Database Users

Why do Leo's programs only minimise on exit?

What's that about?
I've never used Task Manager so much in my life.
I'm not sure the thinking behind this.

Get the TouchX Taskmanager off this thread...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4947950&postcount=1
Then, on the home tab, drop down the task manager (top right corner) and you can change the options (wrench) so that apps close when you click X. It also gives you a dropdown list of running apps so you can switch between them.
Hope this helps

Thanks John.
It still leaves me baffled though at the choice of doing things the way HTC have done. Surely there's going to be many consumer out there that don't even know what a Task Manager is, who will be running slow phones with no idea why.
Or maybe they all bought an iPhone.

See Here

CHIP STAXMAN said:
Thanks John.
It still leaves me baffled though at the choice of doing things the way HTC have done. Surely there's going to be many consumer out there that don't even know what a Task Manager is, who will be running slow phones with no idea why.
Or maybe they all bought an iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also get Microsoft's perspective on this Here
This is not an HTC issue- PPC and WinMo have always minimised apps by default unless the application itself has a Menu/Quit routine.
HTC have previously utilised their own Task Manager, which for some reason they didn't include in the HD2 hence the need for external apps such as JCM suggested. Maybe they thought 200MB was ample- compared to the 16MB of the early PPC devices?
In general I've not encountered any slowdowns, but I tend not to use many apps that stay memory resident.

If you press and hold the X, instead of just tapping it, it will properly close the program. That option is within the Task Manager on the phone, in the settings of the phone.

madindehead said:
If you press and hold the X, instead of just tapping it, it will properly close the program. That option is within the Task Manager on the phone, in the settings of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't find this option on my brother's HD2 (T-Mobile). I've seen it on all previous devices that I've add.
Will have to try the other suggestions here.

Yep, in my T-Mobile UK build I can only access the SENSE settings and not the windows mobile settings that allows you to change taskbar settings.
Grrr

That's because the task manager button in the home page was removed for this version of Sense. Literally the first thing I did when I got the phone was to find out how to add that back.
I personally think it's a stupid idea, so I'm glad for this wonderful resource that we know as xda!

Dang was hoping for a registry setting,
Any idea how turn turn on windows settings only?

CHIP STAXMAN said:
Thanks John.
It still leaves me baffled though at the choice of doing things the way HTC have done. Surely there's going to be many consumer out there that don't even know what a Task Manager is, who will be running slow phones with no idea why.
Or maybe they all bought an iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the programs already cached in memory allows faster access with successive uses. windows mobile automatically closes background programs should available memory get too low.
There are many threads on this site about increasing available memory on devices to increase speed, but many of the ideas are counter productive, because best speed is obtained when items are preloaded into memory. this is why there is great performance boost by increasing file system cache and glyth cache ect. but this comes at a memory cost
Slow device will only occur when memory runs out, this is pretty rare on modern phones (Touch pro and onwards) especially when using WM 6.5.
Remember, you have paid for that memory in your phone, so make sure to use it and not leave it empty so you can look at your task manager and see 50% free just to think it makes your phone quicker

rumpleforeskin said:
Remember, you have paid for that memory in your phone, so make sure to use it and not leave it empty so you can look at your task manager and see 50% free just to think it makes your phone quicker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good points rumple.
It's all those years of Windows use that have made me believe that killing processes is the cure for most evils. I'll have to retrain my thinking.

Do minimized programs use much battery?

qweac said:
Do minimized programs use much battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on the program. If it's one that only does things when you interact with it (press buttons, scroll stuff etc.) then no. If it does other things then it may well do, but it obviously varies greatly and depends what it does.

New to android...taskmanager??

