Tech

Android 13 should fix a big Android 12 restriction

While Android 12 is just starting to make its way onto smartphones, the first information on Android 13 is already emerging. And the future OS could well give users the choice to deactivate the PhantomProcessKiller, a powerful battery optimization feature. Explanations.

Android 12
(Credits: Android)

In addition to a significant graphic overhaul, Android 12 has introduced a slew of new features such as application hibernation, one-handed mode or even the interface to preserve user privacy.

Among the new features, Google has also rolled out a mechanism to kill overly power-hungry ghost processes running in the background. This feature, named PhantomProcessKillerBasically, it detects malicious apps that are excessively draining your battery. However, there is no consensus, especially on the developer side.

For beginners, this mechanism kills child processes of applications when they use too much CPU load even though their parent process is also running in the background. In addition, the PhantomProcessKiller allows a maximum of 32 child processes. This significantly limits the number of operations that an app can perform in the background. XDA Developers points out that Termux, the Linux terminal emulator, for example suffers a lot.

Also read: Android 12.1: an unexpected new update before the release of Android 13?

Disabling PhantomProcessKiller: the patch also expected on Android 12L

Good news, reporter Mishaal Rahman spotted a fix in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) submitted by Google. Concretely, the company plans in the future to include the possibility of deactivating this functionality in the developer options if it interferes with the applications in use. To run, simply follow the following path: Settings> Developer options> Feature indicators. Once deactivated, child processes using too many CPU resources will no longer be slaughtered or subject to the limit of 32.

It remains to be seen when this fix will be rolled out. We will probably have to wait for the arrival of Android 13, known by the code name Tiramisu, to be able to end these restrictions. In addition, Google could also integrate the option in Android 12L, a version of the OS reserved for large screens.

Source: XDA Developers

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