I have two apps that use a service to upload and download files and data. I've noticed that when the service gets very busy, it can cause the UI to block, up to the point that Android shows a "force quit/ wait" popup. In order to avoid that, I run tasks in a service at a lower priority. This way, the service will never cause the UI to hickup. Also, the service stops if the app hasn't been used for a certain number of minutes. I don't want to keep resources if the user isn't using my app.
I have found that some of my users run apps that run services permanently at normal priority. Such a service starts at phone switch on, and keeps running indefinitely, downloading vast amounts of data. My policy of being nice to other apps doesn't pay off: these agressive third party services push my service away so it never gets anything done. As one of my users told me, my app has hickups, until he kills the service of this app X, after which my app runs smoothly, snappy, and fast. My question is, should I be nice to other apps and to the UI in my own app, or should I just run a service and agressively take all resources I need - or don't need? This is one issue where Android is different from iPhone. We can run services, but by doing so, we can cause damage to other peoples apps. Of course, my "question" doesn't require an answer. I'm just curious after what other people think, what your experience here is. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
