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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)
Guys,
We all know about the "magical 4636 menu" which provides a lot of interesting information as well as battery usage history. Now, talking about Battery, there is a submenu which is called "partial wake usage". I have googled a lot (both on XDA and beyond) and still could not find any exact explanation on what _exactly_ that thing was
Everyone is writing smth like "well, if you see some app there, that means that it doesn't let your Desire to sleep... err... "completely".. but the phone is not "fully" awake either.. err.. yeah..."
So, if someone could clarify this, I would be very grateful. What interests me exactly is:
- if I see (for example) MortPlayer app on top of the "partial wake usage" list - does that mean that the app was ACTIVELY running in background even when the display was off?
- if yes, does that mean that my device consumed just as much power as if it was awake, "minus" the energy consumed by OLED screen?
- so, "partial wake" mode itself - how is that defined? Does "partial-wake" equal "fully-actively-running-device-but-the-screen-does-not-consume-power"?
- when listening to mp3 (with the screen off) - is that "partial wake"?
Thanks in advance.
erm.. anyone?...
Maybe this help!
Hi mate,
I'm no expert on Android or anything but will share what I thought partial wake option shows from my own experience.
I was using Seven to get my hotmail push to my Desire and I was getting very poor battery life from it.
when I checked via the battery history I had to select from the top drop down list "partial wake usage" and "since last unplug" from second drop list.
and it clearly showed 70% of my battery was getting used up by seven. so I uninstalled it right away.
after that now I'm getting almost 2 days worth of battery life while on the other hand before I was running out of battery before even 18 hours.
seven was a beta software and unapproved as well, so I guess it will cause the problem.
So basically the partial wake usage menu shows you what app you or the system running even when your display is off.
now the reason I think it shows other app on the list bcoz of Android's nature of always connected to net. like Android system, maps, facebook and stuff.
which keeps updating behind if you run them once after you unplugged and got out of them by pressing home button.
Also remember by the second menu gives you option to select either "since last unplugged" or "total since boot" or "total in all time" so obviously a lot off app going to show up on the list.
and yes playing mp3 with screen shut is consider partial wake usage as my cube player shows up on list.
PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK means that the CPU will continue running in sleep mode only the Screen and the Keyboard will powerd off
FROM ANDROID API-DOC:
*If you hold a partial wakelock, the CPU will continue to run, irrespective of any timers and even after the user presses the power button. In all other wakelocks, the CPU will run, but the user can still put the device to sleep using the power button.
wake-locks are needed for some apps who have timers or counters in backround etc. 'cause without the cpu the timer will not work
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/PowerManager.html
Not recommended to keep CPU running unless you really need it - kills power efficiency by stopping CPU sleep modes.
I have a notification widget on the task bar to access the Testing menu since the first week which allows all those stats and more. I found about a week back that the application WorldWideTime had 99% battery usage as partial wake since the last unplug with over 6hours devoted to it and the next highest being Android at 2s of use. I rarely used the app -> Uninstalled.
-------------------------------------
- Sent via my HTC Desire -
Thank you for your replies!
I have noticed that after listening to mp3 using MortPlayer (the screen is off, device in pocket ) it appears on the partial_wake_usage list. So, this means that when I am listening to mp3 via MortPlayer, the CPU stil runs as if my Desire was fully awake.
Does anyone know how that is with the original music player?
I can't answer your specific question, but any music player running when the screen is off must be using an awake lock to keep the CPU running. Same as any browser/application which is downloading content. Without the CPU running, such tasks won't be possible. There is power saving with a partial lock, as other unused hardware is put to sleep.
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- Sent via my HTC Desire -
th3 said:
I can't answer your specific question, but any music player running when the screen is off must be using an awake lock to keep the CPU running. Same as any browser/application which is downloading content. Without the CPU running, such tasks won't be possible. There is power saving with a partial lock, as other unused hardware is put to sleep.
-------------------------------------
- Sent via my HTC Desire -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that clarifies a lot!
