Is it just me or is this 'multitasking' a total pain in the backside?! I love the phone and what it can do, but when switching to and from apps to do 2 things at once, it mostly fails because when switching back to an app, it redraws. I.e. The internet refreshes when you switch away then back. I'm on the international s3. Is everyone getting this and thinking it's normal? Or is it just me doing something wrong? I came from Symbian (n8) and though it was a little clunky,I never saw redraws of any app. Also on my s3 I get a lot of force closes of apps like Facebook, pulse etc. Can anyone help? Or is this just the wonderful world of android that I gotta get used to?
Multitasking Is A Pain!
- Thread starter Nazty111
- Start date
This what I'm wondering as well because I have 0 issues with multitasking and have a US variant.
As far as these FCs go I would suggest uninstalling the problematic apps and reinstalling. If you still have issues I'd restore the device to factory settings and try again. If you STILL have issues, flash A custom ROM or return the device for more new one.
These issues are not widespread.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums
Yes, I'm not backing out of the apps. It seems somewhat temperamental. It could be after the phone has been on for a few days without restart. But even then I close apps that are not in use, so shouldn't be a problem. Right now it's working kind of fine but in normal use I get a lot of redraws. I don't have an over load of apps that I should need to reset or anything. I try to be cautious and careful with how I use the phone, so I shouldn't be seeing redraws or force closes. Also I don't have much of a problem with TW ui so don't see the need in flashing a custom Rom unless maybe it'd fix the multitasking. I get a lot of home screen rewrite when I press the home button too. And I only use 3 home screens. I guess it's just confusing to me the way android manages apps and multitasking.. would you maybe recommend I try limiting background processes to 4 in developer options?
+1
Especially with the issue of re-drawing apps. Now I have the Nova Prime launcher on top of this and I have absolutely no issues with the multitasking. I always hate to get into the "my phone is slow" or "the design is not good" arguments as so much of that stuff is subjective. I mean what is perfectly fine for me might be totally unacceptable to you but try the animation mods and see what you think.
Mike
Yes I have had it set to .5 for a while. The speed of the phone isn't too much of an issue. I don't. Find it blazing but it works and that's fine for me. The problem is with apps refreshing, when I switch back and forth between apps. Example, I'm on YouTube, half way through a vid, get a text, hold app button to switch, when I return to YouTube the video starts back at the beginning even though I've only moved away for 15 seconds. Also on the internet, of I switch away, when I come back to it, it's like I pressed refresh and the whole page loads again. Annoying when you're checking details from notes/messages to write in the browser. I can live with it mostly, but in certain scenarios, I need the app to be exactly how I left it, not for it to restart or refresh.
Rev2010
Well-known member
- Oct 26, 2010
- 851
- 67
- 0
Just tested now on my phone using both methods - hitting the home button once then reopening an app and also holding the home button and selecting from the list and my browser (Dolphin) never redraws/reloads nor does any other app. Every app acts just like as if the window was minimized on my desktop then clicked again to maximize.
Just tested YouTube as well and it takes me back exactly where I left off, I simply need to hit play to start the video.
Rev.
Just tested YouTube as well and it takes me back exactly where I left off, I simply need to hit play to start the video.
Rev.
Thanks for the test mate. I've linked my background processes to 4 now, and seems better. I'll see how it goes after a day or so of use and report back. I can never force it to redraw, it seems to behave in that instance. So you get the same results if you leave the app in the back for a while and using something else for a while before switching or did you just test immediate switching?
Sounds like you are being hit by the Andriod (Linux) Memory Manager that kills non-used tasks after they sit for a while. The recently used task list is just that a recently used task list, if Android has killed the task then the recently used task list pulls the app up but it has to restart it. If the task is actually running in the background then the task manager leaves it alone but if it is stopped the task manager kills it. I assume there is a setting somewhere to better manage this action but that seems to be what is happening to you.
Try going into Settings > Developer options and checking "Do Not Keep Activities." If it's checked, there's your problem. If not, try checking and unchecking, then rebooting. This was an bug a lot of people had with the One X, but that fixed it. Hope this helps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums
i think the issue here might be that it's the Chrome browser? I have the same issue on my phone. Switching back to Chrome, the whole tab needs to refresh instead of keeping what was already there when i first visited the site. It's as if it only remember the link and forgot the whole page and needs to redraw it.
As Rev2010 mentioned, his was the Dolphin browser which doesn't do that. Maybe because it holds the page. Not sure.
As Rev2010 mentioned, his was the Dolphin browser which doesn't do that. Maybe because it holds the page. Not sure.
@dmmattix yeah it seems to be something like that. But the length of time is unpredictable, it can happen after aa minute of being in the back or even longer.
@jdot104 I gave that a try, it didn't seem to help. generally it's not much of aa problem after aa restart, but it comes back soon after using for a while.
