Multitasking is broken, will root fix it?

[TraderGary]

I love this phone but I cannot keep two programs running simultaneously. Will rooting and eliminating HTC Sense solve the problem?

 

[kbp08tls]

I'm sure it will once the devs come up with some AOSP-based ROMs or do some tinkering under the hood with Sense to make it work. There is already a mod on XDA [MOD][Updated 6.2.12]Dual Core Mod v2.1 - Screen Profiles, Auto Tweak, and more! - xda-developers that advertises that it "will allow better multitasking and should eliminate any issues with apps being killed off very easily." I haven't tried it yet to see if it works.
Another person already has a CM9 port in progress. It's based off stock ICS and should run fantastically on this phone once it's ready for prime time.
There is hope, we just have to wait a little while for the devs to work their magic.

 

[henderjr]

I have that mod and multitasking is better than stock but not a whole lot. Sense just uses too much RAM.

Sent from my Viper'd EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[crxssi]

I have that mod and multitasking is better than stock but not a whole lot. Sense just uses too much RAM.

That is what I posted in another thread- that I fear there just isn't enough memory in the phone, maybe Sense is just using too much, and maybe this part of the reason for quick killing off (restart) of apps . I am not sure why HTC would double the storage, double the CPU power, double the battery life, double the screen brightness, double the SD card capability (64), etc, etc.... and then leave the exact same amount of memory in the device as with the previous models- 1GB. Seems like it would have made a lot of "sense" to bump it to 1.5 or something if they KNEW they would be using even more RAM than in the past for ICS and Sense 4.

I guess along these lines, we can compare to other new ICS phones that have "only" 1 GB of memory and see if their behavior has changed. If not, this points squarely at HTC somehow screwing up. And I don't think we should have to root and/or ROM to have something so basic fixed. We need a campaign of some sort to all stat complaining to HTC: "FIX IT NOW".

 

[scottkoblitz]

I agree! I am seriously bummed about the multitasking on this phone because other then that I love this phone. I needed a change from Samsung galaxy phones after owning the epic and epic touch. I love the metal frame and red kickstand. I even love the look of sense. Samsung's although are all very similar and plasticy I have to say the build quality is great. I never had any problems with them and I dropped them several times even on concrete. But I just wanted to try something diff. So far I'm happy besides the stupi multitasking problem. It just doesn't make "sense" that a smart phone is to stupid to multitask like every single other phone out there. As far as I'm concerned that's just unacceptable!

 

[scottkoblitz]

Ps. I have complained to HTC and they say for now the task killing is working as designed. Whatever that means. I guess they have no intentions of doing anything about it.

 

[Darth Mo]

Ps. I have complained to HTC and they say for now the task killing is working as designed. Whatever that means. I guess they have no intentions of doing anything about it.

It means they know it's messed up, but they won't admit it unless they can come up with a fix.

As more weeks pass I'm getting more worried that there might not be a fix coming. If not, then hopefully there will be a custom ROM that addresses the issue. I didn't root/flash the previous Evos because I could live with any shortcomings they had. But this multi-tasking issue is maddening at this point so I'll be definitely flashing a working ROM.

 

[Andras]

I wonder how many regular users out there are having an issue with the multitasking. I mean we would hope that they wouldn't shun the enthusiast crowd, but I think the only way they would rewrite the tasking code is if there were widespread complaints from everyone.

 

[crxssi]

I wonder how many regular users out there are having an issue with the multitasking. I mean we would hope that they wouldn't shun the enthusiast crowd, but I think the only way they would rewrite the tasking code is if there were widespread complaints from everyone.

Unfortunately, the "average" person doesn't know what true multitasking is. They won't notice the difference between suspend-and-reload vs. two programs actually resident and running at once. Even some people on this forum (which is not AT ALL your "average" people) don't even know the difference or claim they don't see the problem!

