Task Killer... Good or Bad?

[DaDroidDude]

I just read something on here that suggested they might be bad.
I don't know anything about the way the OS works so I'd appreciate some thoughts.

Seems pretty silly to me that we can close apps when we're done with them.
Heck, DOS apps had that ability!!

B

 

[adrynalyne]

DOS doesn't multitask

You can close them if you like, but for the most part, its not needed.

 

[titans]

Well, it depends. People who say that apps in the background don't use battery so you don't need to kill them are right, they use a extremely miniscule amount if any battery. However, if you are talking in terms of performance, task killing does help. It frees up your RAM.

 

[DaDroidDude]

So, no negative repercussions to killing an app?

 

[JCo352]

I use one without any negative repercussions.

 

[AnneDroid]

This is an argument that has been going on as long as this site has been in existence.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/32067-advanced-task-killer-apps-running.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/android-forum/40028-apps-starting-when-i-dont-want-them.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...l-discussions/40990-current-apps-running.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/te...stions/40780-closing-out-browser-windows.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/40375-how-can-you-stop-apps-auto-launching.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/40198-task-killer-app.html

Bottom line, killing off running services is a waste of time. This is not Windows and doesn't need to be treated as such. Android automatically asks apps to close that aren't needed when it needs more memory. Killing off some of the processes means it'll slow your phone down, as these processes will only need to reload.

It is also likely that you will slow your system down by running a task killer or a virus app as both install services that run continually. Android reuses objects when available to eliminate the overhead of creating new objects. Shutting down apps on your own will only interfere with your system efficiency. Hope that helps!

 

[droidberg]

I have disabled any auto-kill functions, and quit using Advanced Task Killer altogether. I keep Big Killer in my Tools folder for those times my phone is feeling sluggish, though. It definitely helps free up memory and make my Droid run smoother, and includes an uninstall function as well. I don't use it often, but again, when my phone is running slow, it absolutely helps.

Necessary, no. Handy, yes.

 

[jsh1120]

This is an argument that has been going on as long as this site has been in existence....

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/32067-advanced-task-killer-apps-running.html

Perhaps an analogy would help. Anne and many of us have said the same thing in at least 50 threads over the last six months. Would she (and the rest of us) be better off just putting her response in a notepad file and cut and paste it into threads like this? Or is it better to retype it over and over and over again?

Same logic applies to the apps people want to kill. You can kill them over and over and over or simply let the o/s get rid of them when it needs to do so. Otherwise, those apps are available (like a notepad file) to be used again without restarting them.

If you want to see what is going on with your o/s get "System Panel." Then reboot your system. When you view the System Panel report you'll see that there are some "active" applications as well as some inactive "cached" applications that begin automatically when the system is booted.

You'll see that the inactive applications use a few seconds of CPU time (i.e cycles) and then remain quiet. Some of the "active" applications also use a few seconds of CPU time and then slip into the "background." A few apps are "services;" they use a few cycles to keep track of what is going on and otherwise, they consume few cycles.

At any one time, only one or perhaps two or three apps are in the "foreground," actively using cpu cycles.

As long as you have 30+ mgs of memory available, there is no reason for the o/s to close down an app when a new app demands resources. And as long as apps are quietly sitting in the background or are in cache there is no reason to kill them. Doing so is like clearing a half filled ballroom of dancers because other dancers might want to come in and dance.

So even if a task killer isn't needed, does it do any harm? Potentially, yes. Killing an active app may cause it to leave data and cache in place that it would have otherwise cleaned up. Over time, that slows down the system. Even worse, killing a running application can make the entire system unstable.

The only reasonable justification for killing an application is that it has "gone rogue" and is using resources that the o/s needs for other purposes. But since it is difficult to determine if that is true, a much better approach is simply to restart the o/s and see if the behavior recurs. If it does, get rid of the app.

 

[DaDroidDude]

Very cool.

That was the insight that I was looking for.

Definitely would be a good idea for someone to put all of this knowledge in a pdf or downloadable file so newbies wouldn't waste your time... or theirs, for that matter.

Thanks.
B

 

[Weapondrift]

Very cool.

That was the insight that I was looking for.

Definitely would be a good idea for someone to put all of this knowledge in a pdf or downloadable file so newbies wouldn't waste your time... or theirs, for that matter.

Thanks.
B

thats what stickies are for :icon_ banana: