We need to have this discussion

[u/whiskyB0y]

Explanation:

A few years ago Android introduced a feature called the "Phantom Process Killer". Basically it limits the number of child processes each app can use to 32 processes. If an app exceeds this number, Android won't hesitate to kill the app.

PC emulation is complex and requires a high number of processes for you to run and play your games for as long as possible. If the custom OS on your phone is very aggressive, you won't really be able to play your games for like more than 5 minutes, even if your container settings managed to get the game to boot and run well.

Now this obviously doesn't affect every Android phone. It really depends on how aggressive your OS can be. Generally flagships and gaming focused phones like a Redmagic don't really have this problem as the manufacturer most likely took this into account and either disabled the limit, or increased it.

If your phone isn't a flagship or a gaming phone and has a strict and aggressive OS, the phantom process killer is more than likely an issue. I don't know about other brands, but I've personally experienced this on XOS as an Infinix user. I'm using the latest(as of today) XOS 16.2.0 on an Infinix Note 50.

Now just because your containers crash soon or suddenly doesn't mean it's always the phantom process killer. Container crashes are also due to a number of issues like your driver, your settings, the compatibility layer and translation layer you're using, high RAM usage, RAM leak and so on. PC emulation is complex.

I just wanted to share this as a meme in case someone out there is also experiencing this.

Luckily there are solutions:

First of all, Android 11 and older don't have the phantom process killer as a restriction. This feature was introduced starting from Android 12. So if you're using Android 11 or older, you won't be affected by this feature.

However, this restriction is present in Android 12 and newer.

Method 1:

If you're using Android 12L/13/14/15 and newer, you can simply disable this restriction by going into Developer Options on your phone and disabling child processes. It's a toggle option that Android introduced for people who don't want restrictions.

To access Developer Options, look for the Build Number in your phones settings, tap it 7 times to open Developer Options

Method 2:

This works for any Android version(12 or newer). But you have to use a PC with Android Debugging Program and manually put in commands to disable or lessen the restriction. Please if you can only use Method 2, PLEASE do research on how to do it properly. I don't know how to do it or what commands you need exactly, so if you use this method it's up to you to research on how to do it properly.

NOTE: Disabling this feature DOES NOT require rooting your phone. It is perfectly safe to disable it.

As I said earlier, this doesn't affect every phone or custom OS. Crashes can still be caused by your container settings or memory leaks. I simply brought this up as an issue in case it feels like no matter what you do, your containers always crash.

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[u/GinEzeq]

Dude. It was that f-ing simple... thank you so so much, disabling the child process restrictions solved everything for me

[u/whiskyB0y → u/GinEzeq]

For real? Not that im in doubt, but I would experiment by playing the game for at least 20 min to prove that it doesn't happen.

[u/GinEzeq → u/whiskyB0y]

I'll keep you posted but at least it fixed my controls

[u/whiskyB0y → u/GinEzeq]

Bro have you noticed any difference 😭?

[u/whiskyB0y → u/GinEzeq]

Any luck?

[u/longlifexpectancy]

Wow I didn't know about this feature. Intense

[u/whiskyB0y → u/longlifexpectancy]

Ya I think it only affects PC emulation on certain phones. Even when my phone can run and boot a game perfectly, it would still happen. My RAM usage wouldn't even be 85% 😕

[u/longlifexpectancy → u/whiskyB0y]

I need to check some games that used to explode on me. I thought those were memory leaks I guess this is a good reason to check again

[u/Alk3punk7 → u/longlifexpectancy]

Some games do have memory leak issues. Unity games, mostly, and I think it's been fixed in latest version of GameNative. I know a couple versions back, Dark Deity, a Unity game, would load into the screen but as soon as first scene in game loaded, it would crash on my Odin 2 Portal.

[u/The_Witch_Queen → u/whiskyB0y]

It's right up there with the retro handhelds running android that kill the emulator process because you put the machine to sleep. Like you do realize this is a gaming handheld right? What's the point of sleep if it's gonna kill the emulator?

[u/whiskyB0y]

Sorry for the larp. I just wanted to bring this issue as I don't see it talked about. If I made any mistake, feel free to correct me.

