Application program management method and device

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

determine that an application is running in a foreground environment of a mobile device;

detect an indication that the application has been switched from the foreground environment to a background environment;

in response to detecting the indication that the application has been switched from the foreground environment to the background environment, record a time and a physical location of the mobile terminal corresponding to when the application was switched to the background environment, the time and the physical location being recorded in user historical information;

determine a current status information of the mobile device, wherein the current status information comprises a current physical location associated with the mobile device, and a current time;

determine a metric associated with the current status information based at least in part on user historical use information associated with the application and the current status information, wherein:

the metric is determined based at least in part on a ratio associated with the current physical location, wherein:

the ratio includes a numerator portion comprising a count of instances of the current physical location in a group of instances of physical locations associated with the application being in the foreground environment, and

the ratio includes a denominator portion comprising a count of instances of physical locations in the group of instances of physical locations associated with the application being in the foreground environment;

determine, based at least in part on the metric associated with the current status information of the mobile device, that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment; and

in response to the determination that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment, recycle one or more resources associated with the application, wherein:

to recycle the one or more resources associated with the application comprises reallocating data memory or processing resources used by the application; and

the data memory or processing resources are reallocated without closing the application.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein to determine the metric associated with the current status information based at least in part on the user historical use information, the memory is further configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

determine whether the application is in the foreground environment or the background environment; and

record the current status information in a set of foreground status information associated with the application in the event that the application is in the foreground environment or in a set of background status information associated with the application in the event that the application is in the background environment.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the current status information further includes the current time.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the set of foreground status information is subdivided into subsets.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the set of background status information is subdivided into subsets.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein to determine, based at least in part on the metric associated with the current status information of the mobile device, that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment, the memory is further configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

determine a status value associated with a likelihood that the application will be switched to the foreground environment;

compare the status value with a threshold value; and

based at least in part on the comparison with the threshold value, determine that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the status value is determined based at least in part on a set of foreground status information associated with the application.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the status value is determined based at least in part on a set of background status information associated with the application.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the status value is updated periodically and compared periodically with the threshold value.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein a background environment timer sets the periodicity with which the status value is updated and compared with the threshold value.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the resources associated with the application are recycled in the event the background environment timer is run for the application a specified number of cycles.

12. The system of claim 6 , wherein the threshold value has been preconfigured.

13. The system of claim 6 , wherein the threshold value has been determined dynamically.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein recycling resources associated with the application comprises allocating CPU time associated with the application to a different application.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein recycling resources associated with the application comprises releasing memory associated with the application.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory is further configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to recycle resources associated with the application if the application has been in the background environment for a specified length of time.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory is further configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

determine that idle memory is below a threshold;

determine a status value for each background application characterizing that background application's likelihood that it will be switched to the foreground environment; and

recycle resources utilized by each background application until the idle memory is no longer below the idle memory threshold.

18. A method, comprising:

determining that an application is running in a foreground environment of a mobile device;

detecting an indication that the application has been switched from the foreground environment to a background environment;

in response to detecting the indication that the application has been switched from the foreground environment to the background environment, record a time and a physical location of the mobile terminal corresponding to when the application was switched to the background environment, the time and the physical location being recorded in user historical information;

determining a current status information of the mobile device, wherein the current status information comprises a current physical location associated with the mobile device, and a current time;

determining a metric associated with the current status information based at least in part on user historical use information associated with the application and the current status information, wherein:

the metric is determined based at least in part on a ratio associated with the current physical location, wherein:

the ratio includes a numerator portion comprising a count of instances of the current physical location in a group of instances of physical locations associated with the application being in the foreground environment, and

the ratio includes a denominator portion comprising a count of instances of physical locations in the group of instances of physical locations associated with the application being in the foreground environment;

determining, based at least in part on the metric associated with the current status information of the mobile device, that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment; and

in response to the determination that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment, recycling one or more resources associated with the application, wherein:

to recycle the one or more resources associated with the application comprises reallocating data memory or processing resources used by the application; and

the data memory or processing resources are reallocated without closing the application.

19. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

determining that an application is running in a foreground environment of a mobile device;

detecting an indication that the application has been switched from the foreground environment to a background environment;

in response to detecting the indication that the application has been switched from the foreground environment to the background environment, record a time and a physical location of the mobile terminal corresponding to when the application was switched to the background environment, the time and the physical location being recorded in user historical information;

determining a current status information of the mobile device, wherein the current status information comprises a current physical location associated with the mobile device, and a current time;

determining a metric associated with the current status information based at least in part on user historical use information associated with the application and the current status information, wherein:

the metric is determined based at least in part on a ratio associated with the current physical location, wherein:

the ratio includes a numerator portion comprising a count of instances of the current physical location in a group of instances of physical locations associated with the application being in the foreground environment, and

the ratio includes a denominator portion comprising a count of instances of physical locations in the group of instances of physical locations associated with the application being in the foreground environment;

determining, based at least in part on the metric associated with the current status information of the mobile device, that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment; and

in response to the determination that the application is not likely to be switched to the foreground environment, recycling one or more resources associated with the application, wherein:

to recycle the one or more resources associated with the application comprises reallocating data memory or processing resources used by the application; and

the data memory or processing resources are reallocated without closing the application.