The PhantomProcessKiller on Android 12 can potentially interfere with Android terminal emulator apps like Termux. Google has seemingly recognized this problem by introducing a new patch to AOSP. This patch adds a new toggle inside Developer Options to disable the monitoring of Phantom Processes. The revelation comes from Mishaal Rahman, with reporting from XDA. PhantomProcesskiller is designed to kill forked child processes launched by apps when and if they consume too much CPU. First introduced with Android 12, this feature only allows a maximum of 32 child processes. Expectedly, this hinders an app’s ability to run multiple background operations. Although it’s good news that Google is finally bringing a toggle to disable this, it looks like developers will have to wait until the introduction of Android 13 in late 2022.
The new exemption would only apply to child app processes and not main app processes
“Power users” and developers can disable Phantom Processes via Settings – Developer Settings – Feature flags. When the toggle is off, forked child processes can run without limitations while ignoring the limit of 32 child processes. It’s worth noting that this exception doesn’t apply to main app processes. While the assumption now is that this feature would only make its way with Android 13, there’s a slim chance it could be bundled with Android 12L. In case you’re unaware, Android 12L is meant for tablets, foldables, and devices with larger screens. Be sure to check out our early hands-on with Android 12L here to get a gist of what’s to come. The arrival of Android 13 is still several months away. More importantly, the world has yet to figure out Android 12 and its bugs fully. While we’ve gone through the myriad issues of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, we’ve also encountered problems with the Android 12 update for devices like the Pixel 5, Pixel 4a, and the Pixel 3. Separately, Samsung had to halt the rollout of the One UI 4 + Android 12 update for the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Z Fold 3 recently. However, this probably has more to do with Samsung than Google.
