@crashdamage:
I am not going to go into a lengthy discussion about Clean Master and other mentioned apps here. This is a wrong venue for that, IMHO.
My original intent was to provide a
more balanced evaluation of those apps. So, that people who read your (emotionally charged) post can have non-binary (as in 0|1, black|white) look at the issue.
So, with this followup message, I only want to clarify a few points.
First, - all my comments that were not explicitly referring to you by the username were not about you. Those were about all different people in different forums referenced by you and therein. I see that you took them upon yourself. It was not my intent. More over, I didn't even care who wrote particular statements/posts, - I evaluated them on the merit of the arguments without any relation to whoever wrote them.
The only exception was the very last paragraph where I referred to you specifically. - It was only when I finished my posting and was rereading it before submitting that realized that the second to the last quote was yours. That's when I noticed the apparent self-contradiction between
your two statements and pointed it out.
And again,
@crashdamage:
I appreciate the [compilation of the] links you provided ...
3. The side effects of these actions (in 2. above) can occasionally look or sometimes even be positive (albeit, it is not the best or the most elegant solution).
Side effects? Such as? Are you saying there are sometimes fortuitous 'accidents' from using lousy software written with disregard to how Android functions? Such as task killers, RAM optimizers, cache cleaners, battery savers', etc.
Here is an example of what I mean by a side effect.
While Clean Master claims that it frees RAM (which in most cases doesn't make sense to do), it actually kills some apps. By doing that, it frees the CPU in case one or more apps (running in the background) is in the state where it is unnecessarily consuming CPU cycles, slowing down, and it does it before Android own tools get to do that. So, that does feel as a quick relieve from the sluggishness.
It is quite possible that if the user waited for a bit longer, Android would have taken care of it itself, but then, (and because the system is not tuned for the arbitrary combination of the resources and apps installed) in the mean time, you'd have to suffer. So, the relief can be helpful even if it is not an elegant behavior.
It is similar to how I sometimes have to kill Firefox or Thunderbird on my Windows system when it accumulates something (memory leaks?) and becomes non-responsive. Yes, I have to restart it (and FF is nice about restoring the windows), but then it runs much faster.
Unfortunately, so far, I haven't found an easily accessible analog of Task Manager in Windows or ps + kill in Unix to use on a non-rooted Android.
4. There is functionality of some of these tools that in my view can be positive. And I cannot find any fact that would indicate the opposite (I am not even talking about a solid proof). [see an example below]
What useful functionality is there in any of the software groups I listed above? You may want to read through this thread before answering. You may have seen it, but look again before you reply. This single thread contains plenty of bashing, yes, but also a lot of factual information.
http://androidforums.com/index.php?posts/6857986
I had read this very carefully, possibly with even more attention to detail then you did.
The specific example is the cache cleaning that I discuss below.
Personally, - I do not need Battery Doctor. But there is functionality of CleanMaster (and I have an old one, 4.0.1) that I find useful, and hasn't been really contested (see 4. above):
See Kostya's opening post. Do a Google search. It has been contested plenty.
cache cleaning and removal of various temporary files (image previews, etc.). Android (at least 4.x version that I've seen) does not do much of "housekeeping" work of that type, and doesn't offer any convenient way. (Yes, you can clean the cache by rebooting and going through the recovery, but is it really needed every time I need to update a behemoth app?
Cache cleaning is rarely needed. As I've stated many times, cache files are there for a reason, to speed up the system. Best performance is achieved by leaving cache files alone to do their job. Deleting cache files only wastes power and CPU cycles rebuilding them. That cache files become 'corrupted' is a mostly a myth. Clearing caches does have it's place but it's rare that we actually need to go there. Some simple research on cache files will back that statement up. Feel free to do so. Not my job to do it for you.
You are changing the focus. Nobody says that the cache is not useful.
But there are situations when you'd benefit from cleaning it nevertheless.
Let me describe it in a different way:
You don't have any
fact that
demonstrates that cleaning cache in
judiciously chosen apps does any harm.
Yes, it removes the benefit of the cache that allows speeding up of the process initial response (start-up). But that's it.
But cleaning cache gives a benefit of freeing up enough space (often as much as 50-100 MB!) to update behemoth apps on a non-rooted device with a relatively small internal storage.
If I don't have enough space to update an app, those extra CPU cycles aren't going to save me.
