Task Killer and Ant Virus...are they really needed?

[gmz73#AC]

I know this has been asked before but when I posted questions no one ever came back to that thread so forgive me ok? Just got the Incredible 3 days ago. Just as the thread title says do I really need these, why or why not. I know there are some great people here who know their stuff so help a girl out. Thanks in advance!

I obviously didn't mean to type 'ant virus' ROFL(damn those acrylic nails) but it wouldn't let me edit the thread title! (Hiding my face in shame)

 

[bigdds]

Task Killers no, not sure about anti virus but I don't have any and I've had my phone since release day.

 

[mclarryjr]

You don't need either the Incredible will be able to handle closing applications just fine without a task killer and knock on wood there are no viruses that could hurt your phone.

 

[gmz73#AC]

Thanks for the input!

 

[msprygada]

You don't need either the Incredible will be able to handle closing applications just fine without a task killer and knock on wood there are no viruses that could hurt your phone.

Ummmmm yes they are. I have been using ATK on and off for the last 2 months since I got my phone. Here is the issue. While yes the OS will close apps as it needs memory, the problem is that it will do it only when it gets out of memory. When this is happening, I noticed that my Droid gets sluggish. A friend that programs for the Droid confirms that this is the case. So I found that if I use ATK and have to auto kill programs on screen off, that I no longer see any sluggishness. I also have a few selected apps ignored to close. I now find that my droid is now never sluggish. Before, I would see the phone get sluggish, I kill off all the un-needed applications and the phone would get fast again.

One of the issues I see is that I see apps start that I have never asked to start are running. Like Skype. I find that running all the time but I have not used it in I don't know how long. To me, this is a problem with the OS. This would be like starting my PC (and not starting any applications) and then opening up my Task Manager and finding that Outlook, Excel, Firefox, and a bunch of other applications started without me asking them to open.

 

[urabob]

The only time I miss having ATK installed is when Yelp decides to constantly use the GPS.

So, I just made a shortcut to "Manage Applications" to force quit Yelp. Otherwise, my Dinc runs fine without ATK.

 

[mclarryjr]

Ummmmm yes they are. I have been using ATK on and off for the last 2 months since I got my phone. Here is the issue. While yes the OS will close apps as it needs memory, the problem is that it will do it only when it gets out of memory. When this is happening, I noticed that my Droid gets sluggish. A friend that programs for the Droid confirms that this is the case. So I found that if I use ATK and have to auto kill programs on screen off, that I no longer see any sluggishness. I also have a few selected apps ignored to close. I now find that my droid is now never sluggish. Before, I would see the phone get sluggish, I kill off all the un-needed applications and the phone would get fast again.

One of the issues I see is that I see apps start that I have never asked to start are running. Like Skype. I find that running all the time but I have not used it in I don't know how long. To me, this is a problem with the OS. This would be like starting my PC (and not starting any applications) and then opening up my Task Manager and finding that Outlook, Excel, Firefox, and a bunch of other applications started without me asking them to open.

I have had my DInc since launch and its running great without ATK and don't see an advantage of using it. That is just my opinion and if you phone is running good with ATK that's great, some people like it and some don't use it. Its nice to have that choice

One thing I've read in the past that ATK might not give you a true list of application running in the background. Try and download system panel from the market you can try the lite (free) version and compare the 2 list of active applications. I notice using system panel the list of active items seems smaller because it won't list inactive cached apps as running. Give it a try and I hope it helps you.

 

[facedown41]

system panel does give you a full list, it is great i use it after i click my auto kill for ES task manager to clear out some useless stuff...like i kill HTC Sense since i use launcher pro...and their are some things that system panel shows that you definitely don't want to kill everytime.

 

[msprygada]

One thing I've read in the past that ATK might not give you a true list of application running in the background. Try and download system panel from the market you can try the lite (free) version and compare the 2 list of active applications. I notice using system panel the list of active items seems smaller because it won't list inactive cached apps as running. Give it a try and I hope it helps you.

I just did this and ATK showed more apps running than System panel. But SP still looks like a great tool. I think I will buy it. Thanks for the tip.

I still think the key is to figure out how to prevent apps from starting that the user did not ask to start. Then you do not use up the available memory and get to a point where the garbage collection happens and slows down the droid until it is over.

 

[Revolutionary]

The need for a task killer is entirely subjective -- you can't say across the board "no, they aren't necessary" or "yes, they are." It depends on how you are set up, what apps you want to run. But its not like having a BlackBerry with too many apps running -- its not about system memory. It's about battery usage. Some apps try to stay running and constantly ping the network (see Facebook 1.3.0), and the OS won't shut them down; some apps that you want to have running prevent the phone from sleeping.

Do you need one by default? No. But if you find that an app (like the HTC calendar if you are connected to Exchange) is killing your battery and you either can't uninstall it or don't want to (BBC News app), then ATK makes sense.

 

[owensch1]

Do you use default, safe, aggressive, or crazy? I don't know what those even do.

 

[nate3382]

Im not sure about others but I think ATK really helped my battery. My Dinc never ran out of memory like my blackberry did but the battery life sucked before installing the talk killer. I understand people saying its not needed but with the ease of installing it and uninstalling it id give it a try. Worth it to see if it helps you or not

 

[jimracing657]

Im not sure about others but I think ATK really helped my battery. My Dinc never ran out of memory like my blackberry did but the battery life sucked before installing the talk killer. I understand people saying its not needed but with the ease of installing it and uninstalling it id give it a try. Worth it to see if it helps you or not

I agree with you totally! My battery was terrible, and because so many people say ATK is not needed i never installed it. Finally I gave it a try and I can get a solid 10-12 hours of moderate use now. Maybe everyone is doing something I dont know about but my battery life is nothing to complain about anymore

 

[markymark]

I will third that....ATK will do wonders for battery life IF USED PROPERLY. There are many apps like most of the Google apps (Maps, Nav, Earth, Sky Map), some of the music apps, and others that continue running and using up battery after you exit. Using ATK is so easy, one push of a button will kill all unnecessary apps and save your battery life. Just every so often, when I'm not using the phone, I go into ATK and kill any running tasks. Or after you have been using the phone heavily, go into ATK and kill everything when you are done.

My recommendation.....disable auto-kill, it will eat up battery and defeat the purpose. And include ATK on the killed tasks so it kills itself when it exits. And don't forget to put certain apps like the clock, email accounts etc. on the ignore list.

Like the previous poster, I kept reading about how you didn't need a task killer with Android because the OS would handle it, so I didn't use it for the first couple months. Then I decided to try it. My battery life was ok before (Seidio 1750 mah extended battery) but it is much better now. I can get 1.5 to 2 days of moderate use, before I was lucky to get one day.