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Has your phone become slow, and the battery discharged quickly? Some apps continue to run in the background to send you notifications or to sync data, which consumes a considerable chunk of RAM and resources. But you can use app killers to boost overall performance.
We have reviewed some of the best app killers for Android to help you find and automatically stop resource-hungry apps.
But before that, I recommend you watch a short video to learn quick facts about how Android OS handles memory and why it could be a bad idea to frequently use an app killer to stop/kill essential apps on Android.
Now, as you have learned about how to make the most out of the app killer, so without any further ado, here are the six best app killers for Android:
1. Native/Stock Android App Manager
In case you don’t know, Android comes with a native app manager that can kill apps and lets you view a list of all the apps running on your device, along with the amount of memory each one consumes and for how long it has been running.
The Android stock app killer is not limited to that. It even allows you to force stop/kill apps that conflict with your device or are resource-hungry. Because this feature is built into your device and is much more reliable, I believe installing a third-party app is unnecessary.
- Allow you to force-stop the app
- It is preinstalled with the Android system
- Show the total RAM as well as available and currently consumed memory
2. Greenify
Greenify is a task killer and an all-in-one system management tool capable of doing much more than simple application management tasks. It is more like a popular task manager app.
This task killer can put selected apps into hibernation when not in use. This way, the apps won’t be running in the background, won’t consume system resources, and will stop unusual battery draining and increase your phone’s overall battery life.
Although a few features of Greenify require root, the developer behind the app, Oasis Feng, has thoroughly overhauled it recently, and now most of the features don’t require root.
- Manually end tasks from the list
- Automated task killing and hibernation functionality
- Detailed system information, including RAM usage, currently running apps, and storage space info
- Find out which apps are slowing down your device
- Home screen widget support
3. KillApps
Super Task Killer is a reliable task killer app for Android that shows you a list of all the running apps and their trails, divided into easy-to-identify categories. You can maintain your personalized exception list, where you can add frequently used apps that you don’t want to be automatically killed.
Apart from the app-killing functionalities, this app provides you with several additional features, including regular automated cleaning, a one-tap boost option, tasks manager, RAM monitor, and a power-saving mode to extend your phone’s standby time.
- One tap boosts your Android device
- Regular cleaning closes background apps automatically
- Ability to add frequently used apps to the exception list
- Allows you to kill a single app manually
4. 3C All-in-One Toolbox
3C All-in-One Toolbox is a steadfast app killer and app manager for Android that is easy to use and based on the material UI design. Similar to the stock Android app manager, this task manager also shows you a list of currently running apps and the amount of available RAM in a graphical format.
You can simply tap the name of the running app from the list and then manually kill it through the interface. You can maintain an ignored list so that your frequently used apps are not accidentally killed.
- Ability to kill one app at a time
- Ad-free and does not require any payment
- Maintain your own ignored list
- See history of RAM usage in graphical format
5. Force Stop App
Force Stop App is designed to help you kill an unresponsive or resource-hungry app that is slowing your device down. By killing unwanted apps continuously running in the background, you can once again speed up your device.
What’s unique about this app is that you can kill the selected app in just one click, and you can automatically kill the app and keep your device at its optimal working condition. The app also shows you the total amount of RAM consumed by each app to make it easier to decide which app needs to be stopped.
- Manually kill/force stop selected apps
- Ability to stop apps with one tap
- Auto kills will automatically kill apps within the specified interval
- Add apps you don’t want to kill on the ignored list
- Contains ads
6. Task Manager (Task Killer)
The Task Manager is actually a task killer with an easy-to-use UI that allows you to kill selected apps whenever the screen is turned off automatically. The manager will show you a list of all the running apps that can be easily rearranged alphabetically.
Upon successfully killing all the apps, if you have enabled the feature notification, the app will prepare and show you a summary of apps auto-killed and the RAM freed by the Task Killer.
- Ability to force stop/kill the app manually
- Add any app to the ignore list
- Add apps to the auto-kill list and kill them when the screen is turned off
- Home screen one-tap widget support
- Contains ads
How Android OS Handles Memory/RAM?
For beginners or those who are unaware of how the Android OS works, it is important to understand that Android handles the RAM in a completely different way than the Windows OS (we compared it with Windows because that is what most users have used).
If you know how to see a list of currently running Android apps, you must have noticed that several apps are running all the time, even though you are not using them, right?
That is how Android is designed to handle apps. This is precisely what allows the Android device to let you quickly open apps and switch between multiple apps without waiting for them to load because those apps are already loaded in the RAM.
In those cases, when you are running an app that requires a lot of RAM, such as a gaming app, the Android OS will automatically kill the least necessary apps to free up memory and allocate it to the game.
And once you close that game, Android will automatically reopen any essential app that was killed/stopped during the process.
Although the Android OS is smart enough to automatically kill and restart background apps depending on your usage, at times, some apps are poorly developed and have flaws/memory leaks that use all of your device’s resources, ultimately making your device slow or unresponsive.
That is exactly when the need to use an app killer arises. An app killer is designed to kill any buggy app or unresponsive task and will help you quickly stop that app from eating up resources, hence making your phone responsive again.
How To Make The Most Out Of App Killer On Android
In most cases, app killers and task managers do more harm than good to your Android device because the app killer itself continuously runs in the background to help you monitor and stop an unresponsive app.
In worst cases, using the app killer to kill essential apps will directly impact your device’s performance and ultimately drain the battery faster.
You must be wondering how killing an app is going to have any impact on the battery. Right?
What happens is that whenever you try to kill an app that is necessary and should not be stopped, Android will automatically restart it. Moreover, this whole stopping and restarting process of apps will unnecessarily consume your device’s resources, slow it down, and negatively affect the battery.
End Note
Which app killer do you use to force stop unresponsive and resource-hungry apps on your Android? Did we forget to mention your favorite app killer?
Please share your valuable opinions in the comments below. 🙂
