Discuss Task Managers/Killers Here!

[ejc1214]

I just installed the ATK and have it set not to kill on auto. I noticed that some app get back on the list to kill very quickly. I know that supposedly they run in background and not use battery but if I just killed them why would messages, Handcent, dialer start right up if I did not use them? Does anyone know? I don't want to set the ATK to kill on auto but maybe I should?

 

[japclev]

I just installed the ATK and have it set not to kill on auto. I noticed that some app get back on the list to kill very quickly. I know that supposedly they run in background and not use battery but if I just killed them why would messages, Handcent, dialer start right up if I did not use them? Does anyone know? I don't want to set the ATK to kill on auto but maybe I should?

I agree, I have everything set to Auto Kill and still see things started right back up very quickly...tried other task killers that were semi-good with the drawback being they wouldn't recognize the Ignore List....playing music would stop with screen off, etc.....

I just use ATK now and just kill everytime I shutdown phone and start up phone...

 

[jokermtb]

I only use ATK to stop apps that have no "quit" function. On occasion I use it to shut down errant apps that magically start running for no reason. I like ATK because it cuts down the annoyance factor with some apps.

I did find that Juice Defender has given me about 20% boost in battery longevity....

 

[avacomputers]

Ok, so atk wasn't designed to save battery but it works. It saves a lot of resources. I use it to auto kill every hour. Android does not do a good job of closing apps.

 

[RayStinkle]

Ok, so atk wasn't designed to save battery but it works. It saves a lot of resources. I use it to auto kill every hour. Android does not do a good job of closing apps.

android was specifically designed to NOT close apps. so yeah, if that is your criteria, i guess it doesnt do a good job lol. but they purposely did that.

 

[stlfrosti]

There should be some type of regedit in regards to which programs you want to load up when you turn on your phone.
When I turn on my phone a lot of apps just load up out of nowhere. I think this should be something Android you have available for their users.

AMEN, then there would basically be no need to ROOT

 

[Issemann]

I only use ATK to stop apps that have no "quit" function.

I'm not running any task killers at the moment and simply using the built in functionality of going into Settings | Applications | Running Services?? Is there any benefit using ATK over my method?

 

[joelkamp]

So far I have seen drastic savings from running ATK. I wish I did not have to run it, but my results have been great so I will continue to use.

Prior to update w/o ATK: 6-7% battery use per hour when idol
Prior to update w/ ATK: 3-4% battery use per hour when idol

after update w/o ATK: 5-6% battery use per hour when idol
after update w/ATK: 2% batter use per hour when idol

I have used system panel to try to determine which apps are using the cpu and nothing appeared to jump out as the cause of the extra drain. I suspect that some of the apps that are open in the back ground, while they may not appear to be high cpu users themselves, pull data in the background using the data service, thus driving up the radio usage and adding battery drain. I need to go in and look at some the lower cpu users to see if they have significant data use. Like others have mentioned system panel is a great tool.

ATK also acts as a buffer that cuts off the occasional bad actor before it goes completely rouge and uses up large portions of the battery. While I agree with others that one needs to ID these apps and remove, I also don't want to have a dead battery in the process.

I hope future versions of the OS will continue to improve upon the efficiency of the OS and render ATK unnecessary. But for now the battery results are well worth it. Additionally when the Ignore list is set up properly I have found very few down sides, and yes I use auto kill. I encourage those who have not tried ATK to do so. I know there are purist out there who will disagree, and have tried to steer users away, but I would rather have juice in my battery than a pure OS.

 

[rem_kujawa]

I prefer system panel, I only want to see whats running and close what I want.

Has anyone noticed that when you close an app like friends stream, footprints it makes the UI restart?

 

[jeffsanace]

Auto Memory Manager

I have been using auto memory manager for about a month now,and I get at least 16 hrs. a day of heavy usage. I have it setup in advanced as follows, foreground apps 6mb. Visible apps 8mb. Secondary server 16 mb. Hidden apps 32 mb. Content provider 64 mb. Empty apps 96 mb. And then I white list the apps I want left alone. Thats it, set it up and never touch it again. Unless you want to add to white list. Try it out and see if it works for you. I also have been toying with watchdog, doesn't really do much, it does seem to monitor pretty well though. Hope this post helps someone, as its helped me.