The longer this goes on, the more I am convinced that HTC neutered memory management because 1GB of memory was not enough for what they wanted to do with Sense 4.0 and also have modern apps running. Same thing for all these strange issues with radios turning off and programs being suspended when the screen goes off- they wanted to artificially increase the apparent battery life through any means possible.

They met both of their goals- but at a big cost.

 

[kbp08tls]

Regarding multitasking, HTC is aware of some questions in the enthusiast community about how the HTC One X handles multitasking and memory management for background apps.

I personally find that statement both dismissive and extremely condescending, as if the "enthusiast community" are a bunch of OCD nitpickers, and "normal" users aren't going to have a problem.
It's a good thing that the hardware on this phone is so good and that the "enthusiast community " will find work arounds for the software shortcomings.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[calvin35]

I wonder how many regular users out there are having an issue with the multitasking. I mean we would hope that they wouldn't shun the enthusiast crowd, but I think the only way they would rewrite the tasking code is if there were widespread complaints from everyone.

My buddy is a regular user and he is returning his One X as soon as Costco gets the GSIII. He is not a forum guy so he doesn't describe it as multitasking or aggressive background task killing, instead he refers to it as "things constantly having to reload". Also when I bought my SIII at Best Buy the salesman told me that he had seen a lot of One X 's being returned. I post this here because the two phones are basically the same regarding the multitasking issue.

 

[SpencerHTC]

Listen guys. I'm sorry, but we enthusiasts are just a small percentage of the market. Because of this, they can care less what we think. And why should HTC fix this problem if the average consumer diesnt even recgonze it as an issue?

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[Mobilestash]

Definitely an issue. See this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNAJ8JeY4Qo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[Nreeldeep]

I wonder how many regular users out there are having an issue with the multitasking. I mean we would hope that they wouldn't shun the enthusiast crowd, but I think the only way they would rewrite the tasking code is if there were widespread complaints from everyone.

I bought my 17 year old son an Evo LTE last week. He's been regularly complaining that his games keep restarting after coming back from text messaging or phone calls. This didn't happen on his Samsung S2, he says. He loves the phone because it's fast and different from his friends' phones. This is really frustrating him. Friday he asked if we could go swap for a working model. I told him that he would have the same problem on a new phone. So last night he brought me the Evo box and the phone and asked me to turn his S2 back on. He also apologized since it was a gift.
I asked him if he wanted to get an S3. He said no because a lot of people already have one (in his circle it's cool to have something fitst) . The priorities of teenagers. *Sigh*

 

[crxssi]

Listen guys. I'm sorry, but we enthusiasts are just a small percentage of the market. Because of this, they can care less what we think. And why should HTC fix this problem if the average consumer diesnt even recgonze it as an issue?

HTC might care when we all start complaining to HTC instead of just in the forums to each other. I have called, and sent "Email" to two different divisions. I encourage all of you to do the same.

We might be a minority, but we are also typically the people that friends and family turn to when researching phones. I don't know about you, but I get asked ALL THE TIME about such things. I bet my span of influence accounts for several dozen purchases over the years.

And even if a "regular" person doesn't understand, they might still read reviews and forum postings, seeking an overall impression and be quite turned off by what they see. Perhaps most "regular" people that bought the Evo LTE/One X can't describe what is wrong and will never complain, they are affected by these issues too.... we are not talking about some obscure function that only hackers and geeks use, but basic memory/task management and multitasking.

 

[Nreeldeep]

HTC might care when we all start complaining to HTC instead of just in the forums to each other. I have called, and sent "Email" to two different divisions. I encourage all of you to do the same.

We might be a minority, but we are also typically the people that friends and family turn to when researching phones. I don't know about you, but I get asked ALL THE TIME about such things. I bet my span of influence accounts for several dozen purchases over the years.

And even if a "regular" person doesn't understand, they might still read reviews and forum postings, seeking an overall impression and be quite turned off by what they see. Perhaps most "regular" people that bought the Evo LTE/One X can't describe what is wrong and will never complain, they are affected by these issues too.... we are not talking about some obscure function that only hackers and geeks use, but basic memory/task management and multitasking.