This is obvioulsy my first android device and although cool. its a lot to get use too. I am used to having a taskmanager to close any open applications or ones running in the background. How do you to that with the Droid X? Everytime i opened an app, i just hit the home button and assume it closed. How do you close a program or an running app? Sorry if its a dumb question

You can download an app manager from the market. However, you probably don't even need to worry about that since the processor can more than likely handle the open apps. The android os is pretty good at managing your apps for you. Some people even say that the app manager messes the phone up.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

thank you...i'll just keep it the way it is then and assume the app closes when i exit to the home screen.
Another question for all the Droid X users. Is there a way to remove that little green droid that give you tips on the home screen. He is as annoying as the paperclip dude in microsoft word

nevermind...i just had to drag it down into the waste basket. i did try it before, must just not have draged it far enought donw before

Just to tell you, btw, apps in Android are notified when they get minimized so they can release resources. So say you're in a game, and you hit home, the game knows that you aren't playing anymore, so it's not just sitting on the menu eating resources.

microdot said:
nevermind...i just had to drag it down into the waste basket. i did try it before, must just not have draged it far enought donw before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All that does is remove it from the home screen, it doesn't kill the app.

nindoja said:
All that does is remove it from the home screen, it doesn't kill the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i understand, i just wanted to have it off the homescreen....maybe replace it with a nice digital clock widget.

Another winmo convert like myself? Just laughing as this is what I was doing all day yesterday.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Two recommended Task Managers are TasKiller (I use) and ATK / Advanced Task Killer (my wife uses). Both are spoken highly of around here.

x.v_ said:
Just to tell you, btw, apps in Android are notified when they get minimized so they can release resources. So say you're in a game, and you hit home, the game knows that you aren't playing anymore, so it's not just sitting on the menu eating resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry so are you saying that android automaticaly kills the program when you exit out or say hit home? If so is apps like taskkillers really necessary and why do people have them?

No, task killers aren't necessary, and generally people only have them because they don't know any better. Having loads of free memory will do nothing to increase your performance because most apps don't require much, and the very reason Android keeps them in memory is to reduce loading times. Unused RAM is wasted RAM. Android will automatically kill old tasks if it needs to free up memory, so trying to micromanage and preemptively kill tasks yourself is a waste of time and will only make your experience worse. Poorly designed "automatic" task killers from the Market can even decrease your battery performance, so be wary.

I may fall into the "don't know any better" crowd since this is my first android phone, but I'd had the voice recognition app lock up on me a few times and using the task killer to end the app and restart it was the only way I could get it running again.
Unless you have any way I could have done that, it seems to me that task killer has its uses.

You can kill tasks and services from stock Android's Applications menu under Settings.

microdot said:
Sorry so are you saying that android automaticaly kills the program when you exit out or say hit home? If so is apps like taskkillers really necessary and why do people have them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because whoever builds the ROMs for these phones thinks that having built in apps you never use running in the background is a good idea.
DroidX for instance launches a whole bunch of apps on boot you are not using, no need to have them tying up memory.
Even some relaunch themselves in the background when other apps are opened.
So to answer your question, the default ROMs that ship with the phones are generally sloppy. You dont NEED a task killer but it helps speed up the device.
Its like getting a cheap HP or Dell computer from Best Buy, they load it up with some much crap you have to re-image or uninstall all the software you dont need.
You can't unfortunately uninstall the programs that are locked by the ROM.

The only app manager I use is System Panel from the Market. I only used it before on my Eris to monitor memory and battery life. I use it on my X now for informational purposes, because the X is so much faster than the Eris was, which I loved by the way.
Tl;dr its good for monitoring, but above posters are right, mostly unnecessary.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

[Q] How to temporary turn off Sense to maximize resources

Hi
I know I can use Senseless version (like CM or Excelsiors non-Sense) but the question is:
How to temporary remove all processes of Sense UI while running Launcher Pro (in Sense Android version) ?
Switching to Launcher Pro (or ADW) can be done by using any ClearHome tool) but I expect there are some kind of background services or other parts of Sense present in memory. Are this parts so small we can just ignore (limited influence) them or one shoud kill it by ATK or "by hand" ?
I like to have both UI - Sense (for great dialer) and Launcher Pro for speed of UI.
ML

