Why does everyone think task killers are bad?

its because task killers are actually usleless except for a few situations. unless you only use them in those situations you are actually hurting the performance of your phone. allow me to explain

obviously, the android os can multitask. its probably the most touted feature because the iphone cant.

 most people then assume that it works in the same way your computer does. you minimize a window and it disappears off your screen. but its still running full blast in the background while you are off doing something else. this is not how android works.

android freezes and unfreezes apps as necessary for usage. this means that when you click the home button from an app that app will no longer actively use any processor speed.

this being said, task killers are harmful to your performance because your phone will preload some frozen apps, because it is much quicker to unfreeze an app then load it from new. it does this when it has extra processing power. as soon as you need that power it redirects it, so you would never notice a change.

if you are using a task killer often, youve probably noticed this. if you dont know whats happening it can be extremely annoying that tasks just pop up when you havent opened them. then your like "wtf KILL KILL KILL" but that only hurts you because then later you open messages and it takes a really long time (probably alot less noticeable on the evo then it was for me when i had my hero).

when you use a task killer to indiscriminately kill apps all your doing is forcing your phone to open programs freshly every time. there is no performance gain from killing a whole bunch of frozen apps.

but like i said there are some reasons you might want a task killer. some applications are an active service in the background such as aim instant messenger. these will use your processor speed whether you are using the app or not. generally these apps will be in the taskbar or will let you know that they are active.

so sometimes, if you are too lazy to back out of an active app, you might actually use a task killer. but that doesnt happen all that often

when i first started using android i was using task killers just like you were until somebody let me know on a forum, so i figured id pass it forward. it happens to the best of us, literally (jk)

hope that helps!
 

in that case, whats the best and most effective way to close an app then?

wouldnt running all those app simultaneously drain the battery?

thanks for explaining.. as this is my first android device..

it actually runs better without the task killers, as for the battery life its the same lol i tried this 2 days in a row since i had read this in some other forum.

So I ran the phone all night at work without the task killer. Same amount of use, probably a bit more as I was keeping track of the blackhawks. And the verdict is I actually got better battery life without the task killer running. Not sure if that makes sense but its that's what happened. I will be deleting the app and saving the space for something more useful

Well said!!! A fellow geek after my own heart.