Known bad apps??

[rlb]

Does anyone know of a list of bad or problem apps? I'm having some strange issues with my phone (lots of lag opening marketplace and text messages, occasionally need to re-start phone for GPS to work) and I was wondering if they could be caused by a bad app.

 

[Abe21599]

well what all apps have u dl'ed recently to cause this

 

[rlb]

Nothing new lately, but updates come frequently so there could be a bad one in there somewhere in theory.

 

[Abe21599]

just read the reviews. usually the ones with a lot of downloads and a good rating will be fine. on the other hand, some apps might be written poorly and therefore consume your batters.

you can always check out androlib to see what people are saying about certain ones

and a task killer might be to blame (people are both ways on this just so u know)

 

[rlb]

I use Advanced Task Killer (been using it since day 1) to kill big processes (browser, maps, pandora, etc). I have all of the core processes ignored so they keep running. I went without it for a month or so and the phone was worse without it.

I'm not sure why some people say that task killers are practically spyware. What's the harm if you're not killing the core processes that constantly restart themselves?

 

[LifeIsABeach]

Anti-virus apps have been known to slow down the phone and are unnecessary since there are currently no known Android viruses.

 

[67Camaro]

I have been having the same problem. My phone is lagging on text messaging and such and idk whats causing it but its driving me crazy!

 

[jsh1120]

Unfortunately, while the logic of identifying problems by looking at the last installed app makes sense, it fails to take into account the interaction among apps. In other words, it's not the "last installed" app that is causing problems, it is the fact that the addition of that app triggers another app to cause a problem. And even more unfortunately, there's never an end to these potential interaction problems, especially if you have a large number of apps on your phone.

I suspect that many of the reported problems stem from contention for resources among apps, not from faults in individual apps.

In view of that possibility, one of the more useful apps I've found is SystemPanel. It's a task killer, but that's not its most useful feature. Instead, it's useful for identifying overall performance issues through a UI that is significantly better than others.

Here are some things to look for:

() Check the real time cpu cycles graph. If it's pegged near 100% or routinely returns to 100%, your system is close to "thrashing," (i.e. the o/s is working too hard trying to allocate resources among application demands.

() Check amount of available memory. If you're running at 20mg or less, your o/s may be spending time trying to find space for application demands. If you're over 30 mgs, that's not your problem.

() Don't worry about "inactive" apps unless you have very little available memory. They're not consuming cpu cycles. But if you have very little available memory, try killing inactive apps and see if your performance improves. If it does, think about deleting some unneeded apps that take up space.

() Pay attention to the email you're saving. In addition to deleting email, try deleting cache and data from the app's settings. If you're using K-9, "expunge" old email messages you don't want to keep.

() Pay attention to "synching" of your apps. If you have a news reader, for example, stop having it update its feeds every 15 minutes. Update only when you read the feed. It takes only a few seconds to get the latest stories and you won't have the system downloading stories you may never read.

() If you must have real-time notification of lots of things, e.g. messages, facebook updates, twitter updates, news feeds, etc. etc. etc. recognize that such updates will affect the performance of your phone in unpredictable ways. Your system (like your mother) can't do everything at once. If you demand that it show you a YouTube video while it's checking for facebook updates, one or the other app is going to suffer.

() Reboot (power cycle) your phone on a regular basis. I generally do so every morning. Apps may hang; apps may be killed off in an unstable state (if you insist on using a task killer); and s**t accumulates. Give your system a cup of coffee by letting it reboot once in awhile.

 

[rlb]

Thanks for the ideas jsh1120, makes a lot of sense. I installed system panel and it looks pretty robust. I'll see if I can spot anything over the next few days.

 

[67Camaro]

"Check amount of available memory. If you're running at 20mg or less, your o/s may be spending time trying to find space for application demands. If you're over 30 mgs, that's not your problem"

Mine says I have 81% used and 19% free, yet says i have 41.9M available. Is this a possible cause for lagging and if so, How should I fix? Should I just move more files to the SD?

 

[tmaas77572]

Verizon recently told me to remove Task Killer. Supposedly task killer cancels required modules, causing your phone to lag out and act weird in general. They recommended I spend the $1 and get Task Manager. Ever since, my phone has been running like a champ. No lag, no reboots, no problems at all.