Lack of multi-tasking - Possible return

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Srgsx

Senior Member
May 10, 2012
86
9
The hardware and design of this phone are top notch - most features work really well except anything in regards to multi-tasking. I am very disappointed that its missing basic functionality I thought should be pretty standard these days especially on a flagship device. Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on. Heck even the picture I had open in the gallery section closed and took me back to the main gallery (picture) folder and of course this does not need an internet connection.

It looks like Sense 4.0 has eliminated multi-tasking, as much as I like the device otherwise I just cant give up so much basic functionality that I have been enjoying for years on other phones... Will probably have to return and go back to my iphone 4 for now.. Bummer -

It does not appear that HTC recognizes this short-coming as a problem and considers this normal functionality so I cant just wait for an update/fix...

Anyone else feel this way ?
 

thephoneguyusa

Senior Member
Sep 24, 2010
904
192
Fort Collins, CO
The hardware and design of this phone are top notch - most features work really well except anything in regards to multi-tasking. I am very disappointed that its missing basic functionality I thought should be pretty standard these days especially on a flagship device. Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on. Heck even the picture I had open in the gallery section closed and took me back to the main gallery (picture) folder and of course this does not need an internet connection.

It looks like Sense 4.0 has eliminated multi-tasking, as much as I like the device otherwise I just cant give up so much basic functionality that I have been enjoying for years on other phones... Will probably have to return and go back to my iphone 4 for now.. Bummer -

It does not appear that HTC recognizes this short-coming as a problem and considers this normal functionality so I cant just wait for an update/fix...

Anyone else feel this way ?

multitasking is a bit of a joke on this phone. I hope HTC addresses this in a future update.

sent from my HTC One X
 

aszu

Senior Member
Dec 10, 2009
116
43
Since Sense + OS alone consume most of the ram (> 80%) on the device, I suppose integrated Android task killer is configured in some paranoid mode and is killing backgroups apps like crazy.
If this bothers you, I would install one of senseless ROMs on your HD2 and be happy :) Possibly there is also a way to make task killer more civilized in custom Sense ROMs.

Sadly, Sense 4.0 is quit bloated and One-X should have at least 1.5GB of RAM to begin with.
 

hamdir

Recognized Contributor
Aug 13, 2008
33,281
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HTC U12+
Samsung Galaxy S21
It will addressed with uopdates after all you bought a quad cote for multi tasking, some of xda chefs are communicating with HTC dev and we reported the very aggressive memfree values, also if you are rooted you can control them with supercharger script
 
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BarryH_GEG

Senior Member
Jan 16, 2009
10,197
5,142
Spokane, Washington
Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on.

When I change the wireless state on my i9100 the same thing happens so it's Android, not HTC or the One X. Even if the USA Today home page was retained clicking on any of the stories would result in an error because there's no wireless connection available. Get an app like Pocket that allows you to save articles from across the web for offline reading. The CNN app also gives you the option to save stories offline.
 

mgfjd

Senior Member
Sep 11, 2008
640
95
Fayetteville, Arkansas
The multitasking on this phone sucks period. There is not justification. I should not be here looking for an answer. XDA devs should be enhancing the phone not trying to fix basic functionality. I hope HTC solves this problem before my trail period.
 

BarryH_GEG

Senior Member
Jan 16, 2009
10,197
5,142
Spokane, Washington
The multitasking on this phone sucks period. There is not justification. I should not be here looking for an answer. XDA devs should be enhancing the phone not trying to fix basic functionality. I hope HTC solves this problem before my trail period.

Do any of you understand how multitasking in Android even works? Even if a task is killed by the OS, apps developed that follow the published standard will re-launch in their last state in less than a second. And the better XDA devs should know that. So while HTC's memory management may be aggressive, there's more to it if individual apps aren't behaving correctly.

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
 

louis.b

Senior Member
Feb 17, 2012
238
67
Sydney
The hardware and design of this phone are top notch - most features work really well except anything in regards to multi-tasking. I am very disappointed that its missing basic functionality I thought should be pretty standard these days especially on a flagship device. Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on. Heck even the picture I had open in the gallery section closed and took me back to the main gallery (picture) folder and of course this does not need an internet connection.

It looks like Sense 4.0 has eliminated multi-tasking, as much as I like the device otherwise I just cant give up so much basic functionality that I have been enjoying for years on other phones... Will probably have to return and go back to my iphone 4 for now.. Bummer -

It does not appear that HTC recognizes this short-coming as a problem and considers this normal functionality so I cant just wait for an update/fix...

Anyone else feel this way ?

If you're not happy w it, return it ASAP. Why do you have to care about what others think? It's your money, your experience.

Case closed. Meetings adjourned lol
 

Srgsx

Senior Member
May 10, 2012
86
9
If you're not happy w it, return it ASAP. Why do you have to care about what others think? It's your money, your experience.

Case closed. Meetings adjourned lol

Its called a forum, in which I can and will reach out to others to get feedback on what I consider a situation with a very flawed segment of Sense which is making me contemplate returning an otherwise very nice device.

Look Apple has been doing this puesdo multi-tasking, app-pausing just fine since 4.0 what the heck is HTC thinking ? Browser tabs store just fine for days WITHOUT an internet connection. I geuss I am just expecting too much.

Sorry to interupt move along nothing to see here - lol
 
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BarryH_GEG

Senior Member
Jan 16, 2009
10,197
5,142
Spokane, Washington
If you really want to pile-on, head over here. The XL'rs are far more up in arms than the X'rs.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1646409

I've asked the same questions of people that say the way multitasking is implemented is a real hardship but no one's answered. What's the harm? Of "X" hours a day using the phone, what percentage of your time is actually spent active in two (or more) apps simultaneously? And with a powerful processor it shouldn't matter whether a background app is in state or has to be restarted based on the way Android works (see below). I'm not trying to pick a fight I'm trying to understand the depth of the issue.

