There are certain Android apps that work best if you let them run all the time. One that immediately comes to mind is Ultimate Rotation Control, which makes the user experience on the ASUS Nexus 7 so much better. In order for this app to do its job (i.e. override system and individual app settings to allow you to rotate the screen whenever you want), it’s got to be running all the time.
However, the Android OS doesn’t really like it when background processes run all the time; it tends to kill these processes after a certain amount of time, even if they aren’t using up much memory or other system resources. The only way to get around that is for apps like Ultimate Rotation Control to display a persistent notification in the notification tray – Android won’t kill processes that are currently displaying a notification, so the app will be allowed to run for as long as the user wants.
But if you’re anything like me, you’re very diligent about keeping your notification area free of any unnecessary notifications. I just find it very annoying to put up with a perpetual notification, letting me know that Ultimate Rotation Control is doing its job.
Luckily, if you’re running Jelly Bean, a little system setting can make this problem go away completely. Simply navigate to Settings > Apps> Downloaded > Rotate. Uncheck “show notification,” and accept the warning message that appears. However, in Ultimate Rotation Control’s individual app settings, make sure you keep the option to show all notifications checked.
This way, the app will continue to tell Android that it’s got a notification to display, and Android will hide the notification and allow the app to keep running in the background. You can use this method for any other app you require to run in the background, as well, for which you don’t want to get notifications.
Dear lord. . . I WANT JELLYBEAN!!!!!!! **US Cellular SIII** may have to look into JB-based customs. . .
Useful tip thanks. Did not know this.
Not sure how tasker managed to work without the notification for me though
Not sure. I do know that I’ve had problems with Ultimate Rotation Control being killed in the background and not coming back on, especially on my EVO. Maybe Tasker is programmed to always come back on no matter what, which seems like it could be a slight drain on your battery if it’s constantly being killed and restarted.
This is quite helpful. Like you, I try to keep my notification bar as empty as possible, so I always disable persistent notifications. I’ve never had much trouble with Android killing the apps anyhow, but it is nice to know that this is an option.
If you multitask a lot, it might get killed without a persistent notification. I’m oftentimes jumping between Chrome, Reader, Gmail, Voice, Words with Friends, etc., etc., so that problem has crept up on me in the past. This fixes it, though.
When using jellybean on GNote2, Settings | ApplicationsManager | Downloaded shows no ‘Rotated’ option. Using the menu button below the display shows nothing relevant either. Do I have the path wrong?