Partial wakelock with Palmary Weather
I am sad to report this but the awesome weather app J
(Palmary) is unfortunately taking up the largest majority of partial wakelock on my Desire Z. Looks like I need to uninstall it.
th3 said:
I have a notification widget on the task bar to access the Testing menu since the first week which allows all those stats and more. I found about a week back that the application WorldWideTime ........... -> Uninstalled.
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- Sent via my HTC Desire -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, would you like to share please
gnocchi_ny said:
I am sad to report this but the awesome weather app J
(Palmary) is unfortunately taking up the largest majority of partial wakelock on my Desire Z. Looks like I need to uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Palmary, without the widget, as my primary weather app. I have it set to manual refresh and I have no problems at all. Unsurprisingly.
SousukeUK said:
Hi mate,
I'm no expert on Android or anything but will share what I thought partial wake option shows from my own experience.
I was using Seven to get my hotmail push to my Desire and I was getting very poor battery life from it.
when I checked via the battery history I had to select from the top drop down list "partial wake usage" and "since last unplug" from second drop list.
and it clearly showed 70% of my battery was getting used up by seven. so I uninstalled it right away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just uninstalled Seven...still in beta btw. I was using it to sync Hotmail since it syncs junk mail as well. Anyway, only found out about this wake lock stuff. Went into spare parts and saw that Seven was taking about 70% also. Charging now...hopefully this will solve my battery issues...tried everything else.
Hi
I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this. I have been monitoring my battery life closely on a stock unrooted phone. Everytime I check my battery level in the Phone status I also check the Battery use screen to see which app is currently taking up the most juice.
On two occasions, I have found apps that I closed before and are no longer in the task manager, still on the list. One was reckless getaway and the other is web. Both were closed in task manager. The first time it happened with reckless getaway, I rebooted my phone and it was gone. Now I do not want to have to reboot my phone everytime I see an app that I closed still running in the background. As for the web app, I have force stopped it and refreshed, but it is still on the list.
Can anyone advise me on how to get rid of these apps that linger on the battery use screen even though they do not appear on the task manager?
Thanks
Try juice defender app
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
These apps might start up as a service and cannot be closed via task manager. Go to settings applications running and look for it there
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
New_here said:
Hi
I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this. I have been monitoring my battery life closely on a stock unrooted phone. Everytime I check my battery level in the Phone status I also check the Battery use screen to see which app is currently taking up the most juice.
On two occasions, I have found apps that I closed before and are no longer in the task manager, still on the list. One was reckless getaway and the other is web. Both were closed in task manager. The first time it happened with reckless getaway, I rebooted my phone and it was gone. Now I do not want to have to reboot my phone everytime I see an app that I closed still running in the background. As for the web app, I have force stopped it and refreshed, but it is still on the list.
Can anyone advise me on how to get rid of these apps that linger on the battery use screen even though they do not appear on the task manager?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are on the screen because that screen reports "use percentage" and those apps used the battery. They don't necessarily have to be currently active.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Thanks.
That would explain it. If that is the case, the best way to monitor rogue apps would be to install juice defender? because the battery use screen would not be accurate since it shows all apps that used up battery life.
I recently installed two apps from the App Store both by Disney. I noticed on the Settings/Battery screen that both apps are using 21% battery when playing and 10% when not playing. When I tried to Force Stop I noticed that both kept using about 10% percent battery power. I thought that the Force Stop actually stopped the app from using the phones resources. I even tried using Advanced Task Killer which also failed to completely stop the app from consuming the system resources. The only sure why to stop them was to uninstall them, which sucks because they were fun games to play.
My question is what's the point of Force Stop if it doesn't actually stop the app and how do you stop an app from running without uninstalling?
The force stop is just like an end task in Windows.. it just kills the current task.. it does not mean stop it forever. If the app is called again it will start up again...
Now there are apps that are automatically called if the are stooped, mainly service type tasks, but there are some bad / misbehaving apps out there for sure.
This type of behavior is why taskkillers can actually cost you more battery usage, because the app is always having to start-up again and why with the current revision of Android - Gingerbread on up it is not recommend to use them.. the kernel is best at managing resources.
