Most of the Android device users actively use or at least have heard of task killer applications like Advanced Task Killer. While it is true that sometimes you need to kill (or force stop) a particular app when it brings your device to a standstill, blindly killing apps and processes is not good for the health of your device.
The way out of this problem is to monitor your apps and processes before you pull the plug on them. The main point to know here is the difference between RAM and Processor usage.
You may have almost all of your RAM in use but that is not a problem. It is useful for efficient multitasking and allows you to quickly switch apps. The Android system efficiently manages your RAM and frees up necessary memory for your apps to run as and when required.
Your Android device acts sluggish or slow when the Processor is overloaded. All the apps running on Android require a specific amount of processing power. Due to some reason or other, the apps spin out of control and become a “runaway process”. The apps hogs a lot of processing power and slows down your device.
Watchdog Task Manager monitors your apps and processes and alerts you about CPU hogging processes and allows you to manage them with ease.
About Watchdog Task Manager App for Android :
As you run the Watchdog task manager for the first time, it asks for you to set the default profile. The profiles set the CPU threshold percentage that triggers an alert when an app exceeds the specified CPU usage.
The first tab of the interface shows the system stats – time of last data collection, CPU percentage in use, memory status and CPU information.
The second tab lists all the apps that exceed the specified threshold level. The date, time and percent of processor power used is listed with the app. The apps that you do not wish to be alerted for can be added to the Whitelist.
For example, Webroot Mobile Security app triggers an alert when it performs a system scan.
The CPU tab lists down all the processes and also tells its type – foreground, service or visible. The processed can be easily killed, launched or whitelisted with a single touch.
Watchdog Task Manager Settings :
Whenever the Watchdog triggers an alert, it can notify you in a number of ways that are easily configurable.
The performance of the app depends on the polling settings that you set up. Set the CPU threshold for triggering an alert as well as the CPU polling interval. The lesser the interval, the higher is the battery consumption.
Enabling the Real time polling overrides the regular polling settings and generates the stats rapidly. This can also be used as a test for this app. As soon as the Real time polling is enabled, Watchdog moves up the list as it consumes more processing power.
Watchdog also comes with a widget for your home screen that shows system stats for easy monitoring and access to the app.
The app has a robust help that will guide you about how the various features of the app work, general instructions and upgrade options.
Watchdog Task Manager Features :
- Monitor the apps and processes to know about the processing power they consume
- Add apps to Whitelist to avoid alerts when they cross the CPU threshold
- Add apps to Blacklist to automatically kill them when they cross the CPU threshold (paid version)
- Get Real-time stats to pin point the problematic apps and processes
The paid version of Watchdog Task Manager removes ads and adds the blacklist feature.
Conclusion :
Watchdog can be the ideal and smarter replacement for your task killer app. Know what is going wrong with your device and which processes are going out of control before you start killing the processes randomly.
Watchdog not only gives you information about how much power your apps consume but also gives you a smarter way to manage them. Handle (kill/launch/monitor) you apps the smart way with Watchdog Task Manager.
Download Watchdog Task Manager from Android Market :
Start a barcode (QR code) scanner on your phone and scan the QR code below. This will take you directly to the Android market to download the app. If you do not have a QR Code scanner app, get one from this list of Top QR code scanner apps for Android.