And since no one's read the article I linked to, here's the cruxt...

Once Android determines that it needs to remove a process, it does this brutally, simply force-killing it. The kernel can then immediately reclaim all resources needed by the process, without relying on that application being well written and responsive to a polite request to exit. Allowing the kernel to immediately reclaim application resources makes it a lot easier to avoid serious out of memory situations.

If a user later returns to an application that's been killed, Android needs a way to re-launch it in the same state as it was last seen, to preserve the "all applications are running all of the time" experience. This is done by keeping track of the parts of the application the user is aware of (the Activities), and re-starting them with information about the last state they were seen in. This last state is generated each time the user leaves that part of the application, not when it is killed, so that the kernel can later freely kill it without depending on the application to respond correctly at that point.


And based on this, the SGS3's handling memory managment just like the One X so there don't appear to be a lot of options for those with special multitasking needs.

The GS3 has the same multitasking "issue" as the One X. I have tested it. That's all the more reason why I don't expect HTC to fix it in an update. I believe it's how the manufacturers intend it to work, for better or worse.
 

mmx6688

Senior Member
Dec 16, 2009
201
33
Amazon Fire TV
Try to install Apex launcher free version and set it as default launcher. Reboot and see is situation get better. If works for you then it is sense problem.

It works like a charm on my X. No any problem for multitask.And it is so smooth.

Of course if you do want sense launcher then have to live with issue. But no harm to try Apex to see at least multitask can wrok or not
 

Raider0001

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2011
309
24
BarryH_GEG everything looks nice when you write it down like that but i remember SGS did better multitasking then my new double ram HTC One X, on daily basis it kills everything when i9000 never killed my GG chatting app or music player - both just should be ON all the time i was using them thats only 2 apps to handle :mad:
 

Srgsx

Senior Member
May 10, 2012
86
9
At a co-workers urging I installed Go-launcher today in hopes of a quick fix. yeah nothing, still re-renders everything fricken thing it touches.

Should I stil try Apex ?
 

Srgsx

Senior Member
May 10, 2012
86
9
Apex- ok you might be on to something !

Can still hold app data while in airplane mode...
 

nativestranger

Senior Member
Aug 18, 2010
356
28
At a co-workers urging I installed Go-launcher today in hopes of a quick fix. yeah nothing, still re-renders everything fricken thing it touches.

Should I stil try Apex ?

I dont think this is caused by sense taking up too much resources. Seems to be an ics inherent thing. The sgs3 was just reported to behave the same way.

Oh yes i tried the ipad3 the other day. The display was perfect but what surprises me is it multitasks amazingly well. I can have 5 - 6 apps open including youtube and browser with multiple tabs and it switches between them smoothly without once quiting the browser. Really sad to see android/ ics regressed to this state that ios significantly beat it.
 

BarryH_GEG

Senior Member
Jan 16, 2009
10,197
5,142
Spokane, Washington
BarryH_GEG everything looks nice when you write it down like that but i remember SGS did better multitasking then my new double ram HTC One X, on daily basis it kills everything when i9000 never killed my GG chatting app or music player - both just should be ON all the time i was using them thats only 2 apps to handle :mad:

I keep asking the question "what does it mean?" and everyone keeps replying "it shouldn't be this way." If a doctor says "there’s something wrong with your liver," there's a big difference between hepatitis A and stage 3 cancer. Other than the perceived loss of something you had how does the way that the One X handles multitasking affect what you do every day? And how often is it a problem?

I had a i9100 and in practical use I don't notice a difference. The exception being the browser that stupidly reloads itself every time it restarts but it does that regardless of whether launched from recent apps or directly from the app drawer or a shortcut.

And if this is true it doesn't really matter what a Desire, HD2, or SGS did.

The GS3 has the same multitasking "issue" as the One X. I have tested it. That's all the more reason why I don't expect HTC to fix it in an update. I believe it's how the manufacturers intend it to work, for better or worse.
 

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    For the love of Judas please return it already and move on w your life.

    This useless post should also be returned.

    Thx-
    1
    In Settings > Developer options, there is an option at the bottom of the list "Background process limit", try changing it to "At most 4 processes" and see if it helps.
    1
    I keep asking the question "what does it mean?" and everyone keeps replying "it shouldn't be this way." If a doctor says "there’s something wrong with your liver," there's a big difference between hepatitis A and stage 3 cancer. Other than the perceived loss of something you had how does the way that the One X handles multitasking affect what you do every day? And how often is it a problem?

    I had a i9100 and in practical use I don't notice a difference. The exception being the browser that stupidly reloads itself every time it restarts but it does that regardless of whether launched from recent apps or directly from the app drawer or a shortcut.

    And if this is true it doesn't really matter what a Desire, HD2, or SGS did.

    Some people are just not thinking right about this... I spent 550€ on my X with 1gb RAM and it can not handle an open plain-text-web-page while chating in Gtalk and listening music?? I can buy a 250€ pc with the same amount of RAM running a heavy Windows 7, streaming video, chatting, keping 10 tabs with ease, etc.... ! Are you kidding me?

    MULITASK MUST BE A BASIC COMMON FEATURE NOWADAYS!!! I do care that I loose time waiting for that web-page to reload...
    1
    My GSI Captivate doesn't handle mutlitasking well either. Pulse reloads 90% of the time and stock browser 100% too when I toggle from one to the other.

    What Android handles this well?

    I saw a Video post where comparing the HOX with something else where the reloading didnt occur with the other phone.

    Was so ready to get HOX but now not sure. :mad:

    After latest update (EU), multitasking works perfectly!

    Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
    1
    For the love of Judas please return it already and move on w your life.