Watchdog Task Manager

3 3 out of 5 stars | 194 ratings

Price: 3.49

Last update: 06-17-2024


Latest updates

What's new in version 3.6.7
  • Fixed single alert option.
  • Fixed translation where Estonian was showing up while phone was set to English.
  • Collection of fixes for crashes reported by users
  • Last mjor update for 1.5 users. The app will remain available, but new UI features will require 1.6 or above.

Product Details

Release Date: 2010
Date first listed on Amazon: May 23, 2010
Developed By: Zomut, LLC
ASIN: B004JKQP92
Customer reviews:
3.0 out of 5 stars194 customer ratings

Developer info

Product features

  • Monitor running apps CPU usage
  • Get alerts for apps that eat up system resources
  • Whitelist apps that you know are OK

Product description

Stop killing your apps randomly. Start monitoring them with Watchdog. You don't need a task killer. But you do need a way to make sure a background app doesn't lose control and eat up all your CPU. Watchdog monitors your apps and alerts when one loses control, allowing you to kill just that single app. Killing apps blindly can cause them to stop working as designed, and most app developers won't even take a bug report from you if you are using a task killer! From Android 2.2 on, the kill command works only on background apps, and they will likely restart immediately. Having lots of apps running doesn't hurt your phone at all unless they are doing something. In fact, killing an app and having it immediately restart simply consumes your phones resources. If you just leave the apps running, they will start immediately when you want to go back to it. So stop blindly killing all your apps; be smart by managing them instead. Good for all versions of Android.

User Data Privacy

Information not provided by the developer.

Technical details

Size: 598.1KB
Version: 3.6.7
Developed By: Zomut, LLC
Application Permissions: ( Help me understand what permissions mean )
  • Allows termination of background processes
  • Read only access to device state
  • Get notified that the operating system has finished booting
  • Access the vibration feature
  • PowerManager WakeLocks to keep processor from sleeping or screen from dimming
Minimum Operating System: Android 1.5
Approximate Download Time: Less than 30 seconds

Top reviews from the United States

AJ MrMann
1.0 out of 5 stars Promise not kept
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2011
When I began using this app it seemed legit watching my processes giving fair warnings. But than my phone (optimus v) started to slow down without the app warning me. Then I received a notification for a program that would speed up my phone it used an icon that only this app had used.
Today I received a notification for contacts for singles with the same icon.
I don't need an application that

a) does not fulfills its premise in warning me when a slowdown is caused by an app.

b) then tries to sell me a booster app to solve that problem .... And

c) spams me with unwanted messages.

I just uninstalled!
TMtrue
2.0 out of 5 stars good app, buggy
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2011
This is a good app, the only problem is when i installed it, I started seeing a part of the app on my live wallpaper and it stopped movng. After I uninstalled it I kept seeing the same thing, so I restrted my phone. Same thing. I changed my live wallpaper to another one and that wallpaper crashed, so I changed it again. Switching through my homescreen my phone crashed. No new problems but until I see an update to fix this, i'll keep my rating. its a good app, its just buggy.
nerata
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice app with some reservations
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2011
Useful app, nicely implemented with the following shortfalls (paid version 3.6.5.1):
1) Changelog shows Flurry Analytics removed in version 3.6.5(4/27/11) so why are Internet permissions still required in paid version? Contrary to permissions descriptions, I see no menu setting to disable Internet access.
2) LED notification only works when screen is blanked. This may be a design choice, not a bug, but the LED is more attention-grabbing so why not leave it active?
3) I see no way to contact the dev, neither thru the app nor at dev's website ([...]).

Moto Droid 1
Larry Wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars Watchdog Review
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2011
I got this app from the Amazon Free App of the Day, and so far it seems to perform exactly as it's described.

I use it to monitor misbehaving apps that take up too much CPU cycles. I haven't changed many of the settings so far.

The one application that I've noted on my Android that uses a lot of CPU cycles in the Gallery. Apps can be added to a Whitelist or a Blacklist in the app.

I like the CPU tab most of all - it gives a view of the running processes much faster than opening the settings on my phone.

App is quick and responsive on my Epic 4G.
JvDes13
5.0 out of 5 stars People don't seem to read anymore or understand the English language.
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2011
Seriously people. There is nothing special or scary about the permissions. Apps the world around check the phone state to know when you get a call so it minimizes and you get the caller app popup. The same goes for the internet. Don't be fooled by these review trolls who don't use the app due to their lack of english comprehension.

This app does what 2.2 didn't do. Froyo managed your memory more efficiently. Task managers became almost superfluous besides the times when their would be a memory leak or some garbage from an apps shotty programing. Android 2.2 would never force quit those to the extent of requiring a battery pull because angry birds got angry at my phone.

This app manages memory hogs. It is not a task manager. It watches over the memory looking for those apps that may have broken and force closing them to stop a restart or a battery pull. Completely usefully and unique in these reguards.

Amazon app store is awesome, just not developer friendly. You have the ability to review even without installing or purchasing. Which opens angry people up to just review poorly because one person didn't have the basic understanding of what one item in permissions does. All this accomplishes is that developers will stay away from the amazon app store due to reviews and comments that are angry and not based on facts.
Jesse A. Benson
1.0 out of 5 stars Battery killer
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2011
Does not actually list the level of phone resources going into running Watchdog itself. While running this app, my battery lost about 20% energy per hour while sitting in my pocket(or in the cup holder of my car) and only being regularly checked for emails, texts, etc. Without this app running, it is more like three percent per hour using it this heavily.

Luckily I got it for free, but after two or three days of seeing my battery drain when I was out of the house for even a few hours I quickly uninstalled it.
JerryWithaJ
2.0 out of 5 stars Truly bizarre EULA
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2011
Look, I KNOW apps need permissions. Shopping apps, locators, and the like need to know where you are. Social apps need to know who your friends are. Also, nothing's free. I could even understand a "free" app collecting information for marketing purposes, so usually I don't care one bit about the permissions an app asks for. But this app is not free and it is *monitoring power consumption*, which makes it hard to account for sections 7 and 8 of the EULA
7. The Online Component of the Software
8. Information Collection
Is there any reason for such an app to work this way to perform its function?

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