Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

Like many of you I'm sure, I too found the lack of an easily accessible Task Manager in the newer WM 6.5 builds to be quite irritating to say the least, and NO, trying to poke around the upper right-hand corner hoping to get lucky and pull up the HTC task manager is NOT a solution! :angry7:

I tried Task Facade 4.
Verdict: Too slow, and occasionally glitches.

I tried e-Natives Technology ShowcaseSuite-1.1.0.
Verdict: Doesn't play nice with TF3D in the newer builds, preventing it from launching altogether depending on build, and also doesn't work with every app, and occasionally doesn't come up at all.

I tried FdcSoft TaskMgr wm2005
Verdict: Not very finger friendly (and this is essentially what comes with most WM ROM's anyways as a default task manager)

I tried AEBPlus for mapping buttons to alt-tab, close, etc, but most newer phones just don't have the hardware buttons needed, and it's a crapshoot trying to get the buttons mapped properly anyhow.

I tried WkTaskL_1202. I tried QuickMenu WM 6.5 by utak3r, I tried Duttys Task Manager 2.1.19183631, I tried...well, basically you name it, I tried it. :read:


They all had problems in some way, shape, or form. Be it lack of finger-friendliness, crashing, failure to launch, failure to show all open apps properly, conflicts with newer WM/Manila builds, etc.


Then I found the solution, and I can't take the credit for it, as it was posted over at XDA-Developers

Here is the result:
http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/Screen01.png

Compare that to the default task manager included in WM and on most newer 6.5.x ROM's (which I already tweaked to show just Apps and nothing else except for About, which can't be removed, yet it still didn't cut it):
http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/Screen02.png

Big difference in terms of usability!


On my Touch Pro, I've mapped this task manager to long-hold on the talk button, so it pops up after about a second, and I don't have to fool around with thumbing through the start menu anytime I want to access my open apps, or close them for that matter.

Double tapping on any item will switch to it. You can kill all tasks as well as individual tasks with this task manager. It's finger friendly, and it just plain works!

Hope this may be of use to some of you who were just as frustrated as I.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

well i tried mapping task facade to the windows hardware key on my tp2, but it is too slow to be usable... task facade is great, but as far as i know development is stalled.....

i once sent a message to the task facade dev but never got a response.... here it is


task facade would be a great solution if it wasnt so slow.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

Agreed.
That was my experience with it as well.
Nice to look at, but too slow. Perhaps the HD2 with Snapdragon will change all of that, but it's not very usable in its current state, not pragmatically anyhow.

The solution above is super quick though, pops up within a second after being mapped to a key. :)

Oh, and it's finger-friendly as well.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

Funny how the simplest and oldest solutions sometime are the best.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

Indeed. ;)

Here is the exact file you need to access from File Explorer:

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/Screen03.png

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

I will elaborate on this topic as it seemed to generate some confusion in another thread.

I just copied and pasted my post from the other thread below.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

Is this what everyone is using to switch between apps. I really miss the task man in the upper right had corner. That's what I used to multitask and switch between open apps. Is there a solution to this?

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

QuickMenu seems to work nicely on 6.5.1.
Just click where the old start menu used to be.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

thanks

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

I still use taskfacade. It isn't too slow for me, usually launches pretty quickly. The only problem I have with it, is that it crashes pretty often. Someone really needs to take up development on that. If a few issues could be worked, I'd pay for a working version.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

Unfortunately no. :angry7:

We have all of this unoccupied space now in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, which MS could have decided to dedicate to a large task manager button, but nooooooo...

One of the things WinMo is known for is it's multi-tasking, but none of the newer builds have any elegant multi-tasking solution built into them. :scratch:

So now we are left with nothing but alternative solutions that are nowhere near as convenient as the default HTC task manager.

I mean for example, I don't want to dedicate the only programmable button on my phone to a task manager, I'd much rather have the Send Key (Hold) programmed for MS Voice Command, as that's what I always had it mapped to.

Now however, I had to make the hard choice between choosing MS Voice Command and an easily accessible, stable, and finger-friendly task manager (taskmgr) to be mapped to that key, and unfortunately MSVC lost.

How hard can it be to map the upper left hand of the screen to a taskmgr button
and NOT QuickMenu, which is:
a) not finger-friendly
b) a crap shoot to pull up half the time

For that matter, all of our notification icons drop down when you press the top taskbar, why can't we have a 2nd row drop down for active apps? :scratch:

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/Screen11.png

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

First of all, thanks so much for your initial post. I was searching for a finger-friendly, lightweight, task manager--with no luck--until I found your post describing how there was one right under my nose!

Second, it sounds like what you need to install on your Sprint Touch Pro is Raphael Keyboard Controller (CDMA version). It will let you map any key to any other key, or to an executable or predefined action. It recognizes and differentiates between single, double, triple, and long presses.

On my VZW TP2 (using the Rhodium version, I mapped long-press Home key to execute taskmgr.exe. (I also remapped the SYM key to Control, because the VZW TP2 is missing the Control key, and now FN-SYM takes care of the original SYM action of opening the Symbol chooser.)

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

I use a modified Showcase Task Manager. If you edit the showcase registry entries it makes it more useful. Change it to "close on tap" instead of "tap and hold to close", that makes a big difference. Also there are 4 or 5 registry key entries you should take out and it will then work with ManilaFixPosition.exe. I use this in my ROMs and works great. IE will not close on tap of "X" because that "X" button in the program is mapped to the program not a taskmanager. Please use the menu and scroll down and select exit and IE will close normally.

Re: Task Manager Solution for WM 6.5.1 ROM's
 

I have the touch pro 2 with 6.5 stock rom and have goodthings2life installed on it along with co0kies home tab editor.

Does the stock have a task manager? I mean I am not sure but I think I remember it had a task manager in "start" and programs. I may not be right, it might have appeared after the cleanup.

But let me know. If it doesn't why don't you like it?