Advanced task killer?

[Mftek1]

Is it good or bad for the phone?
I'm getting mixed information....

Thanks

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

 

[mtl171]

from a spec perspective, the phone should be able to handle multitasking fine. though in terms of software, it may vary. certain apps use a ton of power when running in the background so a task killer can be handy. though the android dev team hates task killers cause android technically doesn't need it and it can cause FCs on apps.

 

[WilliamStern]

Our phones don't need it. I quit using task killers when I got the Vibrant. Tell you the truth I never noticed a difference with or without it.

 

[-FuRBz-]

i use it maybe once a day because i dont want any apps running in the bg eating my battery

 

[epeets]

technically, they lost most of their use after Android 2.1 became standard and just like what has been said before they weren't that great to begin with unless you used a ton of apps. You're better off using Cachemate every now and then. Most users really don't need a task killer app. Its just a waste of time.

 

[rpmccormick]

Auto Task Killer just reconfigures the OS to kill idle tasks quicker. Without it, my G1 running 2.1 crawls after an hour of use (same with my ZT-180 Android Tablet running 2.1). With it, my G1/ZT-180 run fairly fast. I never "use" it, I just configure it and forget about it.

I have not put ATK on my G2 yet as everyone says not to use it on Froyo. I don't understand why not to though. I may try it if my G2 starts slowing down. Hopefully that will never happen.

It doesn't take tons of apps to slow it down, just a few that insist on remaining in memory for no reason (which is most apps with widgets, even if you are not using the widget)

 

[linkage2424]

i use it maybe once a day because i dont want any apps running in the bg eating my battery

Another great feature of Android is smart power consumption, along with the solid memory management. Power shouldn't really be an issue.

I used to use TasKiller on my G1 and it made even CM6 choppy as could be. FC's, nothing ran smooth, tons of lag opening stuff. In theory, Android runs a service and TasKiller tries to kill it, so Android runs it again, and it loops again and again; this eats cpu and resources like crazy. They day I uninstalled TasKiller from my G1 was the day that blew my mind on how fast the phone still was with CM6. That was the ONE thing I did... No changes except uninstalling the task killer, and that change made my phone ~4x faster.

Now I have a G2 and no task killer of any sort.

 

[Steve.Beanz]

It's bad! Android is set up this way too preserve battery life and functionality. Its like putting your computer on stand by. Nothing is running but you know its on. By "killing"certain apps, you are making the os realize that something it needs is not there and then haas to reopen it which wastes battery and functionality worse than just letting it stay a process in the background. Under application settings there is a menu that says running services.if an app is giving you a hard time, you can force close from there. Task killers are a waste of time and do more harm than good.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

 

[linkage2424]

If you want to get more specific, here's how the Android system works with memory and application management:

GeekFor.Me Article


It's a good read, but if it's TLDR then here's the summary:

* Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when more memory is needed.
* Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when it’s done doing what it needs to do.
* Android is hard coded to automatically kill a task when you haven’t returned to it in a long time.
* Most services (while possibly running in the background) use very little memory when not actively doing something.
* A content provider is only doing something when there is a notification for it to give. Otherwise it uses very little memory.
* Killing a process when it isn’t ready only causes it to have to reload itself and start from scratch when it’s needed again.
* Because a task is likely running in the background for a reason, killing it will only cause it to re-spawn as soon as the activity that was using it looks for it again. And it will just have to start over again.
* Killing certain processes can have undesirable side effects. Not receiving text messages, alarms not going off, and force closes just to name a few.
* The only true way to prevent something from running at all on your phone would be to uninstall the .apk.
* Most applications will exit themselves if you get out of it by hitting “back” until it closes rather than hitting the “home” button. But even with hitting home, Android will eventually kill it once it’s been in the background for a while.

 

[androidcues]

Absolutely useless

sent from my HTC Vision