@will1881 And no, it's not the chrome browser, it's happened happened the normal browser and Firefox as well as other apps such as pulse and some games. I downloaded asphalt 7 free from Samsung apps (promotion) and the game data was downloading in the background. it suddenly stopped after about 150mb, which I then had to resume manually, but then it downloaded all the way in the background without another hiccup. So there's definitely something weird going on with the os, not just certain apps.
@jdot104 I gave that a try, it didn't seem to help. generally it's not much of aa problem after aa restart, but it comes back soon after using for a while.
@will1881 And no, it's not the chrome browser, it's happened happened the normal browser and Firefox as well as other apps such as pulse and some games. I downloaded asphalt 7 free from Samsung apps (promotion) and the game data was downloading in the background. it suddenly stopped after about 150mb, which I then had to resume manually, but then it downloaded all the way in the background without another hiccup. So there's definitely something weird going on with the os, not just certain apps.
That is what Jerry H. says about the Android Task Manager. It operates like Garbage Collection in Java or the DotNet framework. The stuff that is not active gets flushed on some sort of a random time interval. By active I mean the app is not pulling CPU or I/O. I run BeyondPod in the background when walking, listening to PodCasts. I have RunKeeper in the foreground keeping track of my walk and occasionally will browse something. As long as the background apps are doing something Android lets them live. I find that whether the app comes back to the same place I left it if Android DOES kill it depends upon the app not the Android OS. BeyondPod and RunKeeper do a good job of maintaining what developers call State while obviously other apps do not. Evidently Dolphin (it was mentioned in a previous post) does a better job than Firefox or Chrome in State maintaining, meaning they come back to the exact location they were at when Android terminated the tasks. The Android OS seems very agressive in this task killing endeavor but that is probably due to the huge number of 512MB and 1GB memory phones that are out there. We get annoyed because we have 2GB of memory and don't need that aggressive action. I suspect there is a parameter to tune this activity but it is not available to us without Rooting the phone.
Mike
@dmmattix thanks for the explanation, it does make sense. It's just I've had certain instances where the app is doing something, but redraws when I return. I wouldn't mind a redraw in an idle app.I have the 1gb ram international, but it's enough for me,I'm not one to leave lots of things in the background. coming from Symbian and 256mb ram you learn to be efficient, but I liked the multitasking on there as apps were always like I left them. one thing that I find a little silly on android is when you shutdown/exit an app fully from within the app,it stays in the multitasking menu which still needs to be swiped away. it seems to be a leftover thing from older versions of android where you had recent tasks.But that's just a small annoyance which can be lived with. I just wish it was more in line with multitasking behavior on Windows, what's minimised is open in the back, what's closed is fully killed.
@evilmonkey I've read that ios doesn't have true multitasking and apps are 'tombstoned', and from what else I read, i did not expect it on android ICS. But it's all good, the phone is still quite great.
@evilmonkey I've read that ios doesn't have true multitasking and apps are 'tombstoned', and from what else I read, i did not expect it on android ICS. But it's all good, the phone is still quite great.
Rev2010
Well-known member
- Oct 26, 2010
- 851
- 67
- 0
That's one of the things that does take getting used to on Android. Some apps do kill when exited but most don't. You'd think exiting would close the app but on Android it often doesn't see a need to close an app out fully unless resources are running low and it hasn't been used in a while. So it's really up to the developer to design the app to kill on exit.
When I first switched to Android this bugged me, but it doesn't any longer. And if I really want something closed I can force close it in the app manager, though I've never needed to unless an app hung or something. Most apps aren't of the constantly syncing type and I actually don't use constantly syncing email or any ongoing syncing apps. In that regard, I never need to bother closing anything as it only takes up a little memory, of which I have plenty available. Just takes getting used to really.
Rev.
The action of background apps is somewhat customizable for what you want to stay running, open but paused, or killed in the background.
Also on a side note, I found that I didn't like the change when I put my animations to 0 (off) because it made the home screen kind of "fall in" each time I returned home which rather annoyed me. I put it back to 0.5 and it seems fine. Changing your CPU governor can also help performance depending on the usage profile and also closing the apps that you never use but run anyway after startup.
Also on a side note, I found that I didn't like the change when I put my animations to 0 (off) because it made the home screen kind of "fall in" each time I returned home which rather annoyed me. I put it back to 0.5 and it seems fine. Changing your CPU governor can also help performance depending on the usage profile and also closing the apps that you never use but run anyway after startup.
534n please take a look at this link:
[Q] Galaxy S3 multitasking issues. - xda-developers
I believe that is worth reading it all.
Myself and you are many of the unluky international version Galaxy S3 owner's that are stuck with this problem.
Believe me that there ISN'T any fix for this. Sorry to brake it to you. This phone lacks RAM... it's a S _ _ T . I don't know how it skipped QC...
...Just wait for an android phone with 8GB of ram. That could be a solution
))PS: and I could read some posts here ...
Similar threads
Trending Posts
-
Android 16 QPR2 Beta Program now available for Pixel 10
- Started by Beachboy63
- Replies: 3
-
-
Another September update rolling out
- Started by Beachboy63
- Replies: 2
-
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram