Qik -- Running Services - Epic 4G General

while executing the DRM battery fix on my phone, I noticed Qik always has a running process whether it's being used or not. I imagine this is how the phone is notified of a Qik call/video chat, but is there a way to keep this off? I imagine that's just one more thing draining battery.

I have not removed the DRM service, but Qik was ALWAYS self opening even after closing it.
I use Fring not QIK, so I removed it cos its useless.

I haven't really used it but once or twice, so I can't say I'm often closing the app. I don't see the app running in Task Manager, just the process running in Running Processes.
as for Fring, I don't know much about it. Why's it better?

Yeah...lots of running processes that I plan on removing after this next update. Should keep me until Froyo comes out.

Related

progams that keep running...

I have advanced task killer installed and even after I kill all apps and my phone is just sitting some programs still start up and run.
Such as sprint navigation. It always seems to be running even though i dont use it. I do have an icon for it on my home screen.
Also my visual voice mail is always running even when i have had no voicemails.
Does anyone know why these programs keep running and slowing down my phone?
I don't have the answer to your problem, but I can confirm that you are no the only person experiencing this. I have yet to use Sprint Nav since purchasing my Hero on the 11th, and it always finds a way to creep back onto my running programs list.
I've seen that Sprint Navigation opens with some apps that use GPS, it's weird and I don't understand that, but it doesn't open "on it's own" for me, just with some GPS based applications.
Hi there,
I've seen this also, through using Advanced Task Killer and Task Panel X also. Here are some of the ones I see that pop up a lot in my situation. Please note my comments after them, as sometimes they're fairly vital to keep running.
-HtcIQAgent - HTC something, leave running as negligible RAM gain if killed.
-OMADM - not sure, but think this is a system app also
-Peep - can't kill this at all without it coming back, in ATK anyway.
-Stocks - will keep coming back too, OK to kill tho
-Footprints - also OK to kill
**app.vnotes - this is Visual Voicemail, DONT kill it unless you're OK with not getting notifications!!
**Mail - default Exchange mail app, DONT kill unless you're OK with not getting notifications
**Touch Input - System app, can kill but phone feels a little sluggish if done, so I normally have this one excluded
**providers.htccdma - System app, negligible gain when killed. Leave it be.
This isn't an exhaustive list of course, but some of the apps I've commonly dealt with using both aforementioned apps.

Why are so many programs starting on their own?

I downloaded Advanced Task Killer Free, and things like Sprint Navigation, Facebook, Voice Dialer, etc, the list gets 20 programs long after about 15 minutes... this makes no sense.
Can someone who has used Android longer please explain this to me? It seems that this OS needs much more babysitting than even WM, if it's really auto-starting all this crap for no reason.
It seems like all of the applications you described are system apps that were on the phone when you got them. They may be set to automatically run. I know you wont be able to remove any of them without the phone being rooted and having su access - but i may be wrong.
When you close them, it seems like the OS is just automatically reloading them.
Careful when you kill apps, it could cause some unwanted issues.
So many of these programs have nothing to do with day-to-day operation... this is bizarre.
Does Android supposedly have built-in memory-management? IE, you exit the camera app, it eventually FORCE closes it? So far, I haven't noticed that behavior at all. That's what caused so many issues on my old WM HTC devices.
Android does have built-in memory management. It is how the OS was developed.
If you have a program running on your screen, it will use whatever amount of memory it needs in order to run it.
If the program gets pushed into the background, but is still running, it will still use the memory, even though another program is being ran using up even more memory.
Having free memory will not make the phone run any faster. Eventually the program in the background will close if not used. It will also be force closed if the system is in dire need of memory.
Android knows when it is need of memory.
There are several threads already which explain memory use if you search. Since I'm using my phone I won't go into detail but I will say that task killers are not recommended. It's much better to let Android manage the memory and processes.
My personal experience bears this out as I had a lot of strange issues like losing wireless connectivity when I was using a task killer. Now I let Android handle things and my phone runs smooth. Using a Sprint Hero with Fresh 2.1.2 ROM.
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Interesting... all my friends who use Android have task managers... Most engadget posts mention that too. Hrm... I guess I'll make sure auto-kill is disabled and just watch and see how the OS holds up.
I just got the phone this morning and was killing apps left and right. I started to get a lot of Force Close errors.
I rebooted the phone which would clear the memory anyways and I'm letting the OS handle everything now - Havent had any problems since.
good luck!
ScrapMaker said:
Interesting... all my friends who use Android have task managers... Most engadget posts mention that too. Hrm... I guess I'll make sure auto-kill is disabled and just watch and see how the OS holds up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, if you are worried about a particular program running away and have reason to believe it, sure a task manager/task killer can be handy for that one program but historically, giving people task managers on Android causes more problems than it helps. Voice Dialer is your phone app for example and at the CDMA Hero forums, we've seen the phone do some crazy things when we removed it from the phone right after we got root (turns out that thing is hooked to more than just the "making phone calls" feature).
All that said, it's quite informative to google around about android's method of memory management. It's kinda cool!
I had a hero, and it least made it through the day. The Evo is way worse. I have no idea why some things run in the background that I've never used and have no reason to be running in the background. I'm using ATK and Auto Task Manager, which kills app once your phone goes to sleep. You just have to know what apps you shouldn't be killing. As a rule of thumb, I didn't kill any native google or HTC services. I did kill all Sprint services. Following this guide as well:http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/06...attery-life-and-what-this-says-about-android/
here is why you don't really need a task killer.
with that, i can say that i do have one but, i don't have any autokill going. i only use it as a last resort to kill things if i have like multiple things producing sound at once.
Honestly I can tell you from experience, that sprint bloat wear will launch on its own all day long. Even if you set ATK or AMM to nuke it, it eventually will cost more batt. in the long run because of the system resources required to launch and kill over and over again. The only way to successfully deal with the issue is to rm the crap, which requires root.

RANDOM APPS OPEN ALL THE TIME *curses at phone*

Hello XDA, this is my first post. I've had the EVO since launch and I just installed the early rooted Froyo build when it was released but that's irrelevant because this problem was there from the start. I use Advanced Task Killer and see that random apps are opening without my prompting, things like Google Voice, Gmail, Voicemail...very annoying.
On another note I have much more available memory running this unofficial Froyo, even with these apps opening at their will, than I did originally. Thanks for that, XDA.
Since you're rooted, you have two options that I know of.
Download Titanium backup and when you click on the backup/restore tab, you can click on the apps that frequently pop-up in ATK (e.g., voice dialer) and chose to freeze them. This will render the app inoperable. If you have any functional problems you can simply defrost it.
If you find that you're frozen apps are not causing any problems and you don't use them, you can then uninstall them with root explorer (or another file explore with root access).
I have Titanium Backup and didn't know I could do this, thank you very much. is there any way I could stop the apps from opening without rendering them useless?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Get Autostarts. Configure it.
If I download Autostarts, will it stop my apps from opening by themselves even if I use them occasionally?
I know StartupAuditor does, but its a paid app...
Negrito said:
I know StartupAuditor does, but its a paid app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose I'll go for that then
Some of the apps need to be running in order to work as they should. Unless and app is chewing up a lot of CPU you won't notice a drain on the system. A lot of these apps have services that are running constantly so they can poll the system for updates in state, say like receiving a text, call or email. Likely many of the apps are set to auto-refresh so they have to start every so often to complete a task.
ITS FINEEE!!!!
Ok, I am pretty good with computers and electronics but not so much on Android.
But I have done research from people who do know android, and will tell you what to do.
1. Don't use a task killer!!
2. Android is based off of Linux OS.
3. When you turn your phone on and launch Advanced task killer, all of your apps will most likely be "opened" however they are not running.
4. The way the OS works is by technically having all of those apps opened, but they are most likely not wasting CPU or battery, so don't worry about them, thats the way everyone's android device works.
5. Using a task killer is bad, because when you shut down the apps, eventually you will get a lot of force closes, because apps that were supposed to be open were closed and their for not running the way they should.
6. Apparently the OS runs better with more apps open, however its not like windows mobile where if you have 3 apps running at once, it will make the phone slower. Android is designed to have all apps "opened" Again it does not mean they are running.
However,
If you notice that a certain app is hogging CPU or causing poor battery life, delete it, but if you really need the app, then you can use the task killer to kill that app.
And no if used a task killer, your phone will not be ruined or anything.
Hope this helps.
agreed, don't use a task killer, they are essentially useless and just end up causing problems on the evo
What your seeing is most likely the app 'process' so it will actually work correctly.

[Q] Why do apps keep popping up in my "Advanced Task Killer"?

I don't know if this is an issue with android.. or galaxy s... or "Advanced Task Killer".... but apps keep popping up after i "Kill" them....
when i say apps pop up... i mean random apps that i have not touched...
for example I never touched the Visual Voicemail as i don't have use for it.. and amazong mp3.. the list just keeps going ...
i don't know why it keeps reloading after i "kill" them..i did google this problem and could not find any one else complaining... maybe i didn't do a good job of searching... this is wayy too frustrating
is there a "Fix" for this?
well first you shouldn't be using a task killer. Second they show up there because some apps run in the background occasionally without you even opening them.
Because the apps are doing stuff and you keep killing them so they restart. Stop using a task killer and let android handle the running programs like google programmed the os to do. The google programmers are really talented I promise.
As said above. Apps auto run in background. Android deals with this efficiently, best not to use a task killer
Don't use task killers.
It's really that simple.
Task killer is a no no for Phones with 128+ RAM
Most stuff needn't be killed, but T-Mobile includes some bloatware that has absolutely no right to be running at all, much less all the time (hi, daily briefing). The "don't use a task manager" meme is fine for a stock android phone where presumably you're only installing things that you actually want to use, but when you buy a branded phone you really *don't* want the carrier garbage running all the time. At best, it sits around doing nothing until Android kills it on its own, but at worst it can drain your battery life and cause instability.
The only surefire solution I've found is to actually remove the offending bloatware using root explorer or titanium backup.
^^TL;DR Remove bloat, don't use a task killer.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Ok, I'll ask if no one else will, why not run a task killer? What is the downside?
There are any number of applications on the phone that I literally never use like Amazon MP3, Slacker, and Visual Voicemail, why would I want to leave those running when I have no use for them, and there is an easy way to kill them off when they spawn themselves?
lmlloyd said:
Ok, I'll ask if no one else will, why not run a task killer? What is the downside?
There are any number of applications on the phone that I literally never use like Amazon MP3, Slacker, and Visual Voicemail, why would I want to leave those running when I have no use for them, and there is an easy way to kill them off when they spawn themselves?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its ok to use Task Killers for occasionally stopping apps that are giving you issues (running slowly, frozen). The problem with using Task Killers is that it can make your system unstable, it can mess up widgets, and Android doesn't really need it. Android will close apps on its own when it needs more memory . Most apps, if programed correctly, will use little to no battery power when idle in the background. It can take more battery power to start up an app again rather than opening it from idle.
lmlloyd said:
Ok, I'll ask if no one else will, why not run a task killer? What is the downside?
There are any number of applications on the phone that I literally never use like Amazon MP3, Slacker, and Visual Voicemail, why would I want to leave those running when I have no use for them, and there is an easy way to kill them off when they spawn themselves?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We're finding more and more that on higher end phones, such as the Vibrant, when a task killer is running the Android OS isn't being allowed to control the apps to it's full potential and some of the task killers are causing problems. After we remove the task killers, problems can occasionally be resolved. Not always, it's just something we're seeing. At least in my store and when I can in to support.
Because when an app is running in the background, it uses practically no battery. Most of the time it is not using any processor clock cycles just taking up some ram space. You don't have to worry about the ram being used because android will automatically end apps when it needs more ram. A lot of the time, ending an app via task killers will actually slow the phone down because when you go to open the app again it has to totally reopen rather than just awake from an idle state. Android 2.2 is even better at managing background tasks and running a task killer will almost guarantee a slower phone.
Read 4 post down.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Smart Bars not a bad one that you can start up and kill a task that wont exit out. However i wouldn't use it to "free up RAM"
When you start up the phone on stock rom w/ all the bloatware you have like 20+ random apps already running by default. If you ran a quadrant test now your score wouldn't be as high as if you killed all those apps then did the test. I went from 1900 to 2250 by killing all the apps. Not a huge difference but personally I don't like things like Slacker or GoGo running in the background when I never use them.
I don't like using task killers though, I just wish all these stupid apps wouldn't start when the phone is booted up. It can really make the phone slower. Killing all apps + lagfix means load times are almost non existant. Having all those apps running + lagfix means you will get some stutters in load times.
Task killers often show cached apps. They are not running just on stand by until you open them.
Sent from the best phone from TMO... Vibrant
There is an app called "Start Up Auditor" It disables any app you want (yes including the bloatware) Form starting up when you boot up and randomly while the phone is on.
For example I have all my bloatware that I don't want set to do not start at boot up unless I physically choose to open that app.
Better than any task killer out there. So you NEVER have to worry about the bloatware other than it taking up some memory.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
That's really the best explanation right there. It explains just why Android does what it does.
Sorry, no tl;dr for the lazy.
I had my task killer on auto kill cuz i was frustrated..... but i'm gonna go download that "Star up Auditor"... sounds like the most efficient way... since i actually do use Slacker..
anyhow..thanks alot guys for the suggestions..

