Technology Android

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I HATE the way Android manages apps and processes. What it SHOULD do is keep apps in memory without using any process to eat up CPU time AND relaunch most used apps in the background just so you could launch them faster.
What it really DOES is launch a bunch of apps that DO run a process all the time draining your CPU time because most apps are written that way. That DOES drain the battery unless you are only using apps developed by Google. Even Samsung's, Sony Ericsson's and HTC's apps are written in a manner that drains your battery while idle.
The new Xperia Arc has that problem with Google Maps(!) - latest update runs a process in the background which means approx 30% of battery life wasted every 5-6 hours. It's my most hated element of Android - they could implement the feature that an app doesn't equal a process running but they could implement a traditional process manager and prevent Android from launching apps by itself.

Samsung Wave with Bada OS on the same hardware platform as Galaxy S can handle much more battery abuse than its Android brother. Truth is that this silly idea makes Android a really terrible battery-drainer.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Yes, it's just a more sophisticated task killer. A temporary and pretty inconvenient solution to a part of the problem.

I know that Android is mostly for people who heavily abuse their phones with shitloads of apps and are keen to charge their phone every day or even more often but there are also minimalists who are annoyed by things like that, for example I think that it's an unnecessary waste of resources :p
 

THEV1LL4N

Well-Known Member
it annoys me too, masta. i have a running services icon on my homescreen so i can quickly kill various processes. what's app, maps and twitter are some of the culprits for my battery drain. i dont understand why these processes are even laucned when i dont even launch them.

on my G1, i had an app called autokiller. but i think the constant launching and killing of apps = more battery drain from cpu usage and inhibition in times of attempted usage.
 

Casey

Well-Known Member
Staff member
it annoys me too, masta. i have a running services icon on my homescreen so i can quickly kill various processes. what's app, maps and twitter are some of the culprits for my battery drain. i dont understand why these processes are even laucned when i dont even launch them.

on my G1, i had an app called autokiller. but i think the constant launching and killing of apps = more battery drain from cpu usage and inhibition in times of attempted usage.
You didn't read the article, did you? lol
 

S O F I

Administrator
Staff member
Yes, it's just a more sophisticated task killer. A temporary and pretty inconvenient solution to a part of the problem.

I know that Android is mostly for people who heavily abuse their phones with shitloads of apps and are keen to charge their phone every day or even more often but there are also minimalists who are annoyed by things like that, for example I think that it's an unnecessary waste of resources :p
I'm going to defer to the lifehacker people on this one. No offense. I uninstalled the task killer and have not seen any changes in battery power except that I stopped the annoying habit of killing apps every five minutes.
 

THEV1LL4N

Well-Known Member
You didn't read the article, did you? lol
no i did not. i was only on for about 10 mins last night. okay, read the article now. i do most of those things anyway, so im good. i thought that AMOLED screens were generally very efficient when compared to LCDs. i know they drain more battery when white or lighter colours are displayed.
 

Flipmo

VIP Member
Staff member
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-review/

Samsung Galaxy S II review by engadget.

For a handset with such a broad range of standout features and specs, the Galaxy S II is remarkably easy to summarize. It's the best Android smartphone yet, but more importantly, it might well be the best smartphone, period. Of course, a 4.3-inch screen size won't suit everyone, no matter how stupendously thin the device that carries it may be, and we also can't say for sure that the Galaxy S II would justify a long-term iOS user foresaking his investment into one ecosystem and making the leap to another. Nonetheless, if you're asking us what smartphone to buy today, unconstrained by such externalities, the Galaxy S II would be the clear choice. Sometimes it's just as simple as that.
Oh and Techradar gave the phone 5 stars on 5 a few days ago as well.
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I'm going to defer to the lifehacker people on this one. No offense. I uninstalled the task killer and have not seen any changes in battery power except that I stopped the annoying habit of killing apps every five minutes.
That's because casual task killers are barely worth it since they kill an app that relaunches again draining battery life, plus the task killer drains battery life too. I'm not saying that you should use task killers.
I'm saying that the system that Android uses is bad in reality and that's the problem. It has no real solution for people who would rather have their phones work the "casual" way - you launch an app and close it when you finish using it so it can't demand a new process while the phone is idle.
Guys at lifehacker mentioned how apps should work and what Android developers had in mind. However in reality while an app is in memory doesn't implicate a process running it CAN run a process that uses CPU time. Many apps do that thus draining battery life. And even if you kill that app it will relaunch and drain CPU time again.
So what I am saying is that killing is not a real answer, because the system is faulty.
 

Casey

Well-Known Member
Staff member
/\ Yup, the G2X is scoring about the same, and the Galaxy S2 which is about to launch is pushing 3200+ out of the box which is fucking insane.

You're getting a kickass score though for stock and unmodded. If you root it and overclock it you could probably be pushing 3500.
 

THEV1LL4N

Well-Known Member
casey, do you have any resolutions problems with apps since using LCDdensity?​
im having some apps looks as though its on a 3.2 inch screen. i have the density set to 220... everything else seems fine but a handful of applications have this issue - an example is google scoreboard.​
 

2Pax

Well-Known Member
My contract runs out soon and I'm due an upgrade, decided to try an Android phone. What are the most recent / better of the phones currently out there?
 

Casey

Well-Known Member
Staff member
My contract runs out soon and I'm due an upgrade, decided to try an Android phone. What are the most recent / better of the phones currently out there?
What network are you on?

The top range phones that are out or about to launch here in the UK would be the Samsung Galaxy S2, the LG Optimus 2X, the HTC Sensation, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc....
 

masta247

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I find the Sony Ericsson Arc to be very cool. I know that it's a single core and all and with an LCD screen but they somehow made that phone look and feel very amazing. Plus the camera in it kills probably every other mobile phone camera, it's that awesome.
At the moment I'm waiting for Xperia Pro and LG Black (because it might come in an interesting price and it's very slim) but if they weren't coming out I'd get the Arc.
 

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