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Hi,
We all knew that we should not use task killer to kill apps, because when we hit the back button, the app will not active anymore ... but it will still occupy some memory (RAM).
When Android OS needs more RAM it will remove in-active apps to free some.
Related article: http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/ (GOOD READ)
We should not panic when we see a huge list of apps when we start task killer.
Ok, got it there ...
Now, I installed this app called Quick System Info (FREE):
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/org.uguess.android.sysinfo/
Which you can use to see what kind of processes are still running or apps that are still occupying RAM. It could show you the amount of RAM and CPU resources that are being used by each app.
So, I went to the Quick System Info -> Processes, hit the "menu" button -> Preferences and set like this:
- Update Speed = Low
- Show Memory Usage [checked]
- Show CPU Usage [checked]
- Sort by = CPU Usage
- Direction = Descending
Go back and watch ...
Surprisingly, I saw "Market" app is eating 1% CPU resources once in a while ... again and again ...
Hey, I thought it (Market app) is suspended in the background? I don't have it active, I pressed the back button when I finished with it.
Why is it eating 1% CPU from now an then in the background?
Obviously, this will drain battery power for something that I don't need.
Any thought?
I am now wondering if I install other kind of process monitoring app, and see if the suspended Quick System Info is also eating CPU resources
Why should we not use task killers? I`ve used them on android for the last year otherwise like you say background tasks use resources slowing up the system.
Obviously dont close any system important apps but I`m always closing down background apps that I no longer require.
1% every now and again? I really wouldn't worry about that to be perfectly honest. The impact on battery life will be incredibly small, so much so I doubt you'd even notice if you weren't watching it like a hawk.
By far the biggest drain on battery life remains all of the wireless stuff (wifi, bluetooth and 3G internet) followed closely by the screen itself. Turn those off when not in use and the miniscule drain of suspended tasks won't be an issue.
I'm sure if Google thought suspended tasks would be an important factor in battery drain they would've designed it differently to start with.
Read this article
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/
paulruk said:
Why should we not use task killers? I`ve used them on android for the last year otherwise like you say background tasks use resources slowing up the system.
Obviously dont close any system important apps but I`m always closing down background apps that I no longer require.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does every minute or so, and so far I found only this app (Market).
I just found out this morning before went to work, so I don't have time to inspect more.
Too bad I cannot see CPU TIME (the amount of time the process took 100% of cpu resources).
Noiz said:
1% every now and again? I really wouldn't worry about that to be perfectly honest. The impact on battery life will be incredibly small, so much so I doubt you'd even notice if you weren't watching it like a hawk.
By far the biggest drain on battery life remains all of the wireless stuff (wifi, bluetooth and 3G internet) followed closely by the screen itself. Turn those off when not in use and the miniscule drain of suspended tasks won't be an issue.
I'm sure if Google thought suspended tasks would be an important factor in battery drain they would've designed it differently to start with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that 1% would be it occasionally checking in with the market to see if any updates have been released for the programs you have installed, so that it can give you a notification when the update is released.
i would imagine that is what it is anyway.
and yes, 1% every so often is negligible, and if you killed just that process, i doubt you would notice any difference.
gogol said:
Surprisingly, I saw "Market" app is eating 1% CPU resources once in a while ... again and again ...
Hey, I thought it (Market app) is suspended in the background? I don't have it active, I pressed the back button when I finished with it.
Why is it eating 1% CPU from now an then in the background?
Obviously, this will drain battery power for something that I don't need.
Any thought?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure about this..
Have you noticed that you will get a notification if there is an update to application that is installed in your phone?
I think the marketplace doesn't have a push notification yet. So it periodically will check whether there is any update to the installed application.
Allright, that might be it ... the Market is checking for apps aupdate.
And most probably 1% is not much (I don't know how to measure this and translate it to battery life time). 1% every minute ... hmmm
1 hour of 1% cpu per minute = X % of battery life.
If we have N processes?
N = email check, weather check, friendstream check, RSS check, whatnot check
I`ll give you an example why I use a task killer.
Sometimes I use an app that goes online every few minutes and notifies me of any updates. I can 100% be certain this app even when in the background uses enough cpu to cause the phone to slowdown. Dont ask me why, maybe bad programming but this is the exact reason why I need a task killer to get rid of it.
Once its gone the phone is fine again. it happends on a few apps I own, so when I finish with them, I kill them.
I wouldnt recommend a task killer that kills everything, you just need to be selective.