Apps Starting Randomly After 2.2 Push

Ok, I use the Advanced Task Killer by Rechild.
Before the update a few apps would show up that I'm sure I started using various things.
After the update I'm getting apps on the 'kill' list that I never got before. Things that just keep starting by themselves like The Weather Channel for example. I have never had that come up until I pushed the update today.
Does not seem like a prudent way to conserve battery life as they advertise.. or am I insane?
for me, skype mobile always starts up by itself.
Me too. I'm getting Skype and the market every couple of minutes. I have noticed an improvement by uninstalling ATK and reinstalling it. Clears out your ignore list though when you do that. I want Skype off my phone. Period. I don't like it and won't use it. I'm not rooted and no plans to do so either.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
With root, I moved Skype, CityID and a few other apps I don't plan on ever using out of the way and they are no longer an issue. Simply don't exist.
Took all of about 10 mins to locate, select and move them.
Not sure what the phobia is about rooting the device. Simply makes doing something possible and others easier.
I've also noticed a lot of different apps starting up on task killer after 2.2 ota. For the several months I ran 2.1 and task killer (with mostly the same apps) I never saw them start up randomly like this.
krelvinaz said:
With root, I moved Skype, CityID and a few other apps I don't plan on ever using out of the way and they are no longer an issue. Simply don't exist.
Took all of about 10 mins to locate, select and move them.
Not sure what the phobia is about rooting the device. Simply makes doing something possible and others easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already did the 2.2 update (unrooted before) and now am looking forward to when a stock 2.2 device can be rooted so I can do these things. I didn't have a phobia prior to, I just didn't have the need. Now, with the Skype and VZN and all the other crap that came with VZWs 2.2, I want it to get rid of it.
Can't wait til 2.2 is rooted...
Personally I do not use a task killer because Android alone does an amazing job of allocating memory. Also, I believe that Google gimped most of the task killers powers in Android 2.2. Here is a good read from the Google devs and their view on running apps.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
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