Regular people definitely complain. They either call sprint customer service for troubleshooting or visit their local Sprint store to either have the issue addressed or to return the device. Those items are logged into record. You can best believe HTC is getting the message from not only us, but from those stores and call centers. Cases in point : the Costco story above and the fact that I'm going to return my son's Evo this weekend. The rep will ask for the reason for the return and add it to their log.
So HTC/Sprint is getting the message.
What they decide to do about it remains to be seen. At this point HTC has stated unequivocally that the multitasking works fine. That tune may change once their wallets begin to lighten.

 

[kbp08tls]

At this point HTC has stated unequivocally that the multitasking works fine. That tune may change once their wallets begin to lighten.

HTC did not say that multitasking works fine. I know it's a matter of semantics, but the words their PR/Customer Service department chose are very important here.

.... right now multitasking is operating normally according to our custom memory management specifications which balance core ICS features with a consistent HTC Sense experience.

They said it is working "according to our ... specifications." What's left unsaid is how those specifications were developed. I imagine that the rank and file engineers know very well the problems with how the phone operates and are as frustrated as the rest of us.

This is how I picture the development:
Designers: "Let's do all this great stuff with Sense."
Coders: "Sure thing, but we need more memory to make everything work like it should."
Beancounters: "There's no return on investment for putting more memory in the phone."
Coders: "That's fine, we'll just scale back Sense to make it work."
Designers: "No way, Sense has to be pretty and have all these great little flourishes! It's our trademark!"
Coders: "Fine, we'll develop some custom memory management specifications that gives you your pretty Sense, but it's going to compromise how the phone handles multitasking."
Designers/Beancounters: "Yay! We win!"

Later:
Customer Service to Coders: "Hey, we're getting a lot of complaints about multitasking from a bunch of dudes on Android enthusiast websites and forums."
Coders: "It works exactly like we had to program it. The designers wanted Sense to do all this great stuff but the beancounters wouldn't give us the memory to do it."
PR: "So what I heard you say was that multitasking is operating normally according to our custom memory management specifications which balance core ICS features with a consistent HTC Sense experience."
Coders: "Yes but it completely compromises how the phone should work."
PR: "So what I heard you say was 'Yes'."
Coders: *sigh*

 

[Nreeldeep]

HTC did not say that multitasking works fine. I know it's a matter of semantics, but the words their PR/Customer Service department chose are very important here.



They said it is working "according to our ... specifications." What's left unsaid is how those specifications were developed. I imagine that the rank and file engineers know very well the problems with how the phone operates and are as frustrated as the rest of us.

This is how I picture the development:
Designers: "Let's do all this great stuff with Sense."
Coders: "Sure thing, but we need more memory to make everything work like it should."
Beancounters: "There's no return on investment for putting more memory in the phone."
Coders: "That's fine, we'll just scale back Sense to make it work."
Designers: "No way, Sense has to be pretty and have all these great little flourishes! It's our trademark!"
Coders: "Fine, we'll develop some custom memory management specifications that gives you your pretty Sense, but it's going to compromise how the phone handles multitasking."
Designers/Beancounters: "Yay! We win!"

Later:
Customer Service to Coders: "Hey, we're getting a lot of complaints about multitasking from a bunch of dudes on Android enthusiast websites and forums."
Coders: "It works exactly like we had to program it. The designers wanted Sense to do all this great stuff but the beancounters wouldn't give us the memory to do it."
PR: "So what I heard you say was that multitasking is operating normally according to our custom memory management specifications which balance core ICS features with a consistent HTC Sense experience."
Coders: "Yes but it completely compromises how the phone should work."
PR: "So what I heard you say was 'Yes'."
Coders: *sigh*

I agree." Fine" was the wrong word. But they definitely don't think it's broken.