Multitasking fix

[kronosqq]

Looks like xda has finally cooked up a fix for the multitasking issues. I'm still holding off on flashing or Modding anything until there's a fully functional CM9 or AOSKP ROM but I'd be interested to hear how much this method helps for anybody willing to do it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1758808
Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[Judynnnn]

Looks like xda has finally cooked up a fix for the multitasking issues. I'm still holding off on flashing or Modding anything until there's a fully functional CM9 or AOSKP ROM but I'd be interested to hear how much this method helps for anybody willing to do it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1758808
Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

Also waiting in cm9. HTC waiting too long to release what they need!

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[crxssi]

That entire thing and it appears there are only two lines related to "Multitasking":

echo "0,1,2,4,7,15" > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/adj:
echo "2048,3072,4096,6144,7168,20480" > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree

Everything else appears to be related to CPU frequency scaling/performance, which has nothing to do with multitasking, memory management, or Sense reloads. Doesn't inspire much confidence when things are mislabeled like that. Still, very interesting stuff.

 

[Saneless]

Good eye crxssi. That's the typical xda "the CPU isn't good enough for me" mods, which IMO are unnecessary.

The problem is there are 3 parts of HTC's rom that F up multitasking. 1, minfree settings are whack. They're way too aggressive. Different scripts and programs can change that, like Rom Toolbox Pro does, that's what I use.

2, Sense bloat. More apps, more RAM usage less free. There's already a lot less free to go around thanks to all of HTC's garbage. Typically 250-300 more MB used up than if you had AOSP.

3 Seems like something in the kernel is shutting off/out apps. Why do things stop transferring if you go to another small memory app? nothing has gotten kicked out of memory yet, but it's still not behaving like it should. This points to a likely kernel change, which I guess we'll find out once we get source.

 

[jm0]

Ive tried this mod and unfortunately almost every app re-loads when being switched too :/ htc needs to get their ass in gear and at least offer settings for the aggressiveness

 

[1BadHEMI]

HTC isn't doing squat to fix this. They see it as how they implemented it and it works as designed according to them.

With that said, its a shame! I loved the EVO4GLTE. I just didn't want to get stuck with no fix in the works from a manufacturer who is either blind, or only runs 1 app and doesn't switch between multiple apps. I'm sure the talented dev community will eventually find a fix, but, like you said above, I think its burried within multiple locations in Sense 4.0...

 

[Anthonicia]

Agree with what everyone else said basically. There wont be a true fix until source is released. HTC definitely needs to release it. It's not hard. Copy, paste, send.

It will be on the large size, but what is so difficult about it?

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[silverthornne]

"Working as designed" doesn't mean it's right as it is. It's just developer talk for "we programmed it like that." I've seen plenty of routines that are "working as designed" changed up later on because real-world use differed from what the developers envisioned when they originally designed the product.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[crxssi]

"Working as designed" doesn't mean it's right as it is. It's just developer talk for "we programmed it like that." I've seen plenty of routines that are "working as designed" changed up later on because real-world use differed from what the developers envisioned when they originally designed the product.

Exactly.

At a minimum, every single person on these forums needs to spend the two minutes or so it will take to go to HTC Smartphones and Tablets - Support for HTC Cell Phones and Tablets and tell HTC why you are unhappy with this "design". Eventually they will come to understand that the way they are handling memory management/task killing/multitasking is just not acceptable. The more people that complain, the better the chance it will get fixed.

 

[kronosqq]

Exactly.

At a minimum, every single person on these forums needs to spend the two minutes or so it will take to go to HTC Smartphones and Tablets - Support for HTC Cell Phones and Tablets and tell HTC why you are unhappy with this "design". Eventually they will come to understand that the way they are handling memory management/task killing/multitasking is just not acceptable. The more people that complain, the better the chance it will get fixed.

Thanks for the reminder, I just finished writing them a short essay, ending with the following:

The bottom line is that whether it's via an over the air update from HTC or custom ROMs and mods from developers, we will at some point get the experience on our phones that we want. But frankly HTC needs all the user support it can get right now, it needs to rope in users by providing a great experience to all of them, not just the "average consumer". A reputation for bad software support sticks with a company for a long time in the tech world regardless of whether they improve or not. Rolling out the capability to tweak the multitasking settings would go a long way towards customer satisfaction. Thank you for your time, please feel free to contact me at any point with any questions or replies.

Unfortunately we're not communicating directly with the software team, but hopefully some of our concerns will get through to them.

 

[EVO28312]

This is the main reason why I exchanged my EVO for an s3. It was a fdifficult decision as I had all EVOs from launch. But frankly I would not stand for this and spend my money on a dubbed down device when there's better out. I loved the EVO but the lack of multitasking just didn't for me. What pains me is they're not doing nothing about it and just say it works as designed. HTC if you hadn't f the phone up you wouldn't be having financial loss and low sales to your competitors

 

[RyDawgBoston]

HTC really needs to listen to their customers before it's too late.

Give us consumers what we want and listen... Please!

 

[crxssi]

HTC really needs to listen to their customers before it's too late.

Give us consumers what we want and listen... Please!

Tell them, not us!!!!