 

[zanthor]

To Kill or not To Kill, that is the question...

I picked up my Evo last Wednesday and have been trying to identify if ATK is needed or not since then. My first couple of days were spent scrambling for power outlets, always trying to keep the phone on a charge, it seemed to eat batteries like a fat man eats chips...

I found a few guides on battery life, applied a slurry of changes, installed ATK, and the battery life definitely got better. I would watch ATK and it would find large lists of apps that I didn't want running, and I'd kill them each time I locked the screen...

Yesterday I read through 14 of the 16 pages of this thread, and after seeing the process life cycle, and getting a better understanding of how the Droid works I disabled ATK around noon yesterday. My battery life didn't change over my afternoons use, and thus far today it's been behaving it's self as well.

All said and done I run about an 16-18 hour day with two 30-45 minute commutes that I charge during. While commuting I run Pandora + Bluetooth + Navigator (not that I don't know my way home, but it's the "oh shiney" factor ) so I don't see much charge gained in this time. When I hit the rack I still have 30% battery left, which is more than enough to keep me happy.

 

[wrecklass]

My wife was using ATK because a Sprint representative recommended it. Her EVO rebooted frequently in its own. I finally recommended she remove ATK, which she did. Since then her EVO 4G has not rebooted on its own again.

And her battery life has actually improved. Although that maybe related to better understanding of her EVO 4G.

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Swyped on my EVO 4G with Tapatalk

 

[Jerzyiroc]

Ya I was in the ATK camp as well. While I still have it installed I only use it when I first boot up the phone to close the 32 apps that open. After that I let Android do its thing...

 

[wrecklass]

Ya I was in the ATK camp as well. While I still have it installed I only use it when I first boot up the phone to close the 32 apps that open. After that I let Android do its thing...

You can stop using it for that as well. ATK shows programs running at boot that are not.

Get a tool that shows free RAM and check your phone after booting, notice around 100 MB of free RAM. As you open those apps, notice the memory goes down. That's because atk reports programs that are not really running at boot time.


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Swyped on my EVO 4G with Tapatalk

 

[zanthor]

After nearly 2 weeks of living without a task killer I'm happy to say my phone definitely runs better without it. Battery life is fine, as mentioned above I get full days out of my phone and I don't even bother charging on the trip to/from work unless I'm using the Navigation (neat feature, saved me from some bad traffic one day due to an accident!)...

 

[itzhobbes]

I stopped using ATK but just in case I need to kill apps I have System Panel Lite. Gives you a good summary of how your phone is function. Plus you can kill apps. I would suggest it to anyone.

 

[rem_kujawa]

Advanced task killer used with system panel is this recommend?

 

[RayStinkle]

Advanced task killer used with system panel is this recommend?

yes this is basically the recommend. really the recommend is not to use auto kill function, but if you need to, use ATK and then use system panel to see details of what is using your resources, etc.

 

[dwilli]

yes this is basically the recommend. really the recommend is not to use auto kill function, but if you need to, use ATK and then use system panel to see details of what is using your resources, etc.

Can't you do the same thing by using "Force stop" in Settings__apps__manage apps? I don't use Flickr so today I tried the "force stop". we'll see if I notice any difference...prbly not.

I had ATK for about a week but after forum advice I decided to delete it and my batt life seemed to improve dramatically...although it was about the same time as the update late June.

 

[RayStinkle]

Can't you do the same thing by using "Force stop" in Settings__apps__manage apps? I don't use Flickr so today I tried the "force stop". we'll see if I notice any difference...prbly not.

I had ATK for about a week but after forum advice I decided to delete it and my batt life seemed to improve dramatically...although it was about the same time as the update late June.

Yes absolutely. I was just going along with his request to use auto kill which would need ATK. I'm totally against using that though, I just let the OS do its thing. If you actually monitor apps, things like Google maps or web browser freeze in the background and don't use any resources. All apps written by Google behave well like this, which I guess leaves only third party apps to watch. But so far all apps I use behave properly in the background.