPU usage.

 

[Revolutionary]

+1

"Available memory" is a term irrelevant to either battery life or general phone performance on Android. It is best left to the smoldering ashes of your days owning a Blackberry.

 

[project.in.process]

have you looked into an app that prevents other applications from running?
no, not a Task Killer
i bought StartupAuditor in the marketplace and can enable/disable apps from running (stock bloatware apps from Verizon)
you can either disable it completely OR disable it @ startup and it will only then run when activated.
it's worked really well and gives me improved battery---not "HOLY CRAP THIS IS AMAZING" battery but "WOW" performance.

 

[Revolutionary]

have you looked into an app that prevents other applications from running?
no, not a Task Killer
i bought StartupAuditor in the marketplace and can enable/disable apps from running (stock bloatware apps from Verizon)
you can either disable it completely OR disable it @ startup and it will only then run when activated.
it's worked really well and gives me improved battery---not "HOLY CRAP THIS IS AMAZING" battery but "WOW" performance.

Isn't Startup Audtor just a task killer that kills at boot/app startup? You select those programs that you don't want to run, and it kills them as soon as they start (unlike, for example, ATK's autokill, which just kills everything that isn't user-started or white-listed periodically). At least that was my understanding of it.

Also, market comments suggest it doesn't work with 2.2 (no surprise if it's a task killer).

 

[rugbyua9]

If a program is starting up automatically it is probably because you have selected the option for that program to automatically boot on startup. I'd recommend opening these programs and looking at the settings for each one. They will only launch at startup if you tell them to.

 

[Revolutionary]

Unfortunately that's probably wishful thinking, at least for OP's purposes. Yes, some apps have the option to run at startup, but most don't, and most of the apps that one finds mysteriously running in memory without user input are there for another reason. First, Android will preload an app/process into memory (they don't do anything, they are just "ready") if it thinks it might be called on by the user or another app/process -- nothing you can do about that, it is based purely on OS prediction. Second, there is no option to "run on startup" for all of the bloatware (Skype, AmazonMP3, CityID, VZNav, 3G Mobile Hotspot, etc).

 

[Momo#AC]

Thanks for the replies.... so let me get this straight... Task Killer is NOT recommended for Android? I've heard it SHOULD be used, I've heard it should NOT be used... Also, the memory that is displayed does not affect performance? So, if it's low, that's not like RAM on a computer... I never had a blackberry... Just the Incredible.

 

[Revolutionary]

Sorry, I assumed the Blackberry part because on a BB, available memory could drop to 0MB and performance would essentially stop. Android manages memory differently -- yes, available memory is RAM memory, but unlike other OS's, Android allocates space for itself (many of the processes that are loaded were loaded by the OS in case they are needed -- but they aren't actually doing anything) and dynamically kills processes and frees space when it or the user needs it. (Note that this applies mostly to more recent phones running more recent builds of the OS -- earlier versions (1.x) can still benefit from a task killer).

I recommend you read this thread -- for the most part, task killers are not recommended on 2.2 because they do not work properly. Some might argue that they are needed for battery purposes, but that is not a recommended solution (they may in fact make the battery drain more quickly).

 

[Momo#AC]

Thanks for the tips... I'll give it a shot and see what comes of it.

 

[Qazme]

Way back when it was also acknowledged that Android runs smooth (2.1 days not sure about now) at 40mb+ of memory free, according to Google. Can't remember which article it was in, but they were commenting on memory scheduling etc.

 

[Momo#AC]

So, I tried the uninstall on the task killer... after reading a bit about the memory use, it's properties and the performance. It appears to be working fine and no speed slow downs, so thank you for the tips. I also downloaded 'battery left' and 'system panel' apps to see what processes are running and using battery life. Interesting to see the different opinions about ATK and 2.2. Now, if I can just get this phone to wash my car....

 

[KB3MMX]

Ever since I upgraded to 2.2, I have apps starting up to the tune of like 15 at a time... I use the task killer widget religiously, and also noticed that my memory use has gone WAY up since the upgrade. I'm used to having from 160 to 198 mb of memory, but now I have as low as 109 to 145 mb average. Anyone know what gives?

What is it with the task killer obsession, it causes nothing but grief like the OP describes!!!

They should ban that garbage from the market !!