Do Apps Run In The Background?

[cueballbil]

I'm curious what the answer is to this. I plugged my iphone in last night and unplugged it this morning. I text'd a few times and left my phone in standby mode. I went back to make a call and my battery life was at 20%. So on a fully charged battery, from the time I unplugged my phone (about 8a) till I went to make a phone call (about 2p) my battery was at 20% with it in standby mode.
I've got facebook, myspace, ebay, one connect, earthscape and about 5 games like iBowl and Cube Runner.

Normally after I'm done with a game or like Facebook or one connect, I just click the home button to get back to my home screen. Does that mean my apps are still running in the background?
Would it help if I held the home button for 10 seconds? I heard if you do that the app won't run in the background.
Do I have to do that for EACH app after I'm done with them?

Unjailbroken phone here. wifi is off, location is off, auto brightness is at a good setting, bluetooth is off, latest upgrade.

 

[Flhusky]

Per your configuration; App store apps can not at this time run in the background. Doesn't mean an app crashes on exit and eats the battery however.

Do you have 3g enabled? that seems to be a battery killer for some people.
Do you have any push mail enabled?

 

[Michael CM1]

I'm pretty sure that the only apps that can run in the background are iPod and Mail. Anything not made by Apple will NOT run in the background. That was a huge deal when they released the SDK and why the push notification service is such a big deal.

I'm not sure what your deal is. I can usually go 2 full days of normal use (non-3G) before needing a charge. May be a glitch in the firmware.

 

[cueballbil]

yea, i have 3g enabled and have push email. but i've had those on before and my battery life was pretty good. it just started draining really fast the past 2 or 3 days. i may just take off all the apps and see how it does. i only have about 10 apps anyway.

i actually turned off 3g yesterday but my battery is still draining fast.

 

[firewood]

Apple's apps can run in the background. Push services for all of Apple's apps can run in the background. The radios (cell, wifi, bluetooth, and GPS) can be running in the background. And the OS is running all the time unless you do a complete shutdown.

The radios can be big power hogs if you have weak cell or wifi coverage.

 

[geekmommy4]

Is your phone warm to the touch? The only times that I've had problems with batter drain, I could tell that something was running because the phone was warm. Have you tried to close all but one of the Safari windows and make sure that the one window isn't sitting on a text entry field waiting for you to input something. Make sure that your GPS is turned off and then reboot the phone. You might have tried all of that, but if it's still draining that fast, I'd take it in.

 

[SFC Archer]

To answer your question's...YES, an app, regardless of who made it, can get stuck and keep running even if you are in the home screen. Some apps do not shut down when you go to home screen and keep trying to pull whatever that app pulls. For example...email can get stuck in trying to download or check your email and will not shut off which will drain your battery over night. This has happened to quite a few users and can be searched in these threads.

The only current solution right now is to turn off your iPhone for 15-30 sec then turn it back on before going to sleep. Do not access anymore "pulling" apps and you will be fine.

You can also shut apps down by holding down the "Home" key until the App closes.

This is not suppose to happen but it does and can happen with any app that downloads or searches for items to include but not limited to: email, RSS feeds, Radio Apps, Search Apps...anything that access's wifi can stay active at anytime. It does NOT happen to "everyone" nor on any specific App. It is very random and has happened to me on both the Classic and the 3G.

Good Luck

 

[cueballbil]

ok, i charged my phone completely last night then unplugged it from the charger. i left it overnight in standby and this morning the usage was about 10 minutes with about 7 hours 30 minutes of standby. so i guess it's working fine.
i did check all of your tips and will keep all those in mind.
my phone was pretty warm before. i'll see how today goes.

thanks.

 

[jgbuchholz]

Battery eating Background Process?

Another app that is running in the background is the "Alarm Clock". This seems to me quite battery consuming. If I activate the alarm in the late evening, the iPhone reports several hours in the morning and the battery is much less than in normal standby mode.

Do you use the Alarm Clock?

Jens