I am attempting to increase battery time in my Galaxy S4. I have quite a few apps on my phone that I don't often use but would not like to uninstall them so that they are available when I do choose to use them. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for the help.
To kill an app is to end its process immediately, without doing proper shutdown steps. Not recommended.
Don't be tempted to use any task killers, RAM memory optimizers/boosters, battery savers/repairers, cache cleaners, antivirus, etc etc. None of that stuff is necessary. They are counterproductive, waste power, disrupt system processes and degrade performance.
In short, don't micromanage your phone. Don't install software that attempts to either. Let Android handle things as intended. It will automatically optimize operation if you let it.
Don't worry be happy. Relax and enjoy simply using your phone.
Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
Don't be tempted to use any task killers, RAM memory optimizers/boosters, battery savers/repairers, cache cleaners, antivirus, etc etc. None of that stuff is necessary. They are counterproductive, waste power, disrupt system processes and degrade performance.
In short, don't micromanage your phone. Don't install software that attempts to either. Let Android handle things as intended. It will automatically optimize operation if you let it.
Don't worry be happy. Relax and enjoy simply using your phone.
Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
Thanks for your response. Do I understand correctly that you are suggesting to uninstall these apps that are used for boosting, cleaning, and etc. as they may be using more power than doing good. Does the fact that I am running a large number of apps even though not using them regularly result in poor battery performance? Again, any suggestions as to increasing battery life would be appreciated.
Re: What does it mean to "kill" an app?
That is exactly what I'm not just suggesting, it's what I'm saying. Uninstall them all. Immediately.
Android determines how many apps are running, how many are just cached in memory and inactive, etc based on system resources and needs. How many apps are installed has basically nothing to do with it. Except...for #3 below...
To save some power...
1. Turn down screen brightness a little.
2. Don't enable an excessive amount of sync operations.
3. Disable or uninstall apps you don't use so they don't auto-start.
4. Turn off radios you don't use. If you use them now and then, for convenience it's OK to leave them on without taking a big power hit.
5. Leave cache files alone.
6. Don't worry about closing apps, RAM usage or running processes. Android will handle that stuff better and more efficiently than you or 3rd party apps can.
That's the most important things I can think of offhand. Mostly, leave things alone and simply enjoy using the phone.
Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
That is exactly what I'm not just suggesting, it's what I'm saying. Uninstall them all. Immediately.
Android determines how many apps are running, how many are just cached in memory and inactive, etc based on system resources and needs. How many apps are installed has basically nothing to do with it. Except...for #3 below...
To save some power...
1. Turn down screen brightness a little.
2. Don't enable an excessive amount of sync operations.
3. Disable or uninstall apps you don't use so they don't auto-start.
4. Turn off radios you don't use. If you use them now and then, for convenience it's OK to leave them on without taking a big power hit.
5. Leave cache files alone.
6. Don't worry about closing apps, RAM usage or running processes. Android will handle that stuff better and more efficiently than you or 3rd party apps can.
That's the most important things I can think of offhand. Mostly, leave things alone and simply enjoy using the phone.
Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
Rukbat
Retired Moderator
- Feb 12, 2012
- 44,533
- 44
- 48
Re: What does it mean to "kill" an app?
The largest single boost in battery life I ever got was uninstalling Clean Droid. (I was testing it, and it made it seem as if my battery was on its last legs.)
Use Greenify. It will stop a lot of apps from starting by themselves.
BTW, killing a properly written app isn't a problem - that's what Android does when it needs RAM space. Android apps are supposed to keep their current state stored at all times. If Android kills an app, then brings it back later, the app just picks up where it left off. (It won't kill the cron processes - because the real time clock would always be off. - some things have a sort of absolute right to keep running.)
The only problem comes in when someone writes an app assuming that the app will keep running until the user quits. Then if the app is killed, it'll probably crash or malfunction when it's brought back, because all its data is gone. (Most apps on the Play Store are NOT written by people who understand computer science, so they have no idea how Android actually works under the hood, and they can't write apps that account for these little tings like "your app is subject to killing at any time".) Multitasking the Android Way is a little something by someone who does know - she's an Android systems engineer. (Never argue with the person who wrote the code - no matter how good you are [and I've been doing this stuff for over 40 years], you can't read the developer's mind. If she says a well-written Android app can be killed at any time safely, I believe her.)
The largest single boost in battery life I ever got was uninstalling Clean Droid. (I was testing it, and it made it seem as if my battery was on its last legs.)
Use Greenify. It will stop a lot of apps from starting by themselves.
BTW, killing a properly written app isn't a problem - that's what Android does when it needs RAM space. Android apps are supposed to keep their current state stored at all times. If Android kills an app, then brings it back later, the app just picks up where it left off. (It won't kill the cron processes - because the real time clock would always be off. - some things have a sort of absolute right to keep running.)
The only problem comes in when someone writes an app assuming that the app will keep running until the user quits. Then if the app is killed, it'll probably crash or malfunction when it's brought back, because all its data is gone. (Most apps on the Play Store are NOT written by people who understand computer science, so they have no idea how Android actually works under the hood, and they can't write apps that account for these little tings like "your app is subject to killing at any time".) Multitasking the Android Way is a little something by someone who does know - she's an Android systems engineer. (Never argue with the person who wrote the code - no matter how good you are [and I've been doing this stuff for over 40 years], you can't read the developer's mind. If she says a well-written Android app can be killed at any time safely, I believe her.)
Re: What does it mean to "kill" an app?
^^^ Exactly! It's because you never know what app is poorly coded and can't properly deal with a kill command - much less a more aggressive autokill - that I always say killing apps is not recommended. Well, that and because Android handles apps automatically so efficiently.
Going back and reading my original reply again, I put it kinda oddly. I made it sound like there are steps that a user must follow to 'properly' kill an app but that's not so, and not what I meant. To put more clearly, it's up to the programmer to code in any steps that must be done to save data and close the app gracefully when given the kill command. In fact, apps expect an autokill from the Android system rather than a manual kill command.
Anyway, avoid killing apps when possible. Let Android handle it as intended.
Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
^^^ Exactly! It's because you never know what app is poorly coded and can't properly deal with a kill command - much less a more aggressive autokill - that I always say killing apps is not recommended. Well, that and because Android handles apps automatically so efficiently.
Going back and reading my original reply again, I put it kinda oddly. I made it sound like there are steps that a user must follow to 'properly' kill an app but that's not so, and not what I meant. To put more clearly, it's up to the programmer to code in any steps that must be done to save data and close the app gracefully when given the kill command. In fact, apps expect an autokill from the Android system rather than a manual kill command.
Anyway, avoid killing apps when possible. Let Android handle it as intended.
Android user since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Question
Trending Posts
-
-
Question How to factory reset without Samsung account android 15
- Started by postald
- Replies: 2
-
-
Repeated failure to update Google Play system update- Started by jtfwTX
- Replies: 2
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram