Close all running apps with an app?

Why on earth would you want to do that?!

The only apps that would be *running* in the background would be the essential system services, the app that collects email/SMS messages etc., the music player (if you're listening to music) and any navigation apps (if you're currently using one for navigation). You *want* all of those things running, why would you want to shut them all down?

Or do you mean all the apps that aren't running but are listed in the recent apps list? There's no benefit to closing them unless they've crashed or something - otherwise you just have to wait for them to load again when you next need them, which wastes your time and the phone's battery.

Oktober said:

I can see your point, but surely having lots of apps running in the background is using some of the phones processing power?

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No, it's not using any processing power. It uses some memory, but the OS will release that memory if needed. Think of "open apps" as "cached apps". Closing them can only slow you down the next time you access them.

If you do want to close them all, I believe SBSettings has something. I'm not 100% sure though.

Indeed, they don't use any processing power. They're basically 'frozen' - unless they're playing music or giving you GPS directions or something, in which case you want them running. Only a few "special case" apps like that are allowed to actually run in the background.

They do take up some memory, but that's not an issue because when another app needs the memory the system will automatically shut down an app you haven't used for a long time.

The whole OS is designed to work like this, you never need to shut down an app unless it's crashed in a bad way (which is pretty rare).

A botton would be stupid, no offense. Isn't it already easy enough to close running apps by double tapping the home botton.

jlhandy said:

A botton would be stupid, no offense. Isn't it already easy enough to close running apps by double tapping the home botton.

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For the very rare occasions when you need to close them, yes - but the OP wanted to close ALL running apps, which would be a very annoying task with the current method. But, it's not necessary.

psonice said:

For the very rare occasions when you need to close them, yes - but the OP wanted to close ALL running apps, which would be a very annoying task with the current method. But, it's not necessary.

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I have had apps crashed on him, by closing every app in the multi taskbar,I was able to reopen the app without the problems.

Bottomline, having apps in the multitasking tray does affecting the processing power.

OP What you are are looking for is the Cydia Tweak KillBackground.

One tap and all background/multitask apps are closed. ( Of course you need to be jailbroken to obtain this app)

Invincibilizer said:

I have had apps crashed on him, by closing every app in the multi taskbar,I was able to reopen the app without the problems.

Bottomline, having apps in the multitasking tray does affecting the processing power.

OP What you are are looking for is the Cydia Tweak KillBackground.

One tap and all background/multitask apps are closed. ( Of course you need to be jailbroken to obtain this app)

Click to expand...

If one app has crashed you can just close the one app - closing the rest is just wasting your time and battery. And as I explained above, background apps *do not* affect processing power at all, except limited situations where you need them to.

This is the way the system is designed, background apps get completely suspended unless they're doing GPS directions, playing music, handling a VOIP call or finishing a download. If one of these things is happening you don't want to kill it anyway.

I always does!

On my iPhone, the more apps I have open, the shorter the battery life. This is especially noticeable with Navigon. If it's on over night it will completely run down my battery from a full charge. If I have a dozen non GPS apps open, it will take my battery from 100% to 50 to 60% in 8 hours.

So in my opinion and experience having open apps in the background aren't totally benign. If my phone is losing power faster than normal, it usually because of lots of background apps open.

^ Something such as Navigon can be running in the background and eating battery. GPS is one of the exceptions that iOS allows. You'll see status bar icons for any apps that is running in the background (GPS, music, etc).

Other than that, background apps cannot use battery. It's physically impossible due to the way iOS is built and these background apps are handled. I'm not giving my opinion, I'm stating facts.

Edit:
Below are the exceptions. Remember, you'll see an icon if any of these are currently true on your phone, expect for the push notifications.

• Music – Exmaple: Pandora

• Location – Apps like GPS

• AirPlay

• VoIP (Voice Over IP) – Skype

• Push Notifications - run regardless of the app being in the background or not