lemar123 said:
Hi
I know I can use Senseless version (like CM or Excelsiors non-Sense) but the question is:
How to temporary remove all processes of Sense UI while running Launcher Pro (in Sense Android version) ?
Switching to Launcher Pro (or ADW) can be done by using any ClearHome tool) but I expect there are some kind of background services or other parts of Sense present in memory. Are this parts so small we can just ignore (limited influence) them or one shoud kill it by ATK or "by hand" ?
I like to have both UI - Sense (for great dialer) and Launcher Pro for speed of UI.
ML
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple answer, you cant. On android sense is not like winmo were its just a skin. Sense is embeded in the adroid framework.
If you wanna remove sense stuff you dont need you cann delete them from system/app, but be careful. some things require others to work.
P.S. ATK doesnt actually "kill" anything in android 2.2, in fact it hurts androids true multi tasking.

Pondered this question time and again. I don't want to use senseless rom because i'll lose fm radio.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

MvP77 said:
Simple answer, you cant. On android sense is not like winmo were its just a skin. Sense is embeded in the adroid framework.
If you wanna remove sense stuff you dont need you cann delete them from system/app, but be careful. some things require others to work.
P.S. ATK doesnt actually "kill" anything in android 2.2, in fact it hurts androids true multi tasking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree re:ATK. Android in itself is very good at multitasking, but it doesn't account for badly written programs! As long as you set up ATK properly with a sufficient ignore list to prevent it harming performance, it's great. For me it gives me much better battery life!

if you start disabling sense apps in atk you will end up with a thousand and one fc's maybe even a freeze

once upon a time someone on a slide dev forum or g1 forum made a list of the different sense apps that are required to run with what. find that list and you're golden

jonboyuk said:
I disagree re:ATK. Android in itself is very good at multitasking, but it doesn't account for badly written programs! As long as you set up ATK properly with a sufficient ignore list to prevent it harming performance, it's great. For me it gives me much better battery life!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not in android 2,2. Task killers do not work. Even the creator of ATK and the other most popular task manager Advance task killer have stated it. Your better of using an app like Auto Killer ( http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.rs.autokiller ). It tweaks android internal task manager.
AutoKiller is an award winner minfree tweaker, it fine tunes android's inner memory manager to keep your device fast and lowers battery consumption. Also includes a manual process/service manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are a couple articles about why you dont need them in android 2.2
FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/
Froyo update kills Android task killer apps
http://androinica.com/2010/08/09/froyo-update-kills-android-task-killer-apps/
Task killers have long been a crutch for users to forcefully shut down applications and “free up memory” to conserve battery life and space. However, that’s a common misconception buoyed by old Android flaws and the power of the placebo effect. Task killers actually get in the way of Android handling memory management as intended. We’ve already written an article on why you should not be using a task killer, so read that post for more information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google and Cyanogen comments imply task killer/manager apps are pointless
http://androinica.com/2010/05/07/go...-imply-task-killermanager-apps-are-pointless/
However, developers of task killing apps are of a different opinion. Arron La, developer of Advance Task Manager, suggests that task killers are more important for legacy devices like the G1 and phones running older versions of Android.
“Task Managers were absolutely needed in the past before the new services UI came out in Android 2.0 or 2.1,” La said in an e-mail. “Task Managers had a niche of allowing users to quickly kill services associated with apps – including all the other stuff as well, such as alarms – but that was the only way to do it before the introduction of the new services UI.”
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

@MvP77
Thank you very much for detailed info.

Advanced task Pro

Anyone know which advance task killer is better?
Advanced Task Killer Pro by reChild or Advanced Task Manager Pro by Infolife.
Thanks.

akoni1p said:
Anyone know which advance task killer is better?
Advanced Task Killer Pro by reChild or Advanced Task Manager Pro by Infolife.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure either will drain your battery like a mofo. I wouldn't recommend running a task killer at all.

This is one of the most persisting myths about android that you need a task killer. Maybe it was useful with 1.5 or 1.6 but with 2.2 and higher it is waste.

The best on it the one that you don't use. But if for some reason you feel compelled to kill a task, use the one built into android: Menu > Manage Apps.

I would recommend reading the thread 'android memory management' before using any task killer. Link to it is in my signature.

diablo009 said:
I would recommend reading the thread 'android memory management' before using any task killer. Link to it is in my signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I still don't understand is why Motorola integrated a task killer in Blur. I get now always this annoying popups that google voice uses battery etc even though I have not one application in the auto kill folder.

mgymnop said:
What I still don't understand is why Motorola integrated a task killer in Blur. I get now always this annoying popups that google voice uses battery etc even though I have not one application in the auto kill folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! That's the point. If an application uses too much battery when phone is in sleep it pops this up. Esp useful when u r sleeping. Add the app to auto-kill list, and if it realizes it as a memory hog, it will auto-kill it.
I was logged in into gvoice the other day and there was a heavy messages transfer in n out, and that is when the popped up the message. I added it to auto-kill list, and started to save a ton of battery. When I wake up in the morning, I see it starting to work again. I am not sure how this killing/starting takes place, but its saving me a ton of battery esp at nights.
Edit: U can always freeze this in TiBu.

I'm no expert in android but I sell cellphones. When people have problems on android they like to come in and complain. I find a task killer on most of the buggy phones. The customer usually admits that they kill tasks several times per day. It's not exactly scientific, but I'd say there is a correlation between task killing and buggy phones.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

[Q] AutoKiller Memory Optimizer

seems it will automatically kill my Sense UI and i need time to reload it again after quitting the app, may i ask if any one know how to prevent this? i have set the lower oom but it say this setting cant last long..
BTW it kills my alarm also..
pls suggest some task killing software in which u think is gd..thanksss!

wa_xda said:
seems it will automatically kill my Sense UI and i need time to reload it again after quitting the app, may i ask if any one know how to prevent this? i have set the lower oom but it say this setting cant last long..
BTW it kills my alarm also..
pls suggest some task killing software in which u think is gd..thanksss!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a reason you need a task killer?
Most of these are unnecessary. My understanding is that Linux uses memory different than windows and it is not necessary to kill background processes. Those apps are not using system resources, they load but generally do not use additional memory or cpu until they are needed to do something. Every time your phone has to process to kill stuff off you are using the processor, battery and resources and often android will releoad them anyways.
From my experience, I get more speed and bang for the buck by just turning off window animations.
But I could be wrong, lol, your mileage may vary..................

cyberstoic said:
Is there a reason you need a task killer?
Most of these are unnecessary. My understanding is that Linux uses memory different than windows and it is not necessary to kill background processes. Those apps are not using system resources, they load but generally do not use additional memory or cpu until they are needed to do something. Every time your phone has to process to kill stuff off you are using the processor, battery and resources and often android will releoad them anyways.
From my experience, I get more speed and bang for the buck by just turning off window animations.
But I could be wrong, lol, your mileage may vary..................
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue is that some apps, even when not actively being used by the user, will continue to utilize system resources. However, there are several arguments all over these forums that task killer's typically do more harm than good. I still use "Advanced Task Killer" though.

you might like to read this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622666

wingsaba said:
you might like to read this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622666
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link; that was very useful info, reading it now.

DonJuan692006 said:
The issue is that some apps, even when not actively being used by the user, will continue to utilize system resources. However, there are several arguments all over these forums that task killer's typically do more harm than good. I still use "Advanced Task Killer" though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to use advanced task killer for a awhile. Don't know if it was my obsessive nature checking the thing or just the program, but battery life was a bit poor, lol. In the end I just gave up and stopped using it.

I don't like task killers.
Its saves memory but increases CPU usage.

after making these changes my phone is flying. good find!

dedraks said:
I don't like task killers.
Its saves memory but increases CPU usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, indeed...

alarm fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12043283#post12043283

http://www.dustypixels.com/blog/2010/02/01/android-app-minfreemanager-v1-5/