iPhone Do you kill apps from multi-tasking on iPhone?

[C DM]

Occasionally. Usually in cases like if some app has some issue and I need to restart it, or if I was using an app that sometimes can use more background processing (like Skype or something like that) and don't need it anymore and don't want it to potentially use up some resources in the background, and sometimes after a while when I might just have many apps showing up and kind of want to clear out the list of recently used ones.

 

[Zmanbaseball2]

I always close all apps before locking any of my iOS device. Bothers if there is something is running.

 

[Jonytheblue]

All of the answers are exactly what i want to know. I would love to know what people think about this behavior from 2 side. Feel free to reply on this thread!

BTW how can i add more poll choices for 'sometime' and 'no'.

 

[VicVendrell]

Yes, and it's not about memory. It's about battery life. Many apps open in the background will drain your battery, especially with the new background app refresh feature on iOS 7.

 

[SpyderBite]

I kill apps as soon as I'm finished using them. Probably don't need to. But after closing out several hundred of them on people's iPhones during appts at the Genius Bar I've sort of become OCD about avoiding that mess.

 

[Dented]

I kill apps as soon as I'm finished using them. Probably don't need to. But after closing out several hundred of them on people's iPhones during appts at the Genius Bar I've sort of become OCD about avoiding that mess.

You closed a couple that were actually open, and you needlessly spent time deleting the names of hundreds of closed apps from a list of recent apps, with absolutely zero effect on battery, performance, or anything else. Please tell me you're not a "genius".

 

[0000757]

That's the thing, you never have 26 apps open. Never. You might have 26 apps in your recent apps list, but only a few will ever be open at the same time, the others are automatically frozen or shut down altogether. That's how IOS works.

I have around 300 apps on my phone and never clear out the list. It makes no difference.

I know, I do it for visuals.

 

[Naor]

I sometimes have more than 20 apps on multitask for over a week... I just don't bother with them

 

[Altis]

I prefer having the task-switcher list display only the apps I'm using, so I close them.

Plus, I always have to close Facebook after using, as it destroys battery, so it became a bit of a habit. Doesn't do any harm, and it would be quick if it weren't for the long post-animation delays.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Never routinely, it's a massive waste of time. The only time I kill apps is where they're clearly malfunctioning in some way - ie frozen.

I've had iPhones since 2008 and IOS multitasking since it first came out (IOS 4 on the 3GS, for me) - a collection of about 300 apps, many of which are constantly filling up my recent apps list - and I've never had a problem with performance or battery life.

Just use it like Apple designed it and don't trick yourself into thinking it works like multitasking on other devices - it doesn't.

What's funny? This exact paragraph is used when people on all device forums talk.

 

[lulumink]

I kill apps once a while. If it's too many I'll do it. but not every day.

 

[Dented]

What's funny? This exact paragraph is used when people on all device forums talk.

It's very flattering that people quote me so much.

 

[Max(IT)]

Because unless an app has crashed, there is no point.

It's a placebo effect, mainly, because we have been brought up with PC's that get bogged down by having too many apps open.

iOS releases memory when the current app requests it in two ways.

1) A well coded app will release as much memory as is possible can, while staying in a 'frozen' state, and if iOS still doesn't have enough memory to run the current app well, it will completely kill the background app in question.

2) Apps that aren't coded well, receive the same request to free as much memory as possible, and when iOS doesn't receive any, the app is killed.

The only time when closing an app that hasn't crashed may have an effect on battery is location based apps. However, unlike the olden days, location aware apps aren't necessarily using GPS, but instead triangulation of cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, something the phone does quite frequently anyway, and doesn't consume much power. This is why location based reminders and Google Now don't use much extra battery power, in fact it's not noticeable.

Some location based apps do use the GPS, and when put into the background they are given a 10 minute window of tracking location further before that right is taken from them, and they go into a sleep state.

Having apps in the recently used list means it's faster to open them and resume where you left off, but closing these apps all the time you are probably using more battery than leaving them open, by forcing the phone to release memory, and forcing the phone to start the app from fresh each time.

That's my thoughts anyway.

Your post is theoretically true, but iOS 7 so far has showed a very poor memory management, especially on 64-bit enabled devices, so apps crash quite often if you don't close them.
I really hope 7.1 will improve this aspect of iOS.

And to all the naysayers I suggest to buy a system information app and monitor the free ram on your device when you have many app in the multitasking list: there is very little free ram available.
iOS 7 should, and I say again SHOULD, release memory when needed by other apps, BUT somehow this isn't working very well under iOS 7 so apps crashes too often.

So, awaiting a fix from Apple (iOS 7.1 ?) I strongly suggest to close all the unused apps, especially the web browser, a real memory hog.

 

[Shuri]

And to all the naysayers I suggest to buy a system information app and monitor the free ram on your device when you have many app in the multitasking list: there is very little free ram available.
iOS 7 should, and I say again SHOULD, release memory when needed by other apps, BUT somehow this isn't working very well under iOS 7 so apps crashes too often.

When you think having 90% used RAM is a bad thing in general, then you're wrong. If not, then go on.

In my experience, freeing up RAM in iOS works most of the time, I don't think it's such a big thing to bother with.

 

[Serelus]

Because unless an app has crashed, there is no point.

It's a placebo effect, mainly, because we have been brought up with PC's that get bogged down by having too many apps open.

iOS releases memory when the current app requests it in two ways.

1) A well coded app will release as much memory as is possible can, while staying in a 'frozen' state, and if iOS still doesn't have enough memory to run the current app well, it will completely kill the background app in question.

2) Apps that aren't coded well, receive the same request to free as much memory as possible, and when iOS doesn't receive any, the app is killed.

The only time when closing an app that hasn't crashed may have an effect on battery is location based apps. However, unlike the olden days, location aware apps aren't necessarily using GPS, but instead triangulation of cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, something the phone does quite frequently anyway, and doesn't consume much power. This is why location based reminders and Google Now don't use much extra battery power, in fact it's not noticeable.

Some location based apps do use the GPS, and when put into the background they are given a 10 minute window of tracking location further before that right is taken from them, and they go into a sleep state.

Having apps in the recently used list means it's faster to open them and resume where you left off, but closing these apps all the time you are probably using more battery than leaving them open, by forcing the phone to release memory, and forcing the phone to start the app from fresh each time.

That's my thoughts anyway.

This process does not work flawless, so killing the apps is your best bet.

 

[Septembersrain]

This process does not work flawless, so killing the apps is your best bet.

I definitely kill mine. I've found if I leave everything open, I'll get a couple apps that will continually crash. I have to end up uninstalling and reinstalling them to resolve the issue. So it's better for me to just close them when I'm done.

I also had a few resprings when I'd leave everything open too. Haven't had one (I didn't want intentionally that is) occur since I started shutting down the applications.

I have just a tiny bit more trouble with my 5s than I do my 5c. The 5c actually seems to be much more solid when it comes to leaving everything in the background.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I usually kill location oriented apps (tomtom + maps), to preserve battery life. They continue to use GPS for 10minutes or so after they are offscreen.

For other apps I do it occasionally, usually when I have very low battery and I'm trying to stretch out every last possible second of life.

I think the memory and power management software works well in iOS7.

Every now and again, I will kill all apps, and switch the device off, to have a truly fresh restart. IMO the iphone works faster after doing this.

 

[merrickdrfc]

I usually kill location oriented apps (tomtom + maps), to preserve battery life. They continue to use GPS for 10minutes or so after they are offscreen.

For other apps I do it occasionally, usually when I have very low battery and I'm trying to stretch out every last possible second of life.

I think the memory and power management software works well in iOS7.

Every now and again, I will kill all apps, and switch the device off, to have a truly fresh restart. IMO the iphone works faster after doing this.

You do know restarting will clear the RAM of the device effectively closing all the apps in the multitasking menu anyway? None of them will be in a 'background' state when the phone turns back on

 

[Dented]

Annoyingly I can't see the results of the poll so far in mobile view - but I'm curious. Do all those that voted "yes" imagine all the many that voted "no" have slow, stuttering, overloaded phones that burn up their batteries in half an hour? Or is the possibility dawning on you that actually, all those "no" phones might be working just fine?

 

[cynics]

Why wouldn't you close apps in the recent app list?

What's the point of having every app you have in it? That's not convenient at all. At that point you might as well reopen apps from the home screens since you'll know exactly where they are. Then just ignore the recent app feature all together.

 

[Gigatel]

I regularly closeout apps throughout the day. I'm anal about it. I know I don't really need to.

 

[BaldiMac]

Why wouldn't you close apps in the recent app list?

Because it is a waste of time (and possibly battery life.)

What's the point of having every app you have in it? That's not convenient at all. At that point you might as well reopen apps from the home screens since you'll know exactly where they are. Then just ignore the recent app feature all together.

That doesn't make sense at all. If it's only convenient to you to scroll one screen over in the recent app list, than only scroll one screen over. The fact that there are more apps in the list is completely irrelevant and has no effect whatsoever.

 

[cynics]

Because it is a waste of time (and possibly battery life.)



That doesn't make sense at all. If it's only convenient to you to scroll one screen over in the recent app list, than only scroll one screen over. The fact that there are more apps in the list is completely irrelevant and has no effect whatsoever.

That may work for you but I have 10 or so apps I use constantly throughout the day with several others I rarely use.

I don't want to have to scroll passed the rarely used apps 10 times to get the apps I use constantly "ahead in line".

So you actually have it backwards. You are intentionally scrolling passed the same app that you don't use constantly aka waste time. Whereas if you closed it on the first pass you'd save time.

 

[MisakixMikasa]

That may work for you but I have 10 or so apps I use constantly throughout the day with several others I rarely use.

I don't want to have to scroll passed the rarely used apps 10 times to get the apps I use constantly "ahead in line".

So you actually have it backwards. You are intentionally scrolling passed the same app that you don't use constantly aka waste time. Whereas if you closed it on the first pass you'd save time.

Why would you even wish to kill apps? You do not have to, you just jump back to home screen and open apps...I do that all the time...

Once you pass certain number, scrolling through app tray is no longer make,any sense

 

[BaldiMac]

That may work for you but I have 10 or so apps I use constantly throughout the day with several others I rarely use.

I don't want to have to scroll passed the rarely used apps 10 times to get the apps I use constantly "ahead in line".

So you actually have it backwards. You are intentionally scrolling passed the same app that you don't use constantly aka waste time. Whereas if you closed it on the first pass you'd save time.

Nope. I use the recently used app list to access recently used apps. If I haven't used an app recently, I access it through the home page (where you find the apps that I use constantly throughout the day.)

By your own description, you waste more time removing apps from the list than you do "scrolling" past them.