 

[Nreeldeep]

Few companies listen to consumers unless the company begins to lose money due to taking a deaf ear to customers'' issues.
I returned an Evo Lte because I'm a heavy user and depend on the recent app list for quick switches between programs. constant reloading of pages after I select them front the recent app list was unacceptable to me. My wife's Samsung S3 brings up a vertical list of apps along the right side of the screen that is compressed and static. I can see at least 5 miniature pictures of my recently used apps in that list to choose from. I can scroll to find more. You select the app and it's always as you found it.
Just bought my son an HTC Evo lte last week. He couldn't care less about the recent app list. He probably doesn't even use it. His phone is unique and cool in his circle so he's happy.
I wasn't so lucky. I decided I'd return it and see if HTC issues a fix. My other gripe, yet not so big, is the menu dots always found at the very top of the screen, requiring me to shift my hand and reach up. I wish the developers would have placed the menu button along the bottom of the screen. But that's not a deal breaker for me.
But the recent apps issue is. So I vote with my wallet. Enough consumers do that, a company will listen.
Honestly HTC can Ill afford to not listen closely. Check out their 2nd quarter earnings report. And then their 3rd quarter forecast. Not good. The consumer is their best friend right now.

 

[Nreeldeep]

Few companies listen to consumers unless the company begins to lose money due to taking a deaf ear to customers'' issues. I returned an Evo Lte because I'm a heavy user and depend on the recent app list for quick switches between programs. Constant reloading of pages after I select them front the recent app list was unacceptable to me. My wife's Samsung S3 brings up a vertical list of apps along the right side of the screen that is compressed and static. I can see at least 5 miniature pictures of my recently used apps in that list to choose from. I can scroll to find more. You select the app and it's always as you left it. In my opinion, this is the only big advantage Samsung S3 has over Evo lte.
Just bought my son an HTC Evo lte last week. He couldn't care less about the recent app list. He probably doesn't even use it. His phone is unique and cool in his circle so he's happy. I wasn't so lucky. I decided I'd return it and see if HTC issues a fix. My other gripe, yet not so big, is the menu dots always found at the very top of the screen, requiring me to shift my hand and reach up. I wish the developers would have placed the menu button along the bottom of the screen. But that's not a deal breaker for me. But the recent apps issue is. So I vote with my wallet. Enough consumers do that, a company will listen. Honestly HTC can Ill afford to not listen closely. Check out their 2nd quarter earnings report. And then their 3rd quarter forecast. Not good. The consumer is their best friend right now.

 

[kbp08tls]

Few companies listen to consumers unless the company begins to lose money due to taking a deaf ear to customers'' issues.
I returned an Evo Lte because I'm a heavy user and depend on the recent app list for quick switches between programs. constant reloading of pages after I select them front the recent app list was unacceptable to me. My wife's Samsung S3 brings up a vertical list of apps along the right side of the screen that is compressed and static. I can see at least 5 miniature pictures of my recently used apps in that list to choose from. I can scroll to find more. You select the app and it's always as you found it.
Just bought my son an HTC Evo lte last week. He couldn't care less about the recent app list. He probably doesn't even use it. His phone is unique and cool in his circle so he's happy.
I wasn't so lucky. I decided I'd return it and see if HTC issues a fix. My other gripe, yet not so big, is the menu dots always found at the very top of the screen, requiring me to shift my hand and reach up. I wish the developers would have placed the menu button along the bottom of the screen. But that's not a deal breaker for me.
But the recent apps issue is. So I vote with my wallet. Enough consumers do that, a company will listen.
Honestly HTC can Ill afford to not listen closely. Check out their 2nd quarter earnings report. And then their 3rd quarter forecast. Not good. The consumer is their best friend right now.

I would vote with my wallet, but there just is not anything out there hardware-wise that I would consider moving to, S3 included. I'm a tinkerer at heart and enjoy rooting, modding, and flashing ROMs, so I can work around the multitask issue. Others are not so inclined.
That said, I'm going to head over to that link and put my $0.02 in.

 

[Tical]

..... But frankly HTC needs all the user support it can get right now, it needs to rope in users by providing a great experience to all of them, not just the "average consumer". A reputation for bad software support sticks with a company for a long time in the tech world regardless of whether they improve or not...

This is it. What HTC doesn't realize is that although we (people that regularly read/learn/investigate phones) aren't the "average consumer"... We are the people that the average consumer talks to when they ask "what phone should I get". In my office and family, everybody knows I'm a phone junkie... and they in turn ask me my opinion when they come up for renewal. As long as it doesn't "look bad", they take my word for what provides the best experience, best picture, specs., camera ect. I'm sure most of you are the same. By neglecting this smaller, but influential population, they are creating an echo chamber of negativity. They are creating a situation, where I can't honestly recommend the phone I have, because I feel it's broken. I have personally steered 2 people away from LTE to the SG3 in the past two weeks. I don't have to explain min-values, cpu utilization, or even sense. I just say... "That phone doesn't let you pause plants vs. zombies to send a text message, and then come back to the game, this one does..." Granted, that's a subset of the total user base that NEEDS that, but why pick a phone that CANT when you can pick up one that CAN. Especially, when other things, like price, camera quality and accessories are on par to that average person....

 

[wmurch3]

My question is: does sense depend on this custom multitasking setting? Will my phone become completely unstable if I try to fix this myself.

I would like to think HTC did this for a good reason (increased battery life, faster app switching, etc). Does anyone know the reason HTC set it up this way?

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[stanlm2]

This would be a cool custom rom feature: on tap home, pop up a choice, 'close this app' or 'minimize this app'

ha ha, funny we've gone full circle from early android with the need for those task killer apps.

 

[kronosqq]

My question is: does sense depend on this custom multitasking setting? Will my phone become completely unstable if I try to fix this myself.

I would like to think HTC did this for a good reason (increased battery life, faster app switching, etc). Does anyone know the reason HTC set it up this way?

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

I haven't dug into the back end workings of the multitasking, but I would assume that HTC would only implement it this way if it led to some kind of benefit in battery life or performance. However I don't think fixing it would really cause any problems, you might just use up more RAM because of running processes.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums