Why You Should Not Use RAM Boosters

Danijel Markov, a Recognized Contributor at XDA, recently wrote about how various RAM boosters and task cleaners like Clean Master, DU Speed Booster etc are bad for your device. I will just quote him:
Many people are using apps that "boosts" their device, these apps gives faux-increase (no increment) for performance, and what they're doing is actually harming the device. Android uses a modified Linux kernel, the kernel has lots of parameter that controls various component in your device, one of them is a smart memory management (LMK). You might think that using these "Quick Boost Now" apps will increase the performance of your device, but no, it directly interferes the memory management and it will quickly break the arrangement of services that is kept inside your RAM. This might give a temporary boost, but the overall effect is nearly zero, this is because the services will be regenerated, the regeneration of these services will take up your battery, since it needs to power up the CPU for a shortwhile.
There is NO point doing these, additionally, most of the apps that does these quick "boost" is filled with adware, and potential malwares. These apps are ACTUALLY doing nearly NOTHING for you, they just want you to see their ads.

After some of the apps by Google Inc like the Google app, Gmail etc & WhatsApp, Clean Master is the most downloaded app with more than 500 million downloads on the Play Store. DU Speed Booster at the moment has more than 100 million downloads on the Play Store. And with ratings of 4.7 and 4.5 out of 5 respectively, you can clearly make out the popularity and demand of these kinds if apps within the public.

The reason this is bad for the Android users is that most of the people who are using these speed booster apps do not realise that they are harming their devices with their own hands.

Clean Master is owned by Cheetah Mobile, which bought the most used and famous gallery app QuickPic last year. DU Speed Booster is owned by DU Apps Studio. ES File Explorer in one of it's last updates came with a feature known as DU Fast Charge, which intended to speed up your charging, but in turn flooded up the lock screen with adware. All the Android users who are familiar with the process of rooting and flashing ROMs & kernels realise that charging can't be sped up without making changes to the kernel settings, because it is the kernel which links the hardware with the software.

The popularity of these apps within the Android community has in turn lead to the proliferation of some of the most popular apps of all times being bought by these companies, who in turn fill it with adware. These apps are not speeding up Android, instead they are one of the biggest obstacles in the growth of Android.

None of the developers of these RAM booster apps have ever been awarded the top developer status by Google. This helps us in realising that even Google condemns the use of these apps. But, Google hasn't been able to take a stand because from the moment Clean Master was launched, the growth of these speed booster apps has been exponential. And if Google starts removing these apps from the Play Store, it would be as if Google is plotting against itself.

Another logical fact is that no OEM or smartphone manufacturer would ever make a slow device. Just think about it. They want to sell their devices. So, they will obviously try and get the best out of the hardware they can. Google would not want to make Android slow either. After all it to has to compete with the likes of iOS, Windows, Tizen. So, why would it make Android slow? Doesn't that seem logical enough that Google would never ever want Android to be slow.

So, what led to the growth of these apps?

Well, most of the people thought that whenever there phone hangs or lags a bit, Android is to be blamed. That's where they went wrong. Then they thought that there must be an app to fix all this and this is how all this started.

Fine, so why does my Android run slow?

Answer Good question. The answer is simple. The wakelocks, services and alarms are to be blamed. So, if you are new to all this stuff, I will try and explain it to you in brief. So, you would have definitely noticed that whenever you are using any app, say browsing the internet or playing a game, a WhatsApp message, a Messenger message, a Twitter post or an email would make it's way into your notification panel and alert you. So, how do you think is all this happening? These apps need to continuously check whether there is any new message, post, pic or email. This is what we call as wakelocks, alarms and services. These things need memory. That is nothing but your RAM. These apps have to ensure that their content reaches you as soon as possible. And, our gadgets have a limited memory, which means if we use too many apps of these kind which check for stuff in the background, the RAM available would be less, which would ultimately lead to a poor user interface and a laggy experience. Now, when you use apps like Clean Master, what they would do is, they will go into your RAM and occupy a portion of your RAM permanently. They will then start shooting down other apps like WhatsApp, Messenger etc out of the memory. But, the wakelocks will help them in waking up again and checking for updates in the background. Clean Master will again step up and kill them when you press that "boost" button. These apps will again get up and make their way into the memory. These apps are like soldiers who never die, they are immune to Clean Master. Now, what is the loss? The loss is that Clean Master has permanently occupied that precious RAM and is more over undertaking tasks which will always go in vain. So, that is why these speed boosters are nothing but useless apps.

The solution: The only solution is that we need to realise that these apps are actually destroying our gadgets. The day most of us realise this would be the day all of this will stop.

Krittin Kalra
Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.
Why You Should Not Use RAM Boosters Why You Should Not Use RAM Boosters Reviewed by Krittin Kalra on 5/28/2016 02:59:00 AM
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