The main question is why is the Disney app running all them time? I'd bet it has some suspicious permission and is phoning home quite often... I wouldn't run it at all with that kind of behavior..
After you force stop those apps, are you resetting the battery list by charging to full again? Cause those percentages will still appear in the usage list even after you stopped them because that data was already collected. You'd have to start the tracking over at that point.
RogerPodacter said:
After you force stop those apps, are you resetting the battery list by charging to full again? Cause those percentages will still appear in the usage list even after you stopped them because that data was already collected. You'd have to start the tracking over at that point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, how do I start the tracking over? I have the phone at 100% charge and it's still there but instead of taking 10% now it shows 2%. I tried several times to restart the count and every time the game app comes back showing that it's using battery.
I've attached three screen shots so you can see what I'm talking about. The three screens shots are of Disneys app Temple Run: Brave. The first is just after I closed the game app, the second is after I Force Stopped the game app and the third is after charging my phone 100%, disconnecting the charger and resetting the battery status. The app starts up again and uses about 2% which I can't stop it unless I uninstall the app. It does go away if I reboot the phone itself but who wants to restart there phone just to close an app?
I also have installed another Disney game app Where's my Perry and is similar except when I restart the battery app it doesn't start up again until I play the game app.
mrtraveler said:
Thanks for the reply, how do I start the tracking over? I have the phone at 100% charge and it's still there but instead of taking 10% now it shows 2%. I tried several times to restart the count and every time the game app comes back showing that it's using battery.
I've attached three screen shots so you can see what I'm talking about. The three screens shots are of Disneys app Temple Run: Brave. The first is just after I closed the game app, the second is after I Force Stopped the game app and the third is after charging my phone 100%, disconnecting the charger and resetting the battery status. The app starts up again and uses about 2% which I can't stop it unless I uninstall the app. It does go away if I reboot the phone itself but who wants to restart there phone just to close an app?
I also have installed another Disney game app Where's my Perry and is similar except when I restart the battery app it doesn't start up again until I play the game app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm well you're pretty much doing exactly what I suggested. I don't know what that app could be doing. I'd need to see a system panel screen shot of maybe an hour or 2 collection of data monitoring to get a better idea. It must be running a service. If you go to settings, apps, running apps, does it appear there? And even after you force stop it? That list only shows running services, not activities. Does it show up there?
RogerPodacter said:
Hmmm well you're pretty much doing exactly what I suggested. I don't know what that app could be doing. I'd need to see a system panel screen shot of maybe an hour or 2 collection of data monitoring to get a better idea. It must be running a service. If you go to settings, apps, running apps, does it appear there? And even after you force stop it? That list only shows running services, not activities. Does it show up there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what's going on with the app. I've attached two more screen shots. To answer you questions No it doesn't appear to be running on the Running apps page and yes it was showing that it was Force Stopped.
Is there a way that I can collect data to see what the app is doing? Does my phone have to be rooted, bootloader unlocked, etc?
Oh by the way you've been Thanked. :good:
Ok, I have a problem. Something, and I have no idea what, is launching Gallery periodically. About five or six times I've noticed my battery being very low, and when I check the battery stats, Gallery will have used 50% or more of the battery. When I look at the stats, it might show it's been open for 8 hours or longer (I don't remember the exact breakdown of wake time, etc.) and I restarted my phone last night, so it's gone.
Last night, I finally got fed up and disabled the gallery app, but that means I lose the gallery app for those times I actually wanted to use it (versus when it's getting launched by a program, or maybe I inadvertently launch it and then launch something else and Gallery is sitting in the background chewing up battery).
Before disabling it, I tried installing advanced task killer, and I could never get it to kill any apps automatically, which included it not killing Gallery. I tried both safe and aggressive (or whatever the next setting is) and tried setting the kill frequency to screen off and every 30 minutes (or maybe it was an hour) and it never auto-killed any app.
So, any suggestions on what I can do to re-enable Gallery, but not have it periodically sitting in the background, burning battery like crazy?