Advanced Task Killer

[unholy2012]

First time to post here, so please forgive whatever mistakes I may make.

About a month or so ago I got a Motorola Droid at the same time as my step father. He asked around a lot about what to with it, and one of the first responses he got was to use Advanced Task Killer. I went ahead and got it too, figuring it couldn't hurt. I've looked online a lot about the Droid since them, and it seems most people don't like Task Killers, saying the Droid can handle memory by it self. My biggest concern is the battery and being notified on time. With the task killer my phone is usually around 20-45% battery, going from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed without charging at all. I don't run a lot of apps, around 10 or 11 total downloaded from the market. About half are just useful (wheres my droid, droidlight, etc...) and the other half are entertaining stuff (paper toss, airhorn, 4 in a row, etc...). I don't use autokill, but whenever I put my phone back in my pocket always open Advanced Task Killer and kill every single app so nothing is running when I put it into sleep mode. Whenever I get a text or email though, it still seems to alert me on time and the app begins running itself, and about 30 seconds after going into sleep mode random apps such a Google Voice begin to to turn themselves on, some within a minute others taking over 2 hours to turn on.

One of the apps I have downloaded is Pandora Radio. I understand that it is a huge battery waster, and even though I don't use it very often (maybe 1.5-2 hours a week) I'm afraid that if I run it, listen to a couple songs, hit the pause song button, go to my home, then put it into sleep mode it will keep using battery.

What I'd like to know is, with any given app, if when I'm done with it will it stop using my battery, or should I continue to use Advanced Task Killer?

(Yes, I searched the forums and most of the stuff I found lasted about 5 posts of everyone saying not to use, then some posts sayings its great, then a massive arguement. I'd just like to know if opening an app, then hitting home (after pausing the song in Pandora, or turning off the LED in droidlight, etc) will have any adverse effects on my battery.

 

[JoeJxn]

In my thread about battery problems in the Moto Droid forum, someone said to stop killing tasks because it'll just waste more battery to keep killing them and opening them than it would to just keep them running in the background. So I'm trying that.

 

[unholy2012]

I just had another idea. If I were to keep Advanced Task Killer installed, turn my droid off and then back on so all "neccesary" apps were running, choose to exclude them so I want ever kill them when I hit the kill apps button, then continue to use ATK the way I have beem, so it just kills apps from the market that aren't needed unless im using them, would that have any adverse effects or would I just being doing good to my phone?

 

[Phreaker47]

I'll just say that I used ATK for the first month I had the phone, and implemented the "auto kill on sleep" feature when that was added. Recently I uninstalled the app just to see if there was a noticeable difference in battery life, performance, etc... and you know what? Didn't notice a thing. So I'm leaving it off.

 

[takeshi]

Task Killers aren't going to help battery life except in unusual situations where problem apps are running and eating up your battery. Even so, you're Band-Aiding the issue rather than addressing it.

Remove it and try running without it for a while.

 

[New2u]

Task Killers aren't going to help battery life except in unusual situations where problem apps are running and eating up your battery. Even so, you're Band-Aiding the issue rather than addressing it.

Remove it and try running without it for a while.

If that app is the browser, you can't really band-aid it. I have ATK installed but only for when i need it, most of the time everything runs just fine, i don't have it auto-kill anything, and i don't keep the ATK running. Everything has worked fine, and i've never had a problem. There are times where a program will just more or less freeze, and instead of restarting my phone i just kill it. Though as time has progressed since I installed it, i have found that the programs written are much better and i've not needed it really that much.

 

[jsh1120]

The discussion of task killers will apparently never ever ever end. I suspect that's in part because so many new users are told by sales folk at Verizon to install the d**n things.

So let me suggest an alternative. Rather than ATK or its many brethren, install "SystemPanel" from the Market and allow it to monitor your phone for awhile.

SystemPanel can function as a task killer. Whenever you want to kill a particular task you can. But that's not its major value. Rather it provides a very good "window" into the way your phone is functioning.