That is a perfect example for using task killer
What I wrote in the first post is about using task killer to just kill apps without knowing anything.
In the past, I just select all and KILL ... Then the HTC Sense got reloaded
I was scared it could corrupt my phone ... lol.
paulruk said:
I`ll give you an example why I use a task killer.
Sometimes I use an app that goes online every few minutes and notifies me of any updates. I can 100% be certain this app even when in the background uses enough cpu to cause the phone to slowdown. Dont ask me why, maybe bad programming but this is the exact reason why I need a task killer to get rid of it.
Once its gone the phone is fine again. it happends on a few apps I own, so when I finish with them, I kill them.
I wouldnt recommend a task killer that kills everything, you just need to be selective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thats a bit extreme killing everything.
I`ve also used startup auditor in the past. That stops some apps loading at startup , for example footprints, never use it so I kill it before it gets a chance to load up. Have to be careful what you limit though as some tasks are used by others.
That Startup Auditor is interesting, does it work as expected?
Or you encountered some quirks or issues with it?
Yeah, I don't quite like with the way Android startup (or HTC?), for example: FM radio ... it also started automatically after reboot.
paulruk said:
Yes thats a bit extreme killing everything.
I`ve also used startup auditor in the past. That stops some apps loading at startup , for example footprints, never use it so I kill it before it gets a chance to load up. Have to be careful what you limit though as some tasks are used by others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gogol said:
That Startup Auditor is interesting, does it work as expected?
Or you encountered some quirks or issues with it?
Yeah, I don't quite like with the way Android startup (or HTC?), for example: FM radio ... it also started automatically after reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to work fine, not sure what help it is though hehe, in terms of speed/memory savings. I stop the radio , bluetooth,google talk and footprints. But I also use it to start some apps automatically.
I found this list of what you can/can`t disable. You can still run them after startup, just they wont load automatically when you start the phone.
safe
Google Partner Setup
Network Location (if not using apps which need geolocation regularly. ie. Gmaps, GeoTag, etc.)
Bluetooth Share (if not using BT device)
Email (if not using email service other than Gmail)
Messaging (if using 3rd party sms app, ie. Handcent SMS. or if infrequent texter)
Calendar (if calendar is not used regularly)
Calendar Storage (if calendar is not used regularly)
Voice Dialer (if not used)
Google Talk Service (if GTalk is not used regularly)
Maps (if GMaps is not used regularly)
unsafe
Clock
Media Storage
Android System
Gmail Storage
Sync Feeds
Dialer
System Updater (not sure about this one)
My Uploads (not sure about this one)
Download Manager (not sure about this one)
usually i charge my desire during the night but it happened a couple of times that my morning alarm didnt start.
is it possible that the alarm doesnt start if the phone is charging?
did you experience this issue?
bye
Alessandro
Are you using a task killer?
When i first started using one, it was killing the clock task, which meant that the alarm was not going off in the morning. If you are using one, try putting the clock on the ignore list, or better still get rid of the task manager.
Use JuiceDefender if you want to save battery!
Michael
linkazoid said:
Are you using a task killer?
When i first started using one, it was killing the clock task, which meant that the alarm was not going off in the morning. If you are using one, try putting the clock on the ignore list, or better still get rid of the task manager.
Use JuiceDefender if you want to save battery!
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i'm using a taskkiller, i'll try to put clock in the ignore list.
hope this works
thank you
bye
You didn't mention if you had the phone switched on or not when you were charging, so it is worth mentioning that if your phone is switched off, your Alarms will not sound because nothing is running. This is in contrast to say most Symbian phones or Blackberry's which will automatically switch themselves on to sound an alarm.
That being said, as has been stated previously, your task killer will be a problem if you've not set it to ignore the alarm app.
Regards,
Dave
foxmeister said:
You didn't mention if you had the phone switched on or not when you were charging, so it is worth mentioning that if your phone is switched off, your Alarms will not sound because nothing is running. This is in contrast to say most Symbian phones or Blackberry's which will automatically switch themselves on to sound an alarm.
That being said, as has been stated previously, your task killer will be a problem if you've not set it to ignore the alarm app.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're right i didnt mention... it was on!
to tell the truth i decided to run the clock screen before sleeping (the black and white one) to be sure that the clock was running...
but next night i'll give another try.
bye
i had exactly the same problem this morning and because of that i was late to work
I'm having this problem too, I've got Advanced Task Killer installed, I'm going to uninstall it now.
themikeyboosh said:
I'm having this problem too, I've got Advanced Task Killer installed, I'm going to uninstall it now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...mmm, i'm using atk too.
as i told before i added the clock app to the ignore list and tomorro morning i'll have the answer (in the meantime the alarm of my universal is still set )
bye
ATK is not a problem, just make sure you add clock to the ignore list.
I have been using ATK on my Hero since August, and on the desire since i got it. Once clock is added to the ignore list, i have not missed an alarm since.
and besides, you don't need to keep killing eveything all the time. STOP it. i only use it to kill certain things that i never use which keep autostarting, like Stocks! I leave everything else alone.
ok it worked!!!
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Hello,
I have just started early shift this week and set the default alarm to come on in the morning....but it does not come on?
When i set it, i get the message saying the alarm will go off in so may hours and the alarm icon is shown at the top.
If i set the alarm again in the morning to go off in a few minutes....it works and so does the snooze.
Luckily i was using another alarm from my old phone or i would have slept in.
Is this Alarm function buggy on the desire?
Cheers.
Had the exact same thing, first time I used the alarm.
Worked the next day and been fine ever since though.
Not much use to you I know
Alot of causes seemed to be related to task killers when I was looking around.
I wasn't using one though so mine must have been something else...
I have the same problem... dont know why, i have to use an other alarm clock
I had pretty much the same problem on first usage and I had to be up at 3.30am (which I nearly missed). I didn't figure out any resolution. Also the Desktop clocks are quite pointless without giving you the option to disable screen standby on use so you lose sight off them pretty quick.
Then I shifted to using the Enhanced Alarm Clock (Better Alarm) which I loved as excellent albeit it has a major bug still uncorrected so I dumped it - a loading icon (ads) stays loading forever and so the CPU usage stays high killing the battery fast. Ever since, I've been using the Kaloer Clock which works perfectly and is far more customizable. Even when you press back it exits unlike many other apps. I leave it on as a Desktop clock at night using its option to lock the screen and prevent standby... in a very dim custom digital blue showing Time/Day/Date/Month/SMS /Alarm/Battery icons. 8 hours sleep (which I only get the luxury of on Saturday) drains the battery 32% if left in such a mode with an alarm on.
-------------------------------------
- Sent via my HTC Desire -
Thanks for the replies!
I use Taskiller that automaticly kill tasks when phone asleeps and I had to add clock to ignored list because when clock app gets killed it won't start alarm even if alarm icon is present on task bar.
I don't know if clock gets killed by system to free memory. Maybe it is the case.
Hmm never had this problem. (3uk unbranded device)
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
ingvarr_zaag said:
I use Taskiller that automaticly kill tasks when phone asleeps and I had to add clock to ignored list because when clock app gets killed it won't start alarm even if alarm icon is present on task bar.
I don't know if clock gets killed by system to free memory. Maybe it is the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try this.
Cheers.
I've had this problem too.
In the alarm screen all backgrounds are white, all days of the week are checked. Alarm icon in task bar. It has failed to go off twice, and worked once... I didnt have a task killer app installed the first time it failed, but do now. I'll try adding the clock to the ignore list and hope this fixes it, but as I say, I didnt have the task killer installed first time it failed... Fingers crossed.
Task killer was the problem with me, after adding to ignore list i have not had a problem since.
as title really.
some apps i only use every other day auto start. there's no need for it and i have to kill em off.
is there a way yet of preventing them from starting automatically?
tommo123 said:
as title really.
some apps i only use every other day auto start. there's no need for it and i have to kill em off.
is there a way yet of preventing them from starting automatically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Autorun Killer, it's in the market
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Market -> Startup Manager
;-)
be careful though, stopping the wrong things from starting up can bork your phone
tommo123 said:
some apps i only use every other day auto start. there's no need for it and i have to kill em off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Q. Why do you have to kill them off?
Regards,
Dave
they use memory and use the cpu from time to time. for things i only use on occasion it doesn't make sense for them to run all the time.
same with windows, programs add themselves to the startup list. it's pointless if you use those programs only once a week or so
anyhoo, tis working now.
ta all
tommo123 said:
they use memory and use the cpu from time to time. for things i only use on occasion it doesn't make sense for them to run all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO, not enough to make any serious difference.
If the apps are not being used, they will consume little to no CPU cycles, and if memory becomes tight the system will automatically kill them off.
same with windows, programs add themselves to the startup list. it's pointless if you use those programs only once a week or so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but the task management on Windows is vastly different to Android, so I don't think you can draw direct any accurate conclusions from the comparison.
