Let me just start by saying Android is not Windows Mobile. I’ve seen too many previous Windows Mobile owners treating Android the same way they did WM and this doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve also seen several new smartphone users who went straight to Android from a dumb phone and believe they have to rely on a task killer only because of what they have seen or heard themselves. You may agree or disagree at this point but continue reading to see why I am a firm believer in no task killer at all.
I’d like to point out one of the main reason’s most people actually believe a task killer works correctly and why they are being led to believe this. If you are familiar with any Windows Mobile device you know that killing applications were mandatory at times. When you did this it affected the phones performance in several major/minor ways. When you killed application’s on a WM phone it’s definitely because of some of the same reasons people think they need a task killer on Android. Whether it’s because the phone is not responding to one certain application or because of memory availability, task killers are being used and harming some Android phones when they shouldn’t be. Android and WM are different but being treated the same. I do agree that task killers can be used for certain reasons but if you don’t know how to use one properly, learn how before destroying your devices functionality.
What some people don’t know is that there is a process on all Android phones by default that will allow you to kill the program without needing a task killer for what it’s being used for. Many will argue that this is a reason not to even need a task killer while others say task killers do the job better. Either way, Android will allow your applications to sleep in the background, not using any battery life. You just have to know where to find this feature to believe it and most people aren’t aware. You can always go to settings -> applications -> running services to see for yourself.
You will notice that some programs are mandatory and running. These mainly will be the ones you probably don’t have a clue to what they are and also the ones like phone, messages, etc. These are programs that if you had a task killer and chose to kill all applications, could cause some major issues with your device such as loss of text messages, force closing of applications and more. Then you are left wondering what just happened to my phone and don’t have a clue what you did wrong.
You will also see programs that are what you have installed and recently used that may be running or not. If you notice, Android has control over this and is doing what task killer’s say they do for you, but in reality the genuis’ suggest task killers don’t do the job the correct way or they are being used for the wrong reasons. Some people will argue that a task killer shows more applications running than the phone does. This I can’t explain and have yet to see anyone else. If you can, let us know why you think it happens.
Another reason users are led to believe task killers really are useful is because of the memory increase or free memory they see when they “kill” applications. FYI, this information isn’t correct. Unlike WM, Android is Linux based and by being designed to multi-task eats up all the memory it can, storing as much as it can for you so it can be accessed faster at anytime. This will make it appear you have low amounts of free memory when in reality you don’t. More on this topic can be found here if you are confused.
Speaking of memory and how it works differently in Android (Linux) than it does in Windows Mobile (Windows) devices, we found another interesting article that breaks down the way memory works. Basically they explain the difference between how each operating system stores memory and has memory available when needed. With Android, if you are running an app that needs 100mb and only 150mb of memory are available, the fine will perform just fine. This isn’t the case with a WM phone and is another reason to confuse you and make you depend on a task killer too often. Take a look at this article to learn more here.
What we want to know after you’ve read this is if you use a task killer, why? Do you depend on yours on a daily basis? If you don’t use one, do you agree with this information in the article? This is a great source of information for new Android users and we hope to get some great insight that will be useful to many geeks around the world.