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All apps run in the background and run down the battery - true?

M

Mildredop

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 14, 2013
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BBC News are currently running an item about phone battery life. The 'expert' has just said that all the apps that you've used are still running in the background, using battery. She had an iPhone in her hand and showed that double-pressing the home button displays all the apps using battery, so to make sure you close them.

Is that true? I thought the iPhone couldn't actually multitask.
 
I've seen people deny that it's true, but I've experienced this battery drain first hand; I must've had ~20 apps running (it was shortly after getting the phone and I didn't know how to quit apps) and I started up Wi-Fi tethering. The battery was still draining even with the phone plugged in. After a quick look online for other people with the problem, I learned how to quit apps and after doing so the phone started charging again.

This may not be the case with the current OS (it was back in the iOS 5 days) but it certainly used to be possible for multiple apps to run the battery down.
 
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With iOS 7.1.1 the answer is basically no that most apps don't run in the background unless you allow them to via background refresh. Some apps like music will run in the background without explicit permissions.
 
No, the list of recently used apps doesn't mean they're all actually running. Often, they're just suspended in memory, so they can continue quicker from where they left off.

That said, yes, some do run in the background, usually apps you would desire and expect to do so, such as watching your location, updating the weather, waiting for a message, etc.

You can control most of that via Settings -General - Background App Refresh, and enabling location services for an app.

See this Apple support article. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4211
 
I think much depends on which programs and the settings for each. I would say no for most as far as battery use goes. I still have about 50% battery left after a typical day so the battery is not an issue for me.
 
Apps like Skype and Facebook that maintain a Internet connection will remain active in the background.
 
Here is the most recent information that I have read.

http://lifehacker.com/quitting-apps-in-ios-actually-worsens-battery-life-1560086834

It's long been prescribed that when your iPhone's battery is running poorly that you close out all the running apps to help preserve battery life (we've mentioned it before). That makes sense if you're using a computer, but as writer (and former Genius Bar technician) Scotty Loveless points out, that's simply not the case in iOS. P

On a computer, the more software you have open, the more work the computer's doing and the more battery it's draining. On iOS, things work a bit differently:

Yes, it does shut down the app, but what you don't know is that you are actually making your battery life worse if you do this on a regular basis. Let me tell you why.

By closing the app, you take the app out of the phone's RAM . While you think this may be what you want to do, it's not. When you open that same app again the next time you need it, your device has to load it back into memory all over again. All of that loading and unloading puts more stress on your device than just leaving it alone. Plus, iOS closes apps automatically as it needs more memory, so you're doing something your device is already doing for you. You are meant to be the user of your device, not the janitor.

The truth is, those apps in your multitasking menu are not running in the background at all: iOS freezes them where you last left the app so that it's ready to go if you go back. Unless you have enabled Background App Refresh, your apps are not allowed to run in the background unless they are playing music, using location services, recording audio, or the sneakiest of them all: checking for incoming VOIP calls , like Skype. All of these exceptions, besides the latter, will put an icon next to your battery icon to alert you it is running in the background. 1P

So, not only does it not help, but your phone's going to do more work in the long run reloading those apps from scratch. Think of it like when your car is running out of gas. Instead of cutting the engine and starting it over and over, it's usually best to leave it running to conserve gas. If you're looking to improve your battery life, Loveless has a bunch of practical tips for doing so.
Click to expand...
 
Mildredop said:
BBC News are currently running an item about phone battery life. The 'expert' has just said that all the apps that you've used are still running in the background, using battery. She had an iPhone in her hand and showed that double-pressing the home button displays all the apps using battery, so to make sure you close them.

Is that true? I thought the iPhone couldn't actually multitask.
Click to expand...

That 'Expert' doesn't understand how multitasking in iOS works.

It's such a shame when this information gets out there, because other people who don't understand will start 'closing' apps like this, and it is doing more harm than good to their experience.

Apple need to be more clear that apps don't need 'closing' in this manner, because all their hard work moving into the 'Post-PC' world, creating devices that are more intutative, easier to use, manage themselves, is going to waste, because people like this 'expert' are treating them like PC's.
 
jabingla2810 said:
That 'Expert' doesn't understand how multitasking in iOS works.

It's such a shame when this information gets out there, because other people who don't understand will start 'closing' apps like this, and it is doing more harm than good to their experience.

Apple need to be more clear that apps don't need 'closing' in this manner, because all their hard work moving into the 'Post-PC' world, creating devices that are more intutative, easier to use, manage themselves, is going to waste, because people like this 'expert' are treating them like PC's.
Click to expand...

Agreed. iOS8 will bring some of the battery shaming features we saw with Mavericks. This will hopefully clear up the situation a great deal, though I think there will still be some confusion.
 
Only apps with the appropriate API's can run in the background (music apps, GPS, etc) and apps with background refresh. All other apps enter a suspended state after a few seconds. They then will close if foreground apps require the RAM they are using although they will remain in the multitasking tray. You'll see them refresh when you reopen them.
 
Here's how iOS multitasking works.

When you press the home button, one of the following things will happen:
  1. the app will stop working entirely
  2. it will save it's state then stop working
  3. it will save it's state and stop working except for doing certain Apple-approved tasks (GPS, music, etc)
  4. it will keep running in the background because it's buggy

Most apps fall into the second category. Some examples of the third category are Music, Spotify, and Skype. Some examples of the fourth category in the past have included Facebook, Skype, and Google Maps.

The case for swiping apps out of the multitasking tray is for those buggy apps that may keep sucking your battery even after you're done using them. It's impossible to know which apps - if any - on your phone are in this category, so some people make a habit of swiping their apps out regularly. Some people say this isn't necessary, but I think they're assuming all apps work perfectly and never bug out in the background.
 
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