My experience with Android stretches back to the US release of the G1 (~ October'08), and so I've been through all of these "performance enhancements" before (autostarts, task killers etc etc) on the G1, and then later the Hero.
In the long term, I've found leaving the system alone to do its own thing improves the experience and I regularly get 30+ hours usage from a single charge (heavy user) and absolutely zero issues with lag - your mileage may vary of course!
Regards,
Dave
i get that, i also (as a bit of a e-control freak) can't stand things running when they have no need to. i have the paypal app, and even though it's something i would probably use every few weeks, runs all the time. it would be more efficient to have power user disallow these from running except when needed. it's annoying really since i want control of what happens on my phone
i did say i was a control freak
my concern is if the app is killing my battery ? I notice even with the task killer , I kill all apps (running ) but it appears again later on the list.
Will Autorun Killer stop the apps completely when not in use ?
I see that when a task killer stops a program (cityid, stocks,etc) I can look right back in there and see it running again and in a minute the page is full again of the same apps that I just killed. Even with autokill on they start while the screen is off. I want to know if anyone has figured out what file or service keeps starting these and if there is an edit to it to tell them to quit it ? I am not comfortable with a device that I do not have control of stuff that starts and goes online by itself. Thanks.
madman34 said:
I see that when a task killer stops a program (cityid, stocks,etc) I can look right back in there and see it running again and in a minute the page is full again of the same apps that I just killed. Even with autokill on they start while the screen is off. I want to know if anyone has figured out what file or service keeps starting these and if there is an edit to it to tell them to quit it ? I am not comfortable with a device that I do not have control of stuff that starts and goes online by itself. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're not comfortable with a device you do not have full control of, looks like rooting is for you
Seriously though, rooting your device is the ONLY way to remove City ID, Stocks, etc. from your device. HOWEVER.
You should probably break yourself of the task killer habit. Lifehacker explains it all here: http://lifehacker.com/5650894/andro...ed-what-they-do-and-why-you-shouldnt-use-them.
In a nutshell, Android is actually really good at preserving memory, and killing apps that will keep popping up drains battery faster. The reason they keep popping up is Android is trying to predict what you're going to use next based on what you just did (or something like that), so potentially anything you have installed that is there on startup will hit that list.
I tried using Watchdog as the article said, but honestly I found in the end I just wanted more control. unrevoked 3.21 and several ROM tries later I'm happy with where I'm at
EDIT: I see by your sig that you have rooted your Dinc.. therefore, it's a very simple process if you want to get rid of the app entirely. If you want to leave it installed, you're not going to find a solution to the constant opening - Android is what Android is.
Most of the apps you see in the task list are not active. They're just loaded in memory so they can launch faster when you need them.
Like the previous poster pointed out, task killers are counter productive. You just get a continuous cycle with the app launching and being killed. Launching again and being killed again. And on and on.
Best just to leave android alone to do what it was designed to do.
If you still feel the need to be more in control use app autostarts. It allows you to block the initial app launch and block based on events.
________________________________
Unrevoked forever
SkyRaider Sense 3.3.2
KiNgxKernel BFS (#5)
Radio 2.15.00.07.28
Mostly what I want to do is,,,,
,,,To stop applications that come on by themselves and log in even when you set in their settings to not do it, like Skype. I do use Skype to do a calll with a bunch of friends from school, but I want to start it when I want to use it, I am all the time having skype calls come in when I have not even launched the app. I figure that if it is listening for a call then it is useing power needlessly. I do not want to have to log out every time I want it to stop, I just want to close it and it behave and stop useing power. Many apps do that and I think it is a major reason for low battery life. My battery will not hold up a full shift at work, but if I kill the GPS and the 3G the thing has been up for 22 hours and is still at 66% and I have talked for over 2 hours today on the phone, so I think that if more control is gained over app behaviour then we can be happier with our batteries ;-)
madman34 said:
...but if I kill the GPS and the 3G the thing has been up for 22 hours and is still at 66% and I have talked for over 2 hours today on the phone,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You hit the nail on the head there. It's not the apps killing your battery, it's the 3g and gps.
I leave my wifi on all the time but have it set to disconnect if the phone is idle for 15 min. Bluetooth, gps, and 3g are always turned off except when I need them.
________________________________
Unrevoked forever
SkyRaider Sense 3.3.2
KiNgxKernel BFS (#5)
Radio 2.15.00.07.28