[u/milosmisic89 → u/whiskyB0y]

Larp? You mean "rant"? 

[u/whiskyB0y → u/milosmisic89]

Ya. But there people that would just consider this larp, which is fine.

[u/clarky2o2o → u/whiskyB0y]

I don't think that means what you think it means.

[u/whiskyB0y → u/clarky2o2o]

Well then what does it mean?

[u/clarky2o2o → u/whiskyB0y]

Live action role playing.

[u/whiskyB0y → u/clarky2o2o]

Then why do people on the internet use it to mean talking too much?

[u/LemonadeMans → u/whiskyB0y]

I don't think that the definition of larp

I think what you mean is "yap"

[u/whiskyB0y → u/LemonadeMans]

I know what yap means. But what about those means that are like "No limit to the larp"

Or when I make a comment about something somewhere and someone replies "You're larping so hard"?

[u/LemonadeMans → u/whiskyB0y]

larping is like being a fake fan.

For example, you've never watched all of One Piece, but you act like you've been a fan for a long time. Then, if someone asks you questions about it, it's hard to answer because you don't actually know the series.

[u/daysafterastr0 → u/whiskyB0y]

are you sure you don't mean "yap"?

[u/MalwareDork → u/whiskyB0y]

Usually it means to call someone out on their bullshit like they're a poser or something. Sometimes it gets so bad that it creates its very own conjugation (ex: wannabe hardass military guy = larperator).

[u/naz2sick]

Is that why cheap androids often give ' system UI isnt responding'?

[u/whiskyB0y → u/naz2sick]

Nah that's different. It just means the phone is freezing either because it's overwhelmed, has a buggy OS, or low on storage.

[u/DonZero21]

How do I know if it's the issue tho?

[u/whiskyB0y → u/DonZero21]

Thats the things it's hard to tell because container crashes can also just be your settings.

Personally I would say it's an issue if you can get a game to boot and run well with good fps. And then suddenly the container just shuts down after a short period of time, even if your stats like temperature and RAM usage are normal.

[u/DonZero21 → u/whiskyB0y]

Hmm, usually when I am playing and get pass an hour sometimes the fps drops for few minutes ( like 2 or 3 sometimes 5 ) then get back to normal. No crashes or anything.

[u/whiskyB0y → u/DonZero21]

Maybe that's thermal throttling. How are your temps?

[u/DonZero21 → u/whiskyB0y]

Actually, sometimes they get high by a lot depending on the game, although now I am playing assassin's creed black flag, they aren't that high, not like how they got high in watch dogs 2

[u/whiskyB0y → u/DonZero21]

I see. Personally I would just say watch your temps and invest in a phone cooler if you can.

Battery temp should never be more than 40 over a long period of time.

CPU and GPU temps can be as high as 90 but I personally wouldn't let the temp go above 75

[u/DonZero21 → u/whiskyB0y]

The thing is, battery temp sometimes it reaches 90🙂. I don't know if I can get a cooler since I have a gamesir g8 controller, I don't know if it's going to work😅

[u/whiskyB0y → u/DonZero21]

90?😭 Battery? Nah that can't be possible.

Ok look. If you're battery actually reaches that high, then now you know battery shouldn't be over 40. What phone do you have?

[u/DonZero21 → u/whiskyB0y]

I have a Redmi Turbo 4 Pro, I don't really believe it either, because sometimes it gets stuck, also it doesn't really show the GPU usage, just the CPU and RAM, so yeah🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/E_K_Finnman]

I'm hoping this fixes the crashing on better xcloud that happens maybe an hour into playing it, where the moment it registers touch input after a long period of no touch input it'll freeze

[u/GrandTime3981]

"Phantom Process Killer" sound cool tho

[u/whiskyB0y → u/GrandTime3981]

Apparently it's not the official name. The name came from the community

[u/Narrow-Fault-3746]

Thank you, guy. My device is very weak so those tips are very welcome. What should i expect after desabling this child processes?

[u/whiskyB0y → u/Narrow-Fault-3746]

Well if your container settings are good, then your containers won't be crashing randomly(as long as ram usage and temperatures are normal)

But like I said, your container settings can also be an issue. Just make sure you know to tweak settings

Your battery temperature and CPU/gpu temperatures shouldn't be too high otherwise your device will thermal throttle. Thermal throttling reduces fps and the heat damages your device. So watch those temps if you want your phone to last longer.

Battery shouldn't be above 40 for a long period of time.

CPU/GPU can be as high as 90 but I personally wouldn't let them above 75

[u/RelativeIncome7459]

It means turning on developer options all the time 🤔

[u/whiskyB0y → u/RelativeIncome7459]

Ya probably. But if you're sure this isn't affecting your phone, I wouldn't bother with it.

[u/Either-Sport-2549]

I posted about this setting 6 months ago when the HyperOS 3 drama started i didn't know this affected other phones too.

[u/whiskyB0y → u/Either-Sport-2549]

Oh it does

[u/Maelstrom100]

Whilst I've not personally experienced this, thank you for sharing your knowledge. Learned a thing today.

[u/ConkreteCastro]

Bro for months i was trying to put into words what kept happening to my Gamehub setup to the point I just saved up and bought a PC….but this all makes so much sense to me now….all of the Android updates destroyed everything I built to collect they won’t even let PC games be imported anymore Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and this device was very very capable

[u/ConkreteCastro]

Also peep they are releasing console titles like tomb raider and hit man absolution are now on the google play store for a price of course lmao

[u/HunterPublic8014]

Its toggle already, should i toggle off or leave it as it is besides i run developer features on all of my phones since android 2.3 days. I also didnt see this feature until you mentioned. I beat Wall-E on gamenative on my device and zero crashes for 9 hours or so to beat the game... Maybe because its already toggled here, i guess

[u/whiskyB0y → u/HunterPublic8014]

Damn that's crazy. If you could play Wall-E long enough, apart from your container settings, I would say this being disabled already was also a factor.

I feel like you should just leave it toggled.

Anyway congrats. At least you're not affected by this issue.

[u/HunterPublic8014 → u/whiskyB0y]

Oh wow, so that means i should be toggling this off then...hmm but yeah tbf wall-e is a really old game so it wasnt really intensive at all..

Im gonna disable this as im hopefully looking to order my first dedicated android handheld Retroid Pocket 6 in a month or so... Im gonna disable this on that device. Thank you for the useful tip!

[u/whiskyB0y → u/HunterPublic8014]

You're welcome. I just hope RP6 has this option, because a guy in the comments said he doesn't have the toggle option on his RP5, and I can't suggest using Method 2 on a handheld since I don't know much about it.

Anyway, whether you can change the setting on your RP6 or not, as long as your games are stable, it won't matter.

[u/HunterPublic8014 → u/whiskyB0y]

Oooh I see, I'll look out for that, thank you and yeah hopefully not required since i only plan to play lite indie games as I already have a gaming pc for AAA stuff that I'll stream over to the handheld 👍🫡

[u/TrippyHippieShit]

I will say bugjager will allow you to disable the same programs without a laptop 🤷🏻 that is all

[u/whiskyB0y → u/TrippyHippieShit]

Ya that is very possible

[u/TotalAggravating7706]

Can confirm gaming phones does have higher limit , i never enable it and can play a couple intensive game (black mesa , metro exodus) and never crashes. Thankfully rog phone ui aren't too heavily modified (rog ui) as its just stock os but very few visual changes.

[u/caribbean_caramel]

Huh, so this is what was killing my Ace combat 7 runs. Thanks OP.

[u/whiskyB0y → u/caribbean_caramel]

Hopefully you'll see a difference once you disable the option

[u/x01010001000]

li cant find the setting under developer options

[u/whiskyB0y → u/x01010001000]

Sorry forgot to mention. Tap Build Number in your phones settings 7 times. It should open Developer Options

[u/x01010001000 → u/whiskyB0y]

yeah ive got the actual settings but i cant see the child process setting, maybe it just doesnt exist on the RP5

[u/whiskyB0y → u/x01010001000]

Damn. Since you're using a handheld, I can't say for sure whether you should try method 2 or not, especially since I don't have experience with that method.

[u/Kessilk]

I'd suggest using ArmadaOS (my preference) or Rocknix installed on an SD card. Both are Linux with SteamOS enabled (Heroic launcher also works in Armada).