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Decided to write an article about task killer use, mainly because of so many people being surprised that i do not recommend it, after their so called techy friends told them they need one, I'll post the opening paragraph with a link to the rest of it.
Task killer, one of the most prominent words within the android world. One that causes many arguments and confusion, well today lets see if we can put it all to rest.
I am constantly surprised when talking to new android owners that come to me with questions about their "faulty" phone and "poor-performing" battery, to discover that one of the first apps they installed was a task killer. Even more surprised when I dig deeper and ask why, with one of the top responses being because their "techy" friend said its a vital app. First things first, anything vital will be a core part of the the operating system. If google required that a task killer be a core part of their os, they would have included an easy way to kill apps, end of. Also, if your "techy" friend told you to download an task killer, please, ignore any advice from them in the future, you will regret it if you don't.
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Android Guide: Should I Use a Task Killer - Droid Den
You start off by saying you don't need one and then you say you do and even recommend one!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
themikeyboosh said:
You start off by saying you don't need one and then you say you do and even recommend one!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
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maybe you should read it again more carefully the paragrah your on about was simply laying out some reasons why you may need a task killer
themikeyboosh said:
You start off by saying you don't need one and then you say you do and even recommend one!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
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system panel is not a task killer mate, its a tool to help you identify bad apples. That is the reason for that apps existence, just ask its dev.
I read yr thread. I'm not so experienced in the systems. But i think this thread is following a good logic, and the systems at the end are all about logic.....
So, first thing i do after finish reading was killing the task killers.
Thanks again for the post.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Excellent article mate keep up your good work.
Many many people are brainwashed by many misleading reviews on Google in to thinking they need a task manager but this article explains nicely why they dont.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
System panel is a good solution. Try also power tutor, if it works with your phone
AndroHero said:
maybe you should read it again more carefully the paragrah your on about was simply laying out some reasons why you may need a task killer
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No no, I've read it, it's plain as day. You've just said it again.
le3ky said:
system panel is not a task killer mate, its a tool to help you identify bad apples. That is the reason for that apps existence, just ask its dev.
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Does it kill tasks? Need I go on.....It doesn't matter how you jazz it up "pal" there's no denying it can be used to kill tasks.
removed
themikeyboosh said:
Does it kill tasks? Need I go on.....It doesn't matter how you jazz it up "pal" there's no denying it can be used to kill tasks.
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lol? Do you honestly not understand?
There are apps out there that are coded badly.
In order to remove those apps you first need to id them.
SystemPanel helps you find out which app is causing a problem.
Then you may uninstall that app.
Nothing about using it as a task killer in there.
Does that help? I could try to put it in simpler terms if not.
I only use a task killer when I want to run some benchmarks shortly after having played around with resource-intensive apps like games.Other than that only as mentioned in the article,to trace and kill bad or frozen apps.Any other use is only harmful.
Very good article. It should be sticked.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I don't use a task killer with my HTC Desire. But back in the day with 1.5 and 1.6 I needed a task killer. Now 2.1 or higher doesn't need one.
for sure, higher memory and more efficient android definitely does not need one.
"Android is smart enough to recognise when it is running low on available memory, and will start to close those apps that it deems are low priority."
Then pls tell me why after opening more and more apps my desire gets slower as it is running out of memory, and after killing them with task killer except for the one im using its running smoothly again. I would love to stick with the android solution, but its just not working out...
Rooted Desire S-Off running latest Redux Rom (Gingerbread)
At first I thought a task killer was making my battery life longer - but I tried it again a couple of months after using Android - just to see if it impact battery life and found no difference - or not noticable anyway on day-to-day use.
Thanks for this, very informative. Defo should be a sticky
After rooting our phones, there are several apps that still run (for instance AP and AccuWeather) that I never use.
Autostarts is a really great app.
It lets you prevent apps from opening on certain occurances.
For instance, certain apps open on SMS sent/receive or call receive/sent...
It's a great way to keep apps that you never use/need from starting.
I find that this app is still applicable compared to Juice Defender and SetCPU as these newer phones seem to handle that well.
Anyone else find the same?
Thanks for the feedback.
h20wakebum said:
After rooting our phones, there are several apps that still run (for instance AP and AccuWeather) that I never use.
Autostarts is a really great app.
It lets you prevent apps from opening on certain occurances.
For instance, certain apps open on SMS sent/receive or call receive/sent...
It's a great way to keep apps that you never use/need from starting.
I find that this app is still applicable compared to Juice Defender and SetCPU as these newer phones seem to handle that well.
Anyone else find the same?
Thanks for the feedback.
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Why not just get root explorer and delete them?
WhiteWidows said:
Why not just get root explorer and delete them?
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Try it... A lot of them are processes that cannot be deleted.
Besides...
It isn't about deleting apps.
It's about controlling when an app will start (or when it's triggered to start) based off actions.
Why do I need app x,y, z starting when i send a text message? Answer... I don't...
From the market:
Keep control over your phone: See what applications do behind your back.
Shows you what apps run on phone startup, and what other events trigger in the background. Root users can disable unwanted autostarts and speed up their phone boot.
Note: Root-Access *is* required to make changes. Otherwise, this application will be read-only.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.elsdoerfer.android.autostarts&hl=en
Titanium back up and just freeze them, but I did use ths app and it did make bit up time faster on my evo
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
jhgti said:
Titanium back up and just freeze them, but I did use ths app and it did make bit up time faster on my evo
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
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Let me rephrase as I'm not making my point (sorry!!).
Google Maps will start at bootup... also when you change connectivity on your device.
I only want Maps open when I open it...
This app lets you prevent things from opening based off certain events (boot up, outgoing sms, incoming call, connectivity change, etc).
So freezing or deleting would remove the app that you might otherwise want.
Hope that makes sense.
Oh i see yes that is true some apps will come on as soon as connectivity changes, If find good settings post some screen shot and i will do the same
h20wakebum said:
After rooting our phones, there are several apps that still run (for instance AP and AccuWeather) that I never use.
Autostarts is a really great app.
It lets you prevent apps from opening on certain occurances.
For instance, certain apps open on SMS sent/receive or call receive/sent...
It's a great way to keep apps that you never use/need from starting.
I find that this app is still applicable compared to Juice Defender and SetCPU as these newer phones seem to handle that well.
Anyone else find the same?
Thanks for the feedback.
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Click to collapse
This is a VERY handy app. thanks loads. this is definitely a function that android should incorporate stock like they did with task killer
I purchased this app back when I first got my evo and I am now using it with my ET. It is a very handy app to have.
I found the Task Manager app in HTC Desire HD at 2.3.5 is really useful, it kills most of the apps I don't want to use, but leave those always running ones such as Lookout security, 3G watch dog, Viber, Weixin(Like Heytell) and Onavo.
After I switched to HTC One X, it seems it kills everything, and you can not put certain app in a exception list which is really annoying, so I have to either restart the apps or stop those unwanted ones one by one.
Any better solution for this?
Thank you.
Best solution: don't use task killers. Not sure why HTC bothered putting one in. Let android handle what needs to close and when. It does okay.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Morning,
I've been toying with the idea of installing an Anti Virus solution on to my phone but have a couple of questions.
Is it necessary? I know that most of the AV apps come with nice features like tracking and remote wipe but was wondering how big the threat of mobile malware actually is.
Will it prevent my device from going into 'Deep Sleep' and have a negative impact on battery life?
It is possible that I am going to install Vipre Mobile Security as we use a lot of GFI products at work. Do any of you have experience with this app?
Cheers in advance.
JimmyEatFood said:
Morning,
I've been toying with the idea of installing an Anti Virus solution on to my phone but have a couple of questions.
Is it necessary? I know that most of the AV apps come with nice features like tracking and remote wipe but was wondering how big the threat of mobile malware actually is.
Will it prevent my device from going into 'Deep Sleep' and have a negative impact on battery life?
It is possible that I am going to install Vipre Mobile Security as we use a lot of GFI products at work. Do any of you have experience with this app?
Cheers in advance.
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Click to collapse
1) No it's not. Just install apps from the official google market and none of the chinese/russian ones and look at the permissions each app uses. Unless you are installing "big busty blonde" style apps you should be fine.
2)Most AV/Malware products have a negative effect on a phones performance and battery. Don't bother, just use your common sense instead.
animaleyes76 said:
1) No it's not. Just install apps from the official google market and none of the chinese/russian ones and look at the permissions each app uses. Unless you are installing "big busty blonde" style apps you should be fine.
2)Most AV/Malware products have a negative affect on a phones performance and battery. Don't bother, just use your common sense instead.
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Have to agree here as well. Do not bother with AV apps mate..Just use common sense on what you flash or install on your phone. Simple as that
I have never used Anti Virus on any of my phones and I've never had any problems.
Cheers lads. I was reading an article about Android Malware which prompted me to look into AV. Don't think I'll bother now though
Any recommendations for an app to locate and remote wipe the device if it is lost?
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.
Cerberus is excellent, does everything.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
animaleyes76 said:
[...] Unless you are installing "big busty blonde" style apps you should be fine. [...]
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Damn!
JimmyEatFood said:
Cheers lads. I was reading an article about Android Malware which prompted me to look into AV. Don't think I'll bother now though
Any recommendations for an app to locate and remote wipe the device if it is lost?
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.
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Click to collapse
I suggest try AndroidLost I have tried most of the features like taking pictures, recording and GPS, it integrates nicely with your Google account and best of all its for FREE
I am yet to try its SMS capabilities and Sim notifications
http://www.androidlost.com
Cheers guys. I will look into the free app as I am a tight fisted Yorkshireman.
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.
I use free version of lookout. It don't cause any battery drains and is set to scan any new app get installed on the phone. You can also manual scan the whole phone.
You can install Avast Anti-Virus from the google play store, and if the phone has root access you can install Avast onto the ROM.
Once it has been installed you can set up theft aware for SMS text commands to remote wipe, lock etc.
The reason why the install it to the ROM is because if someone was going to factory reset through the bootloader or even from the settings menu the Avast will still be install but it will be disguised as another app (Which you can name) and they will not know that it is there.
Hope this was helpful.
Av only good for one thing and that's the tracking if its lost/stolen
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
check out Kaspersky, I think it still comes with life time updates, it might not be necessary today but it's a good deal and might get useful in future...
JimmyEatFood said:
Cheers lads. I was reading an article about Android Malware which prompted me to look into AV. Don't think I'll bother now though
Any recommendations for an app to locate and remote wipe the device if it is lost?
Sent as my GF gets angry at me for playing with my HTC One X....again.
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Click to collapse
Although not free, PhoneLocator Pro is the best I've seen,
It hides from your app drawer, adds un-installation security, takes an automatic photo of your thief and sends it you, along with his call log, also blocks the phone if the thief changes sim card, along with all the GPS tracking services that it emails you - you also get a web user interface too, aswell as the usual text commands.
Its good stuff, developer is very responsive and eager to add more features all the time too.
However, due to the way HTC have implemented multi-tasking, their pre-installed task manager app will kill it, along with anything else you may have running such as battery saving apps, antivirus, etc etc
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
Hey guys, haven't found a thread about this yet (sorry if there is one!)
Really not a noob, but...
Really mega noob question here regarding notifications for the HOX and android in general?
I've noticed if I end the task in task manager I no longer get the notifications, I.e facebook, whatsapp etc, is this normal? Or should the apps receive notifications anyway? I've tried many things and always seem to lead that they work when not ended in task manager, so there still running tiny proccesses, is this right?
Really confusing and when I get something on my mind, I don't rest till I find out haha
Sent from my HTC One X
If you've killed it in Task Manager the app is in effect closed so notifications won't work. Leave it running and just close it in 'Recent apps' and you're good to go (at least that's my take on it, could be wrong)
EddyOS said:
If you've killed it in Task Manager the app is in effect closed so notifications won't work. Leave it running and just close it in 'Recent apps' and you're good to go (at least that's my take on it, could be wrong)
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Thank you, I thought this just was really, really curious!
Sent from my HTC One X
Only reason I said that was I 'killed' AudioGuru once and it didn't change profiles until I ran it again and then it carried on as normal
According to Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM older method) ,and Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM new method) documentation, the application does not need to be running in order receive push notifications.
PhoenixFx said:
According to Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM older method) ,and Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM new method) documentation, the application does not need to be running in order receive push notifications.
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I can verify that.
Strange that it stopped my notifications if I used Task Manager as well in that case...having said that, the app was a process to control the phone, not a notification so (as I said) I could be wrong
Maybe I was just having problems earlier then. Not really sure. Thanks for all your comments!
