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Android forum: task killers-needed or not needed?

by: yprtb May 31, 2011 10:05 PM PDT

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task killers-needed or not needed?

by yprtb - 5/31/11 10:05 PM

I recently got my LG optimus v from Virgin mobile and man, its awesome. I got a 8gb sd card for it.

I started added more and more apps, reaching about 40 now in total. I originally downloaded a task killer because i thought to myself, its under top free, and has 5 stars, and it makes sense to have one. So I downloaded it, and kept on going. After awhile of having more and more apps, I was looking online and had seen that a lot of people were saying never to use any task killer, as they are unnecessary on android 2.2 froyo. That android was smart enough to handle processes on its own. I was kind of confused, but since it seemed to be a lot of people saying it; I decided to go ahead and uninstall it. People all over were saying your battery will get better and your phone will run faster.

I have 3 words:

Not for me.

In fact, after uninstalling, My phone got SLOWER. Not right away, but i noticed if I opened some apps and still even used the quit option on some; over time my phone started acting sluggish. Battery life was worse, not better. And to top it all off, facebook and email took forever to load. It would load, sure, but no where near as fast when I had the task killer. Multitasking was sluggish too.

I now have advanced task killer free from the market back on my phone. Settings I have always had it at were as follows:

I built the recommend Ignore list in settings.
(since I had v mobile, a process called SSA was also ignored. It had the virgin mobile icon and I decided to play it safe there. IDK what it does.)

I set auto kill to aggressive. I have it set to auto kill every 4 hours.

BAM! Just like that, phone was faster, wasn't sluggish, and better battery life.

So contraire to what they say, at least for me;
My phone works better. Not worse.

I am curious about everyone else, whats your take on this?

Anyone else experience improved or worse performance with or without a task killer?

Thanks. All comments welcome.


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Tried a few.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 6/1/11 10:58 AM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

Settled on something called Android Assistant but not task killer. I wonder if the need varies with the version of android and user?
Bob


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Yes way!!

by Jdm4292 - 6/1/11 9:28 PM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

I love playing around with these devices and in my experiences task killer/manager is a definite. Supposedly 2.2 Froyo is capable of managing its own processes, but if this is the case why does my phone slow down beyond belief when all the useless bloatware (madden 2011) runs in the background... Not calling them liars just saying their task managers dont usually work. I use Advanced task killer but there are others just as good out there. like you said though when you kill apps it frees up cpu not only ram and that way performance isnt dampened...(as much :-/ ) so in response definitely use a task killer big help.

The only downside is, some apps try to restart after you kill them with a TK, but I still stand behind what I said.


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Can definitely see difference with task killers

by gr8bkset - 6/2/11 4:31 PM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

I have the same Optimus phone/plan.

The first time I used the phone while traveling with GPS on, the phone failed to power-on by 2pm of that same day - a very helpless feeling. I've since downloaded task killers and actively kill tasks and turn off wireless and GPS whenever I finish with such functionality. I can now make my Optimus V go 2-3 days between charges. Once in a while, I still forget to kill tasks and turn off wireless and end up with a brick. <div>
Android power management should add functionality to :
suspend GPS if its location has not been in use for a number of minutes
hibernate the phone if the system has not been in use and battery level drops to 15%
make it easy to exit an app

While there are many things I like about Android, it still needs a lot more polish.
It would be nice to someday have a phone that goes a whole week between charge.



</div>


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Task Killers...

by XMYUKON - 6/2/11 6:34 PM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

The real purpose of task killers for the Android OS is to save battery life more so than what you are currently recieving. Also, they may be used for speed purposes for those times your phone may be sluggish after running CPU-intensive Applications. Other than that, Android's built in memory management system, especially through gingerbread, works well and 3rd party solutions are generally not needed.

If you frequently play 3D games, or have a mid-range android device, I would reccomend a task killer. Also, save a few bucks and use the free offerings as the paid ones often just remove ads, and you will probably be using the widget anyways.

"Speed" on the phone is determined by many other factors as well, not just free memory. For example, HTC and Samsung work on Android hardware acceleration, making the phone feel more responsive. Also, the MORE memory your phone has the faster it will be, not the amount of FREE memory. The LG you have shouldn't give you a problem.

BTW, AutoKill can actually lower battery life, I advise doing so manually. Let me know what works out.
Thanks -XMYUKON


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Juice Defender

by awilson77584 - 6/2/11 8:30 PM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

I use Juice Defender on my Evo. My next step is to get an extended life battery. That should hold me for a bit. I took off the task killer after reading the same posts/comments. The rationale seems plausible that the apps that seem"active" in a "running" list are stubs until used. Juice defender shuts down the 4G, wireless, bluetooth, and GPS until you use them or in the wireless case, when a saved network is nearby. I like it so far. Before using juice defender, my phone would lose charge over night. I primarily use it for every thing but a phone. When I'm going to be out for a while, I take the charge cable and a $12 Griffin adapter for the lighter socket. I do plug it in when I'm planning to watch Netflix though. I want that extended life battery!


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Evil

by tiberiumdj - 6/4/11 6:34 PM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

There are many different reasons why you should never use a task killer, main reason, all they will do is lag your phone and kill your battery.

If you really want to lower the amount of programs running root your phone, and use titanium backup to freeze the apps and bloat you do not want running, not only does it stop them from running but it does not need to run again once the apps are frozen so it kills the need for a running task killer. happy


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I uninstalled mine...

by hollyhock - 6/8/11 4:35 PM

In Reply to: task killers-needed or not needed? by yprtb

I had a task killer for some time. At one point my phone had to be replaced due to a defect and the woman that helped me at the service center (who also owned the same phone as me) suggested I not use one. She also mentioned that Froyo is supposed to be better at managing programs and memory usage.

So during setup of the new phone I did not install a task manager. For me the phone seems more stable. I don't know if I'd say battery life is any better but it's certainly not worse.


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