And it is not "rarely needed", as you wrote above. Some apps (TripAdvisor, my bank's, one of the airline's) do not allow me to use un-updated app (the behavior with which I do not agree in
most cases), and they have frequent updates: TripAdvisor has them every two weeks.
You don't need it, - that's fine. But claiming that cleaning cache is universally useless, and even evil, -- is
WRONG!
5. What information is actually being collected by the companies behind the apps is still unknown but just suspected.
What matters is that information is sent back at all. Exactly what and how much information is sent only defines the severity of the offense.
While I would agree with you from the philosophical point of view, the reality we live in is different. That is very unfortunate, and I disagree with that, but we cannot overcome it completely. If you don't want
any information collected, disconnect from the internet, cut your credit cards, stop using all store discount cards. Basically, - go Amish way.
Google, your phone service provider (VZW, AT&T, ...) - all collect and send information about you. Have you stopped using them?
So, there is a fine line that everybody chooses for her-/him-self. For me, that should be an educated decision based on the information, not emotions or fads.
SD Maid offers an option to clear cache files and to select only certain caches for deletion. ...
You can choose exatly what you want SD Maid to do.
...
It does not run in the background, only when used.
From Google Play for SD Maid:
This app has access to:
<...>
Other
run at startup
Isn't that running in the background? It starts before I even need it. That's not what I'd like. Is there an option in the app to disable autorun on startup?
view network connections
full network access
Why a cleaning app needs access to network?
The answer is simple: for downloading ads and/or sending its data "back home".
How do you know it doesn't do the latter?
Clean Master and other Cheetah Mobile software <...> is notorious for throwing up nag ads and scary-sounding false alarms.
I've read about it, but the version on my phone doesn't do that.
In case it would be helpful to some people here, here are just a few examples of typical logical fallacies and problems with the arguments used in the quoted forums:
1. Appeal to Authority (http://www.logicalfallacies.info/relevance/appeals/appeal-to-authority/).
E.g. "Android developers know better" -- We've seen quite a few examples on this forum, that sometimes it is quite the opposite. Besides, even if Android developers did "The Right Thing (tm)" all the time, what manufacturers and service providers do on top of that can offset the efforts of the OS developers. Do Android developers do a complete regression testing with all flavors of the LockedWare?
Developers are human. They make mistakes. People have opinions. I don't understand why you incluuded this. Is your point that we should only listen to absolute, definitive experts on a given subject, disregarding all others? And how and who decides who those definitive experts are?
No, my point is that saying that Android developers are the only experts, and they've achieved a system that is working correctly on all possible devices, and that nobody can improve anything on top of that, -- is a wrong argument.
No more, no less.
This type of a logical fallacy called an "Appeal to Authority" (see the link to the website on logical fallacies provided above).
2. Some statements suffer from the so-called survivorship bias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias). Devices of the well qualified people conducting experiments are usually different from the "mass" devices: These devices are tuned, often working on a different ROM, or at least rooted; frequently high-specs devices. They are different from the run-of-the-mill, small-RAM, locked, unrooted devices with plenty of bloatware. So what is not any help for the former, could provide some relieve to the latter (albeit not the best one).
This has nothing to do with anything in this thread as far as I can tell. Let me know if I'm wrong.
Again, I am talking about
ALL the threads on android forums referenced by you and some referenced therein.
4. DO NOT use any task killers, RAM memory optimizers/boosters, battery savers/repairers, cache cleaners, antivirus, etc etc. None of that stuff is necessary.
<..>
I just reread the forum from which I took that quote and realized that it was written by you, @crashdamage. Sorry, - but you are inconsistent: In the posting here, you wrote:
SD Maid is a far better, more effective cleaner...
Eh?
Some of it was by me. Most of the linked information was not. I basically just tried to bring information together. Couldn't resist adding my opinions of course, same as you are adding yours.
SD Maid IS a far better piece of software. Honest and effective at what it is designed to do.
Both statements were yours: The absolute and non-negotiable "DO NOT use
any task killers, ... cleaners ..." and "... SD Maid is a far better, more effective cleaner". You don't see the internal contradiction?
Alright, I've learned what I could on the subject (unless additional
facts are provided). Other forum readers can make their choices for themselves the way they want - rational, emotional, or even irrational. That's a personal choice.