With Android 5.0 Lollipop's release, the
recents view (multitask button) became
overview, and instead of showing you only actually running apps, it also shows you apps that have ran in the past. Over time, this screen ends up listing pretty much every app you have ever run, becomes completely useless, and wastes a perfectly good (soft-)button.
Recently aims to restore sanity, by limiting which apps are shown. In its aggressive 'running tasks only' configuration, it will show you only apps that are actually running right now. Because Android can be fairly aggressive itself with killing off apps, apps you have used just a minute ago may disappear from the list in this setup, and configuring Recently to remove entries that have not actually run the past few days may be the better option.
Aside from listing only running apps or apps that have run in a certain timeframe, Recently also allows you to limit by number of entries shown. Note that actually running apps will always be shown, regardless of this setting - only entries from apps that aren't actually running are ever removed.
Advanced
A number of more advanced options are available as well, such as showing a 'Clear All' button in the recents view (doesn't work on all devices), limiting the number of Google Searches that show up (originating from the Google search bar and Google Now), and hiding the Settings app.
Additionally, you can force remove tasks and documents that are running but have not been accessed longer than the configured age limit. This is a rather extreme measure that will result in tasks being killed, do not use it lightly.
Pro
Purchasing the Pro version supports my developments and will allow you to start Recently automatically at boot.
Future
This app is built specifically for Android 5.0 and 5.Future versions may work differently, the recents/overview screen may be fixed, etc. In a year this app may no longer be relevant.
FAQ
Aren't task killers bad?
No tasks are killed by Recently by default - it only removes entries from the recents list that are not actually running at time of removal. Some of the advanced options can cause tasks to be killed however, but these are clearly marked. Task killing can ultimately be bad for performance and battery life, so be sure you know what you're doing and why.
What resources does this use?
Virtually none. There are no wakelocks at all. Battery impact should be less than 1% worst case.
Nothing happens?
(1) Make sure you have enabled the switch in the top right of the settings screen
(2) Make sure you aren't using a custom kernel that disables logging
(3) Make sure you give it a minute or so after first enabling it
When I press the back and the multitasking button really quickly, my last used app that is now closed is still listed
The delay in this case is about a second after the app close animation finishes
I just pressed the back button on an app, and I'm in 'running apps only' mode, but the app is still listed
Not all apps actually close when you press the back button. Most do, but some don't.
Nothing is happening at all, and I'm finding an 'unexpected EOF' error in logcat
Sometimes the app can't access logs. This is usually because multiple apps are trying to read from logcat at the same time. The app will keep trying periodically. Rebooting usually gets rid of this problem.
Discussion / support
The discussion and support thread can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3050998
与Android 5.0棒棒糖的发布，
最近通话的视图（多任务按钮）成为概述，而不是显示你只实际运行的应用程序，这也说明你的应用程序已经运行在该过去的。随着时间的推移，该屏幕最终上市的几乎每一个应用程序，你曾经运行，变得完全没用，浪费了非常好的（软）按钮。
近日的目的是恢复神智，通过限制其应用程序的显示。在其积极的“正在运行的任务只有'的配置，它会告诉你，实际上是运行现在唯一的应用程序。由于Android可以相当激进本身杀死的应用程序，应用服务你用一分钟前可从列表中此设置消失，以及配置的近日以删除条目还没有真正运行在过去数天可能是更好的选择。
除了唯一的上市运行已在一定时间内运行的应用程序或应用程序，近日，您还可以通过显示的条目数量限制。需要注意的是实际运行的应用程序将总是的显示，无论此设置 - 从那些没有实际运行被不断删除的应用程序只有条目。
高级
一些更高级的选项可为好，如显示的最近通话视图中的“全部清除”按钮（不上的所有设备正常工作），限制了谷歌搜索，显示了（源自谷歌搜索栏的数量和谷歌...