My apps aren't staying "killed"

[smcswain]

I just got my HTC Incredible and loaded up "Advanced Task Manager" to help me close down apps/functions that I'm no longer using. The problem is, I go to the Task Manager, click "Kill Selected Tasks", and all the unecessary programs disappear... for like 10 SECONDS. If I go BACK into Advanced Task Manager 15 seconds later, it shows 10 more apps that apparently just started up on their own...

Currently the list shows City ID, Stocks, VZ Navigator, Messages, Peep, V CAST Apps, Note Everything, Skype Mobile, Settings, and Friend Stream all running. Of those things, I have NOT used City ID, Stocks, VZ Navigator, Peep, V CAST Apps, Skype Mobile, or Friend Stream today at all.

Now, if I hit "Kill Selected Taks" they all go away. But now I'll go back to my homescreen, then back into Advanced Task Manager, and it already shows Stocks and Settings as up and running, in less than 10 seconds. If I do it again, now Skype is back up.

I go to these apps and click on the menu/options and I see no option for not having them automatically start up. What's going on here? Any help would be appreciated.

Edit to Add: I just searched through the forums and found a post that seems to apply to this, indicating that, apparently, you aren't SUPPOSED to kill these apps... rather you should let the OS kinda "do it's thing" with them. I'd read somewhere that killing the apps you weren't using was the best way to save battery life, but if that's not the case, its ok by me. Feel free to delete this post, mods.

 

[mewshi]

First off, get rid of the task manager before the bandwagon jumps you

Second off, if you're that concerned (which, honestly, I doubt you need to be) then root and freeze the offending apps with Titanium Backup (Which, unfortunately, isn't free... x.x).

Anyway, good luck. And seriously, get rid of the task killer

 

[smcswain]

Read my edit. I just registered for the forums like 10 minutes ago and did a quick scan looking for the subject. Didn't see it, so I posted, but then I figured out how to search better and found some relevant info... thus the edit.

So hopefully I can escape the ambush, although I appreciate the warning. (I'm a vet on enough other boards to know how this stuff works.)

 

[dfuser312553]

Lawlz good edit & welcome. Typically you can find 5+ threads on the same topic here. But you won't escape; no one escapes. Especially the task killer argument. What the task killer argument is to android the Palestinian conflict is to real life.

 

[harrellj]

Naw, we're pretty good about handling it if you admit to making a mistake (or just run and hide like that one iPhone user did a couple of days ago).

Back on topic though, when the OS first came out, getting a task killer was something that was considered required. As the OS has matured, that need has lessened significantly, but old habits die hard (and old information tends to hang around more than newer information... blame all the blogs with lists of "must-have" apps when the D1 was introduced last year).

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Task Killer Task Force Commander here:

Task Killers Per Lifehacker:

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them
How Android Manages Processes

In Android, processes and Applications are two different things. An app can stay "running" in the background without any processes eating up your phone's resources. Android keeps the app in its memory so it launches more quickly and returns to its prior state. When your phone runs out of memory, Android will automatically start killing tasks on its own, starting with ones that you haven't used in awhile.
The problem is that Android uses RAM differently than, say, Windows. On Android, having your RAM nearly full is a good thing. It means that when you relaunch an app you've previously opened, the app launches quickly and returns to its previous state. So while Android actually uses RAM efficiently, most users see that their RAM is full and assume that's what's slowing down their phone. In reality, your CPU—which is only used by apps that are actually active—is almost always the bottleneck.

Why Task Killers Are (Usually) Bad News

Apps like Advanced Task Killer, the most popular task killer in the Market, act on the incorrect assumption that freeing up memory on an Android device is a good thing. When launched, it presents you with a list of "running" apps and the option to kill as many as you want. You can also hit the Menu button to access a more detailed "Services" view, that lists exactly which parts of each application are "running", how much memory they take up, and how much free memory is available on your phone. This set-up implies that the goal of killing these apps is to free up memory. Nowhere on the list does it mention the number of CPU cycles each app is consuming, only the memory you'll free by killing it. As we've learned, full memory is not a bad thing—we want to watch out for the CPU, the resource that actually slows down your phone and drains your battery life.
Thus, killing all but the essential apps (or telling Android to kill apps more aggressively with the "autokill" feature) is generally unnecessary. Furthermore, it's actually possible that this will worsen your phone's performance and battery life. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to aggressively remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't—killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place.
In fact, some of the processes related to those apps will actually start right back up, further draining your CPU. If they don't, killing those processes can cause other sorts of problems—alarms don't go off, you don't receive text messages, or other related apps may force close without warning. All in all, you're usually better off letting your phone work as intended—especially if you're more of a casual user. In these instances, a task killer causes more problems than it solves.
What You Should Do Instead

That said, not all apps are created equal. Many of you have used task killers in the past and actually found that after freeing up memory, your phone works a bit better. It's more likely that this is because you've killed a bad app—one that was poorly coded, and (for example) keeps trying to connect to the internet even when it shouldn't. Any performance increase you experience is more likely because you killed the right app, not because you freed up loads of memory (or, in many cases, it's just placebo). Instead of killing all those apps, find out which ones are actually causing the problems. If you really know what you're doing, you may benefit from using a task killer to stop the one or two inefficient-but-loved apps on your phone.
Note, however, that this is still a contested notion. A lot of developers (including ROM builder extraordinaire, Cyanogen) will not even look at your bug reports if you're using a task killer. In this humble blogger's opinion, your best bet is to stay away from regular task killer usage entirely. If you absolutely have to have that one battery-killing app on your phone, though, kill away—just be aware that when you experience a recurring Android bug later on, the task killer may be at fault. Of course, you can just stop using it to determine whether that is or isn't the case.

 

[Backnblack]

So hopefully I can escape the ambush,

No one totally gets away dancedroid

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[hookbill]

Lawlz good edit & welcome. Typically you can find 5+ threads on the same topic here. But you won't escape; no one escapes. Especially the task killer argument. What the task killer argument is to android the Palestinian conflict is to real life.

Actually there is this one very persistent moderator who insist that these little discussions occur in one area. And closes down these extra threads.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/65483-task-killers-answer-google-developers.html

 

[Backnblack]

Actually there is this one very persistent moderator who insist that these little discussions occur in one area. And closes down these extra threads.

I heard he can be a pain sometimes :icon_ banana: