Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
chucklenugget
Newbie

My Droid Incredible phone, which I have now had for three days updated to Froyo last night.  As far as the phone itself--speed, keyboard, screen, all of that works beautifully!  But like a lot of other people posting here suddenly I was having massive problems with rogue apps appearing as open when I had never even chosen them.  And like a lot of other people posted it appeared (and I want to emphasize appear in this case)  that the task killer was no longer working.  However, after doing much on-line reading and research I discovered the culprit and the solution. 

I hope the following is clear enough and helps some people out there!  It took me awhile to get to the bottom of this and I am hoping to make it easier for others. 

 

I found a post on erictric.com discussing the Facebook software and Wake lock as well as solutions to this rogue issue. Here is the explanation for the wake lock from geekfor.me this amazingly helpful information that explained a lot: http://geekfor.me/news/facebook-1-3-wakelock/

 

And here is the link to the dialogue on erictric.com: http://erictric.com/2010/08/05/android-2-2-froyo-battery-drainage-apparently-caused-by-facebook-app/...

 

1.  You do not need to uninstall the ATK.  This is not the source of your problems.

In fact, I used it to indicate to me which apps were the source of my problems--the ones that were magically appearing as open or not shutting down even after I hit Kill Apps.  For me this included Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Pandora, City ID, My Verizon, and the News and Weather.  It disturbed me deeply that things were running that I had never opened.

 

If anything could be identified as wrong is that the ATK hasn't yet been updated to solve what I call  the FB issue.

 

2.  To solve this problem go to Settings and select Applications.

There you will find a list of all of the applications on your phone.  First I uninstalled the current FB update as had been suggested and per the aforementioned explanation.  I did this by going to Settings, Application and choosing FB where it gave me the option to uninstall the recent FB update.  As the software itself is not removable.  

After that, I uninstalled what I could from the apps that were going rogue: twitter, Pandora (I don't use it anyways) and the free dictionary program

3. If you cannot uninstall an update as it is not a choice (or do not want to) select Force Quit for rogue Apps.

Next(again still in Settings under the Applications selection)  I went through all of the apps that just seemed to be running for no reason and selected Force Quit. This included Skype, City ID, My Verizon, News and Weather

4. SUCCESS!! I went back to ATK to then see what was running and guess what: only the apps I was using (or most recently had used)were listed.  I tested this several times by opening various apps and going to ATK--there were no rogue apps (i.e. Skype or City ID) on the list and when I selected Kill apps --the apps were gone and did not appear again until I opened them. 

5. You can still use FB and there are other apps out there for Twitter that work w/o this issue until this problem with the updates gets resolved. 

 

Important Note: The solution as some people would like you to believe is not to uninstall ATK --all that does is prevent you from knowing what apps are going rogue and running down battery on your phone.  Even w/o ATK installed, the apps themselves are still having a party in the background without you knowing as ATK is not what causes them to run.  Just remember ignorance is not necessarily bliss in this case. 

Furthermore, regardless of whether all of those apps run down battery life or not, I still do not want random apps open unless I select them to be running and I have found the solution to this that works well for now. 

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Re: Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
AZSALUKI
Legend

i've never had the wake lock issue, but i've seen many people describe that their awake time and up time were always the same. never knew what wake lock was. now i do. good info and link!!!

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Re: Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
ABL
Newbie

how do u remove the facebook apps? it look like the facebook apps came with the phone.

cant be uninstall.

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Re: Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
AZSALUKI
Legend

you can't. but if you've recieved an update to the app, then you can remove the update so it goes back to the earlier version. go into mange apps and find facebook.

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Re: Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
applecalypse
Newbie

This is in part true; however, not a permanent solution. Although "Clearing Data", or "Forcing Stop" the bloatware you don't use (i.e. Skype, CityID, etc) it will not prevent them from opening in the future. All it takes it's for you to receive a phone call (or reboot the phone) and they will all be running again. 

 

This is just some annoying feature Verizon is forcing down our throats and I really wish they didn't. I hope people just stop using those apps in general. I mean, why force my phone to run apps I do not want. I don't want the CityID service, I should be able to uninstall it. I do not want/use Skype, I should be able to uninstall it instead of them creeping out battery/life and memory on my phone.


And lastly, the biggest Verizon FAIL... They want you to pay 9.99/month to use the VZW Navigator when you have Google Navigation absolutely for free?? Come one VZW.. why even invest in developing this app??? I'm sure the investors must be really happy about this.

 

OVERALL: The only way to get rid of these spam, undesired bloatware of useless apps is to Root your phone. Or Continuously complaint to Verizon unless they get tire and allow us to remove them... but good luck with the later one.

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Re: Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
AZSALUKI
Legend

i agree with most of that. however....regarding vzn nav....they didn't put it on the device with it's launch and then (to my extreme surprise) people that came from another device and had been using vzn nav for $10/mo actually complained!! there's an old thread on the forum with a big debate over which was better...google nav or vzn nav. i was floored to see that many customers actually wanted to pay for vzn's version. i'll take the free google nav, but that's just me. i've never used vzn nave but there were actually many people that said it had more features and was more accurate than google...and i guess that it is worth $10/mo to them. and if vzn makes the app available...you better believe they'll load it for us...lol. i don't care for the pre installed apps...but honestly, my inc is running faster and smoother than before with no worse battery life so i really don't care.

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Re: Solution for Froyo Update Issue regarding apps--don't blame task killer
DrCitrus
Newbie

You are absolutely, 100% right!  The Bloatware reappears, and cannot be unistalled.  VZ must have some deal with the software providers to include their product on the phone.  But to make it unremovable to the point that it impairs system efficiency (ie. battery life) is simply poor customer service--which VZ excels in.

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