For example, when you first boot your phone, click on the SystemPanel icon in the notification menu. You'll notice (if you have a lot of apps) that at first many of them are "running." After a few minutes, many of those apps will be in the "inactive" category after running for a few seconds. They'll still be "in memory" but they won't affect either your phone's performance or its battery life.

If you do absolutely nothing other than use your phone you'll find after awhile that most of those "inactive" apps disappear from memory. That's because they were swapped out automatically by the o/s as it needed more memory for other functions.

And throughout this entire cycle you'll find that your "free memory" will vary somewhat. (On my phone the free memory goes from about 35 to 55 megs.) Nothing you do will affect that very much. (Well, that's not strictly true. If you fail to clear cache from your email and messaging apps and use them a lot you'll eventually hit a "low memory" situation.)

I literally NEVER kill any apps. My battery life is unaffected. Nor is the performance of my phone. From time to time I fail to exit a particular application normally and notice that it's still running (i.e. still "active") when I check SystemPanel. Then I open it again and close it properly.

As for apps that drain the battery, Pandora is not a battery killer. I've run it for hours at a time without significantly greater battery drain than not running it.

What DOES drain your battery is looking at the screen (for any reason). If you have GPS turned on for navigation, ditto. And if you insist on checking for email, facebook updates, news and weather, etc. every few minutes, you will drain your battery, especially if your phone has trouble getting either a 3G or WiFi signal and you insist that it keep trying to do so.

 

[Darkseider]

The discussion of task killers will apparently never ever ever end. I suspect that's in part because so many new users are told by sales folk at Verizon to install the d**n things.

So let me suggest an alternative. Rather than ATK or its many brethren, install "SystemPanel" from the Market and allow it to monitor your phone for awhile.

SystemPanel can function as a task killer. Whenever you want to kill a particular task you can. But that's not its major value. Rather it provides a very good "window" into the way your phone is functioning.

For example, when you first boot your phone, click on the SystemPanel icon in the notification menu. You'll notice (if you have a lot of apps) that at first many of them are "running." After a few minutes, many of those apps will be in the "inactive" category after running for a few seconds. They'll still be "in memory" but they won't affect either your phone's performance or its battery life.

If you do absolutely nothing other than use your phone you'll find after awhile that most of those "inactive" apps disappear from memory. That's because they were swapped out automatically by the o/s as it needed more memory for other functions.

And throughout this entire cycle you'll find that your "free memory" will vary somewhat. (On my phone the free memory goes from about 35 to 55 megs.) Nothing you do will affect that very much. (Well, that's not strictly true. If you fail to clear cache from your email and messaging apps and use them a lot you'll eventually hit a "low memory" situation.)

I literally NEVER kill any apps. My battery life is unaffected. Nor is the performance of my phone. From time to time I fail to exit a particular application normally and notice that it's still running (i.e. still "active") when I check SystemPanel. Then I open it again and close it properly.

As for apps that drain the battery, Pandora is not a battery killer. I've run it for hours at a time without significantly greater battery drain than not running it.

What DOES drain your battery is looking at the screen (for any reason). If you have GPS turned on for navigation, ditto. And if you insist on checking for email, facebook updates, news and weather, etc. every few minutes, you will drain your battery, especially if your phone has trouble getting either a 3G or WiFi signal and you insist that it keep trying to do so.

THIS! For once I agree in full with the Curmudgeon. Although he is more like a scalpel when describing things. Me I am more the sledgehammer. I would have just said "Remove it! BURN IT WITH FIRE! Task Killers BAD!" Sometimes that works but having a reason why you need to BURN IT WITH FIRE!!! is needed. I couldn't agree more though. If you search the forums there have been endless posts with many of us repeating the mantra that task killers are not needed at all.

 

[Shadez]

Been using ATK since I got my phone... and I dont care what other people say, it helps. At least for me, and Im not rooted.. so, I guess it all depends on your perspective..

 

[jsh1120]

THIS! For once I agree in full with the Curmudgeon. Although he is more like a scalpel when describing things. Me I am more the sledgehammer. I would have just said "Remove it! BURN IT WITH FIRE! Task Killers BAD!" Sometimes that works but having a reason why you need to BURN IT WITH FIRE!!! is needed. I couldn't agree more though. If you search the forums there have been endless posts with many of us repeating the mantra that task killers are not needed at all.

Thanks for the kind words, buddy. I think one of the main reasons that this topic never seems to die is that the Droid doesn't provide much if any view into the operation of the phone in a fashion that an average user can understand. And apps that do nothing but take a snapshot of processes "in memory" provide a highly misleading view of what is going on.

That sort of gross characterization of the phone's functioning tends to fuel discussions of this sort. I've found that SystemPanel provides a wealth of information on an ongoing basis that can be a great resource for understanding how the android o/s works in a form almost anyone can understand even if they're not a hacker.

 

[Darkseider]

Been using ATK since I got my phone... and I dont care what other people say, it helps. At least for me, and Im not rooted.. so, I guess it all depends on your perspective..

I am willing to bet the improvement is either perceived and not real OR you have some apps installed that aren't playing nice. I have tested damned near every one of them and every time performance was either the same as without as it was without it or worse.

 

[Shadez]

Been using ATK since I got my phone... and I dont care what other people say, it helps. At least for me, and Im not rooted.. so, I guess it all depends on your perspective..

I am willing to bet the improvement is either perceived and not real OR you have some apps installed that aren't playing nice. I have tested damned near every one of them and every time performance was either the same as without as it was without it or worse.

Ya'd think that wouldnt ya.. but no, its not perceived, and I didnt do any test on it, just easy to tell. Yea, android closes apps when it needs space, but until then, you still have all this other crap running in the background.

 

[Ghostwheel]

The discussion of task killers will apparently never ever ever end. I suspect that's in part because so many new users are told by sales folk at Verizon to install the d**n things.

You ain't kiddin'. A friend of mine showed up to dinner out the other night with a shiny new Moto Droid - partly due to my recommendations.

She barely knew how to use the Droid at that point, and hadn't even figured out how to use the Market or adjust the call volume yet. But somehow, she already had ATK on there, and asked me if I used it too. When I said no, she started launching into how great it is, and why it "helps" with "things" and that I should get it too. I tried to explain why it's not necessary, but she'd already apparently swallowed the kool aid that whatever VZW sales monkey had installed it for her had offered. I really wasn't up for a heated argument with someone who doesn't even know what they're talking about, especially a friend, so I changed the subject.

 

[Darkseider]

Been using ATK since I got my phone... and I dont care what other people say, it helps. At least for me, and Im not rooted.. so, I guess it all depends on your perspective..

I am willing to bet the improvement is either perceived and not real OR you have some apps installed that aren't playing nice. I have tested damned near every one of them and every time performance was either the same as without as it was without it or worse.

Ya'd think that wouldnt ya.. but no, its not perceived, and I didnt do any test on it, just easy to tell. Yea, android closes apps when it needs space, but until then, you still have all this other crap running in the background.

So then it is completely perceived as all you have is anecdotal evidence. You have done NO testing and cannot provide any empirical data at all. Many of us that say "Just say no to task killers" have tested this extensively, myself included, and know, without a doubt that they are not needed at all.

 

[Shadez]

I am willing to bet the improvement is either perceived and not real OR you have some apps installed that aren't playing nice. I have tested damned near every one of them and every time performance was either the same as without as it was without it or worse.

Ya'd think that wouldnt ya.. but no, its not perceived, and I didnt do any test on it, just easy to tell. Yea, android closes apps when it needs space, but until then, you still have all this other crap running in the background.

So then it is completely perceived as all you have is anecdotal evidence. You have done NO testing and cannot provide any empirical data at all. Many of us that say "Just say no to task killers" have tested this extensively, myself included, and know, without a doubt that they are not needed at all.

Yep, completely perceived, and on a side note, I'll use phonemypc just as an example, that sometimes when an app freezes, and you don't get a FC, it sits in limbo, I also use ATK for 'clean' that up..