971079 - Firefox keeps running in background consuming resources

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: General, defect)

Description

[Clemens Eisserer]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:27.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/27.0 (Beta/Release)
Build ID: 20140127194636

Steps to reproduce:

1. Install Firefox for Android
2. Start 3rd party task manager


Actual results:

Firefox starts itself and keeps running in background, consuming >20mb of memory - even if I manually kill the process using a task manager.


Expected results:

Firefox should not automatically re-start and run in background, instead it should behave like other android applications: start only when explicitly asked to, and stay closed once the system decides memory is better spent elsewehere.

Many android phones are resource constrained, and that always running process takes resources away from currently active applications starving for more memory.

Comment 1

[Michael Comella (:mcomella) [NI reported issues only: ex-Mozilla]]

We run several background services to take care of various tasks - I wonder if this is what you might be seeing? Is there a name for the Service/Activity which is running in the background?

However, these Services are expected to be short-lived, run infrequently, and thus (hopefully) not noticeable. Do you know how long the process will run if left running? Also, which device are you using?

Comment 2

[Clemens Eisserer]

Unfourtunately the only information about the process I have is it's named "Firefox" and reported to consume ~20mb of RAM, I get consistent results with various android task managers.

Here is what I did:
- Install Firefox
- Start Firefox
- Reboot phone (!)
- Start a task manager: Process Firefox is running and stays alive for the timeframe monitored (~10min), consuming 21,2MB.
- Kill the Firefox process using the task-manager

I am using a Mobistel Cynis T1, which is running an almost unmodified stock-android 4.0.4.
Also installed is Opera Mobile Classic, which never starts itself without user interaction.

Comment 3

[Michael Comella (:mcomella) [NI reported issues only: ex-Mozilla]]

Have tried checking in the built-in Android app settings menu (Settings -> Apps -> swipe to Running -> Click the app)? It might be dependent on version, but in mine, for Facebook Messenger, I can see their running process (Messenger; com.facebook.orca) and their running Service (MqttPushService). Hopefully ICS is okay.

It's expected for services to run at startup (e.g. the HealthReport [1] and Announcements [2] Services), though 10 minutes does seem excessive.

[1]: https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/mobile/android/services/manifests/HealthReportAndroidManifest_activities.xml.in?rev=91180a647ced#13
[2]: https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/mobile/android/services/manifests/AnnouncementsAndroidManifest_activities.xml.in?rev=debb2fa19aec#8

Comment 4

[Richard Newman [:rnewman]]

Registered services will be running whenever Android tells them to.

My phone doesn't show any services running for Firefox right now. YMMV.

Our services are all (as far as I recall) alarm-triggered.

The process lifecycle is also managed by Android, and is distinct from the service lifecycle.

If you use the Google search widget that integrates with Firefox, the Firefox process and the BrowserProvider will be live for as long as Android thinks it needs to be in order to handle searches.

Comment 5

[Clemens Eisserer]

Update to comment 2: After I left the phone unattended for 2 hours, firefox was running again.

Comment 6

[Richard Newman [:rnewman]]

Clemens: any update on which services are running?

Android Settings > Apps > Running > Firefox

Feel free to take a screenshot and attach it to this bug.

Comment 7

[Clemens Eisserer]

Unfourtunately, on ICS i only see "downloaded" and "phone memory" (translated from german) on my ICS version.

Comment 8

[Aaron Train [:aaronmt]]

Anything else the reporter can do here?

Comment 9

[Michael Comella (:mcomella) [NI reported issues only: ex-Mozilla]]

Without being able to check for the name of the running Services, I don't believe so.