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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Android Project Tip: Get Rid of Your Task Killer!

When I first bought my Droid, I scoured the interwebs to find out which basic apps I should download first. One app that appeared on almost every blog I read was a Task Killer app (it doesn't matter which one).

Over time, many developers have realized the inconvenience and problems associated with killings apps that are running in your phone's memory. I have found two apps that resolve this issue and are much more convenient than using a task killer to play whack-a-mole with the apps that are using up your precious phone memory. One of these apps is called Auto Memory Manager. The one I use is called MinFreeManager, which can only be used on rooted phones. Auto Memory Manager can be used on non-rooted phones.

What you may not know is that Android comes with built-in code that will kill apps once your phone memory usage reaches a certain threshold. Unfortunately the pre-set threshold in Android is much too conservative, so apps can stay in your phone memory until your free memory is very low. MinFreeManager modifies Android's memory threshold settings to kill apps once your free phone memory reaches your defined settings. That way you can "set it and forget it" so you don't have to keep checking to see what apps are hogging your memory and causing lag.

Here is an example of what the stock settings are on my phone before setting MinFreeManager to my own settings:


As you can see, the Android OS in this case won't kill any apps until your phone memory reaches only 32mb. For what it's worth, I don't believe the OS can run smoothly on anything less than 40mb. I personally use the "Agressive" setting in MinFreeManager and have had no problems whatsoever:


These are MinFreeManager's "Aggressive" memory settings:


On these settings, your phone will start terminating apps according to priority at 96mb. My phone runs noticeably smoother with the aggressive memory settings. You can choose your own options depending on your risk tolerance.

MinFreeManager is free in the Android Market. I believe Auto Memory Manager has both free and paid versions. Remember to support the Android developers by purchasing your apps or consider donating.

*As always, remember that using these types of apps (including task killers) risks the possibility of damaging your phone. I'm not saying it will happen, but don't blame me if it does.

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