Kostya-
Most of what you say is true, but beside the point. Task killers per
se do not "interfere with the platform's functionality".
Now yes, some users do have the strong desire you allude to, but that
is far from proof that the desire for Task Killers IS an example of
this effect. I do not believe that it is.
On the contrary: I know that the performance of my handset is
sometimes improved by killing tasks that Google decided to leave
running even long after I finished with them.
Besides: even your Windows example is not as you would have it. Many
registry cleaners, especially the free ones or the 'crippleware', are
junk, but there do exist genuine cleaners that work well. I have often
resuscitated a sick Windows system by running a high quality registry
cleaner on it. So again, the problem is not that they serve only a
psychological need, but rather that some are genuine and many are not.
You should also remember that much of the work these registry cleaners
do became necesasry only because 3rd party programs fail to clean up
after themselves when they do an install or uninstall. If every 3rd
party app behaved exactly according to Microsoft rules, the registry
cleaner would be unnecessary; but that was a vain expectation, doomed
to be disappointed.
Why wouldn't the situation be the same with Android Task Killers? The
one I chose, as I already mentioned, really does improve performance
at least some of the time. And I do have a strong suspicion that it is
the 3rd party apps failing to follow Google rules concerning the
lifecycle that make Task Killers useful. The app I downloaded for
reading NY Times feeds, for example, fails to show progress, comes up
with frequent ANRs and occasional crashes.
On Jul 30, 8:33 pm, Kostya Vasilyev <kmans...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Technical details aside, I think it's just human nature.
>
> Some percentage of users just have a strong desire to have something
> "magical" that *supposedly* makes their device (Android phone or desktop
> OS) work much better.
>
> Remember - there used to be all kinds of memory optimizers for Windows?
> Also registry cleaners, various "tweak" and "tune-up" utilities, etc.
> etc. etc. No-one is saying that Windows (or any other OS :) is perfect,
> but these apps promise much more than they actually do, and sometimes
> cause harm.
>
> There is also a whole subculture of users who root and flash their
> phones - I am convinced most do it because it addresses some
> psychological need, more than anything else.
>
> So personally, I am quite happy to see that Google is starting to limit
> what task killers can do. I believe interfering with the platform's core
> functionality is definitely a bad thing.
>
> I have enough bugs in my code to have to deal with someone else's.
>
> -- Kostya
>
> 31.07.2010 0:08, Indicator Veritatis пишет:
>
> > A good article. A little harsh on the OP, but even so, a good article.
>
> > After all: given that that IS the design of Android, that Applications
> > should not quit, but leave termination up to the OS, the article makes
> > its case well, even elegantly.
>
> > But I cannot help but notice: after Android did all that hard work of
> > designing the whole system to work that way, what does the market say
> > about it? The presence of so many "Task Managers" for Android seems to
> > imply that the Market does NOT agree with this paradigm.
>
> > Nor would that conclusion really surprise me, since it is a basic
> > expectation, almost an instinct, even predating computers: if it
> > doesn't work, you want to hit Reset, or power-cycle the device, and
> > you expect that it will be in a known good state (note the terminology
> > reminiscent of s certain OS with its "last known good"). Exiting an
> > application is the software-analog of shutting the power off: you
> > expect that the next time you enter, you get a clean slate.
>
> > True, WebOS doesn't work that way either, and Android's way is a new
> > trend. But I don't see the market approving this in WebOS either --
> > even if it does like it better than Palm's previous OS, Palm OS. For
> > Palm OS was ugly.
>
> > Besides: despite all the claims otherwise ("just let the system do
> > it"), I _have_ come across circumstances when I really do want to just
> > exit everything to get the phone to behave again. Surely I am not
> > alone, which is why people download the Task Managers for Android.
>
> > On Jul 30, 10:39 am, Mark Murphy<mmur...@commonsware.com> wrote:
>
> >> On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 9:13 AM, RamaMohan<rama.mohan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>> HI all,
> >>> I s there any way to kill the entire application at once.Not using
> >>> with finish() or system.exit() ..all these two will kill the
> >>> activity ,but not the appication.
> >>> Is there any way to kill the entire application from any
> >>> activity .
>
> >>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2033914/quitting-an-application-is...
>
> >> --
> >> Mark Murphy (a Commons
> >> Guy)http://commonsware.com|http://github.com/commonsguyhttp://commonsware.com/blog|http://twitter.com/commonsguy
>
> >> _Android Programming Tutorials_ Version 2.9 Available!
>
> --
> Kostya Vasilev -- WiFi Manager + pretty widget --http://kmansoft.wordpress.com
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