Vikings Message Board.Com

For those of you with android phones, thought I'd share an app I found called SportCaster. It's your usual sports score/stats app but one of the cool features is it has a conversation section where it pulls twitter posts from wherever you choose. So right now with one reload I can get twitter updates from all the major people who cover the vikings from analysts to players and even fans if you wish. It makes it real convenient to find information on the Vikings without having to scour multiple sources. You'll have to set up your conversations as it will not default to the Vikings but it's a very simple process, basically 3 checkmarks.

Just got a new Android phone and have been experimenting with apps. Looking for any suggestions so I can play with my new phone. I've downloaded SportCaster and really like it!

So far, I've found the following to be pretty cool:

-Google Gesture Search: this one is cool. just move your finger in the shape of a letter and the phone searches for everything beginning with that letter.
https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... ZWFyY2giXQ..

-Advanced Task Killer: it's like control + alt + delete for your phone if it starts to act up.
https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... tpbGxlciJd

-Hot Wallz: need I say more? only because I love the ladies!
https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... d2FsbHoiXQ..

Does anyone have suggestions for apps you love to use?

QBGuru wrote:-Advanced Task Killer: it's like control + alt + delete for your phone if it starts to act up.
https://market.android.com/details?id=c ... tpbGxlciJd

As someone who has a pretty good working knowledge of the Android OS, I would highly recommend not using a task killer. I could go into detail but the gist of it is they do more harm than good.

S197 wrote: As someone who has a pretty good working knowledge of the Android OS, I would highly recommend not using a task killer. I could go into detail but the gist of it is they do more harm than good.

Agreed.

S197 wrote: As someone who has a pretty good working knowledge of the Android OS, I would highly recommend not using a task killer. I could go into detail but the gist of it is they do more harm than good.

If you wouldn't mind, I am curious as to why they do more harm than good. I must admit, I am not a Android buff at all (even though I own an android phone!)

HardcoreVikesFan wrote:If you wouldn't mind, I am curious as to why they do more harm than good. I must admit, I am not a Android buff at all (even though I own an android phone!)

Sure.

Generally task killers will provide you with a list of apps running in the background. An app can stay "running" in the background without any processes eating up your phone's resources. When your phone starts to run out of memory, Android will automatically start killing tasks on its own, starting with the least used ones. It's rather efficient. Essentially, killing apps is generally unnecessary.

In fact, it's likely to decrease battery performance. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't (killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place). You'll also probably notice that these "killed" apps will generally restart after a certain amount of time which expends more energy than had you left it alone in the first place.

The best thing to do, IMO, is to root your phone so that you can remove bloatware entirely. However, even in this instance you need to know what you're doing because removing the wrong apps can cause unforseen issues. The short is while it seems like you need to be proactive is app management, Android was developed to manage itself rather well.

Most of the things you can do to improve performance on Android will require what is generally called root or rooting. It's lingo used in the Android world that stems from linux as the term basically means being the root or superuser. Similar to jailbreaking an iPhone or giving yourself admin rights on a PC. With root permissions you can install custom ROMs and kernels, which is really where phone improvement happens. Of course, going down this road also technically voids your warranty and leaves you more susceptible to breaking your phone. But if you do your homework, your phone can benefit greatly.

S197 wrote: Sure.

Generally task killers will provide you with a list of apps running in the background. An app can stay "running" in the background without any processes eating up your phone's resources. When your phone starts to run out of memory, Android will automatically start killing tasks on its own, starting with the least used ones. It's rather efficient. Essentially, killing apps is generally unnecessary.

In fact, it's likely to decrease battery performance. Whether you're manually killing apps all the time or telling the task killer to remove apps from your memory, you're actually using CPU cycles when you otherwise wouldn't (killing apps that aren't doing anything in the first place). You'll also probably notice that these "killed" apps will generally restart after a certain amount of time which expends more energy than had you left it alone in the first place.

The best thing to do, IMO, is to root your phone so that you can remove bloatware entirely. However, even in this instance you need to know what you're doing because removing the wrong apps can cause unforseen issues. The short is while it seems like you need to be proactive is app management, Android was developed to manage itself rather well.

Most of the things you can do to improve performance on Android will require what is generally called root or rooting. It's lingo used in the Android world that stems from linux as the term basically means being the root or superuser. Similar to jailbreaking an iPhone or giving yourself admin rights on a PC. With root permissions you can install custom ROMs and kernels, which is really where phone improvement happens. Of course, going down this road also technically voids your warranty and leaves you more susceptible to breaking your phone. But if you do your homework, your phone can benefit greatly.

Appreciate the explanation. I myself am a Mac person so the relation to jailbreaking really helped me better understand the context.

A task killer was only useful for Android 2.1 or earlier. Android 2.2 or later does app/memory management automatically.