Sent from my HTC One X
PhoenixFx said:
According to Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM older method) ,and Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM new method) documentation, the application does not need to be running in order receive push notifications.
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yeah but this is for applications that use push of course.
i guess the difference here is that some applications don't use push, so when terminated, aren't open any longer to do the background server connect/check, whereas with push obviously the app doesn't check by itself, so no need to be running...
lawrence750 said:
yeah but this is for applications that use push of course.
i guess the difference here is that some applications don't use push, so when terminated, aren't open any longer to do the background server connect/check, whereas with push obviously the app doesn't check by itself, so no need to be running...
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That's pretty much what I should've said in my first reply!
But I'm pretty sure whatsapp and facebook use either c2dm or gcma.
GCM actually commercial name of C2DM, and newer version.. its compatible with from froyo/gingerbread, though..
The hecks from facebook, whatapps, line doesn't used GCM, that why they need to runnnig own push service. yeah, multiple polling services may impact some battery usage..
I always reckon GCM is better than their own push service.. GCM is running as a service too, but it is highly optimized. That's why you are able to install/uninstall app from web browser. If all these apps use GCM, then we will have only one push service running behind and invoke the app if any imcomings..
Anyone who are interested may go youtube the GCM session on Google I/O.
HebeGuess said:
GCM actually commercial name of C2DM, and newer version.. its compatible with from froyo/gingerbread, though..
The hecks from facebook, whatapps, line doesn't used GCM, that why they need to runnnig own push service. yeah, multiple polling services may impact some battery usage..
I always reckon GCM is better than their own push service.. GCM is running as a service too, but it is highly optimized. That's why you are able to install/uninstall app from web browser. If all these apps use GCM, then we will have only one push service running behind and invoke the app if any imcomings..
Anyone who are interested may go youtube the GCM session on Google I/O.
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+1 I wish everyone used this instead of the other sync method.
Facebook at least (don't know about whats app) is complete crap... its got better though, but wouldn't surprise me if it was just their own implementation of push that is full of bugs
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Thanks again for your comments people, so what you're saying is, I'm best.. atm to just not use task manager? Just end the tasks in recent apps?
Sorry, it's just difficult to see whether it's worth just leaving them running in the back ground on task manager. Are these the push notification programs were on about? There like kb, so I presume they just receive notifications?
Thanks for your replies
Sent from my HTC One X
MB*
Sent from my HTC One X
smidgeox said:
Thanks again for your comments people, so what you're saying is, I'm best.. atm to just not use task manager? Just end the tasks in recent apps?
Sorry, it's just difficult to see whether it's worth just leaving them running in the back ground on task manager. Are these the push notification programs were on about? There like kb, so I presume they just receive notifications?
Thanks for your replies
Sent from my HTC One X
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Click to collapse
Task Manager is more towards cached apps. Perhaps you should look under Settings >> Apps for the service mentioned. Kill them there, however some of them will be restart if you open the app later.
In faux kernel op hey stats usein task killer didn't gain any speed of the phone just creates force close and crashes
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
HebeGuess said:
The hecks from facebook, whatapps, line doesn't used GCM, that why they need to runnnig own push service.
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Click to collapse
Are you sure about that ? According to whatsapp changelog they have C2DM support, and the android manifest file of Facebook app has com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE permission granted to it.
PhoenixFx said:
Are you sure about that ? According to whatsapp changelog they have C2DM support, and the android manifest file of Facebook app has com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE permission granted to it.
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Some people can't be told, but thanks for doing the research.
---------- Post added at 02:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 AM ----------
smidgeox said:
Thanks again for your comments people, so what you're saying is, I'm best.. atm to just not use task manager? Just end the tasks in recent apps?
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Click to collapse
You dont need to kill tasks, unless they are really badly written, if that's the case, uninstall it.
When an app is backgrounded, it should save its state and idle. When Android runs out of memory, it can unload tasks. Why do you want to kill 'em all?
The notifications and end all function of the One X certainly works differently than it does on my GS3.
On the One X it will even stop my weather widgets from updating if I close all programs. My GS3 actually re-starts important apps.
Just a difference I've noticed between the two. I never use end all apps function on the One X after that -- just let it manage itself.