Gestures

[donnaw]

I use gestures on my iPad all the time. I like to keep my Mail, Safari app, maybe a book, open all the time and simply use the '4-finger' gesture to swipe back and forth.

Because I use it this way I tend to keep my multi-tasking area pretty clear. So when I use an app (FaceTime for instance) I like to close it out of the multi-task area so I don't have to scroll through it to get to Mail (or something else).

Here's my question/issue: if I use an app (let's say FaceTime) and I finish the call I swipe to another open app and perform the gesture to expose the multi-tasking area. I then hold down the FaceTime icon, get the minus sign, and close the app. But if I then swipe back the app is still there and opens, in other words, it doesn't seem to actually close. This happens on any app I use. If I try to close it out in this manner it doesn't seem to actually close. If I go back to the Home screen it will close. Is this the way it's supposed to work or is this a bug? If its not a bug, then why is it set to work this way?

 

[jabingla2810]

It's not so much a bug, but just the way it works.

I must say, and this isn't a dig at you, but you use your iPad in a very strange way!

Takes all types to make a world though

I never close any apps in the multitasking/recently used apps tray.

 

[donnaw]

Well, we all use our devices in a way that works best for us. I find that swiping right and left is much easier than going back to the Home screen every time I want to change apps. Especially since the Home button on my iPad 2 got pretty flaky after a year of use. I'm a firm believer in the mantra "don't take 2 steps when something can be done in one".

I actually think they may have missed a use-case during development. I can't see a reason why it should work differently. But I admit it is a bit of an obscure use. Having done development on many projects for over 25 years I know exactly how easy it is to miss something like this. But I was wondering if I'm missing a valid reason for it to work this way.

 

[Zcott]

I think the swiping is for most recently used apps, regardless of whether you've tried to close them or not.

 

[Sylon]

It's not so much a bug, but just the way it works.

I must say, and this isn't a dig at you, but you use your iPad in a very strange way!

Takes all types to make a world though

I never close any apps in the multitasking/recently used apps tray.

How do you close your apps if you don't close them from the multitasking tray?





I really like the gestures, and yes OP, I get that "reopening" of an app when I swipe left and right. However, I really don't like the left/right swipe. But I do like the swipe up to get the tray and the 5-finger swipe to get home. I use them all the time.

 

[donnaw]

Well, we all use our devices in a way that works best for us. I find that swiping right and left is much easier than going back to the Home screen every time I want to change apps. Especially since the Home button on my iPad 2 got pretty flaky after a year of use. I'm a firm believer in the mantra "don't take 2 steps when something can be done in one".

I actually think they may have missed a use-case during development. I can't see a reason why it should work differently. But I admit it is a bit of an obscure use. Having done development on many projects for over 25 years I know exactly how easy it is to miss something like this. But I was wondering if I'm missing a valid reason for it to work this way.

I think the swiping is for most recently used apps, regardless of whether you've tried to close them or not.

But if you close one from the Home screen it doesn't come up on the left/right swipe. Only if you close it from within another app will it reappear. Otherwise the left/right swipe includes only the apps in the multitasking tray.

 

[jabingla2810]

How do you close your apps if you don't close them from the multitasking tray?

I just hit the home button.

I never 'close' them completely. Ever.

 

[FlatlinerG]

I just hit the home button.

I never 'close' them completely. Ever.

Why?

 

[r-sparks]

I use gestures on my iPad all the time. I like to keep my Mail, Safari app, maybe a book, open all the time and simply use the '4-finger' gesture to swipe back and forth.

Because I use it this way I tend to keep my multi-tasking area pretty clear. So when I use an app (FaceTime for instance) I like to close it out of the multi-task area so I don't have to scroll through it to get to Mail (or something else).

Here's my question/issue: if I use an app (let's say FaceTime) and I finish the call I swipe to another open app and perform the gesture to expose the multi-tasking area. I then hold down the FaceTime icon, get the minus sign, and close the app. But if I then swipe back the app is still there and opens, in other words, it doesn't seem to actually close. This happens on any app I use. If I try to close it out in this manner it doesn't seem to actually close. If I go back to the Home screen it will close. Is this the way it's supposed to work or is this a bug? If its not a bug, then why is it set to work this way?

You're stuck in the world of old computing metaphors. The point of the iPad is that you don't have to worry about closing programs. I know that not everybody wants to be in the 21st century but that's the problem with Apple stuff—you have to do things the way they say. There's no other way. Android is more hackable.

You can fully quit an app by holding down the sleep button until the "slide to power off" thing appears, then press and hold the home button until the app quits. But this is very long-winded and entirely (entirely!) unnecessary.

 

[donnaw]

You're stuck in the world of old computing metaphors. The point of the iPad is that you don't have to worry about closing programs. I know that not everybody wants to be in the 21st century but that's the problem with Apple stuff—you have to do things the way they say. There's no other way. Android is more hackable.

You can fully quit an app by holding down the sleep button until the "slide to power off" thing appears, then press and hold the home button until the app quits. But this is very long-winded and entirely (entirely!) unnecessary.

My point is not to close apps just for the sake of closing apps. Please read my post again. I use the four-finger gesture to swipe through my open apps (i.e apps in my multitasking tray). I use three apps all the time, Mail, Safari, and either iBooks or my Kindle app -depending on what book I'm reading at the time). I cannot set the order of the apps in the multitasking tray so if I open several I have to swipe continually to get to the one I want. This kind of defeats the purpose of the left/right swipe.

I don't understand what you mean by your last paragraph about 'fully quitting' apps since that can be accomplished by opening the multitasking tray, touching an icon until all wiggle, then touching the minus sign. Why would I want to put my iPad to sleep just to close an app?

The entire point was to point out that closing apps (via the wiggle method) works when done from the Home screen but not when done from within an open app.

 

[r-sparks]

Have a read of this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/34471/how-to-force-reboot-and-force-quit-apps-on-ios-devices/

 

[donnaw]

Have a read of this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/34471/how-to-force-reboot-and-force-quit-apps-on-ios-devices/

Sorry, you're completely missing the point. The wiggle method works just fine when you access the multitask bar from the Home screen. The wiggle method LOOKS like it works when accessing the multitask bar when another app is the focus (open, active, the one I'm looking at). The icons all wiggle, touching the minus sign on the app seems to close it because it disappears from the multitask bar but if you swipe it's still there. So to actually close it you must go to the Home screen. No 'force close' is necessary.

 

[Sylon]

Sorry, you're completely missing the point. The wiggle method works just fine when you access the multitask bar from the Home screen. The wiggle method LOOKS like it works when accessing the multitask bar when another app is the focus (open, active, the one I'm looking at). The icons all wiggle, touching the minus sign on the app seems to close it because it disappears from the multitask bar but if you swipe it's still there. So to actually close it you must go to the Home screen. No 'force close' is necessary.

When I tried duplicating the issue you are talking about, I did manage to replicate it. However, when I did it, I used my Nürburgring Live app as the guinea pig. When I swiped back to it after closing it in the tray like you, the app itself appeared to reopen, as if I tapped it from the home screen, instead of it already being open. It was loading up from being closed as if I opened it up for the first time.

Are you getting the same thing on your end? Are you able to test it on an app that has some sort of startup animation?

 

[donnaw]

When I tried duplicating the issue you are talking about, I did manage to replicate it. However, when I did it, I used my Nürburgring Live app as the guinea pig. When I swiped back to it after closing it in the tray like you, the app itself appeared to reopen, as if I tapped it from the home screen, instead of it already being open. It was loading up from being closed as if I opened it up for the first time.

Are you getting the same thing on your end? Are you able to test it on an app that has some sort of startup animation?

Yes, I used my TWC app and I see the same thing. It's like it closed and removed it from memory but didn't really. I can't help but think this is a missed use case but thought someone might have an idea why it might have been intentional.

Seems the left/right swipe isn't widely used. I, on the other hand, find it highly useful. I use the gestures all the time.

 

[jabingla2810]

Why?

It's unnecessary.

 

[FlatlinerG]

It's unnecessary.

So do you also keep every program on your computer open and never quit a single one, just leave them minimized?

 

[jabingla2810]

So do you also keep every program on your computer open and never quit a single one, just leave them minimized?

It's not comparable.

iOS doesn't multitask in the same way.

It might be worth you reading this article: http://www.macworld.com/article/1164616/how_ios_multitasking_really_works.html

There is no reason to 'close' apps on an iPad or iPhone, unless an app crashes for some reason.

 

[donnaw]

It's not comparable.

iOS doesn't multitask in the same way.

It might be worth you reading this article: http://www.macworld.com/article/1164616/how_ios_multitasking_really_works.html

There is no reason to 'close' apps on an iPad or iPhone, unless an app crashes for some reason.

You're right that IOS doesn't really 'multitask in the same way that a full blown OS does. But it does hiccup and not release memory as well as it probably should. That became very apparent after 5.1. My iPad 2 had many repeated crashes and even after 5.1.1 still has some issues. My iPad 1 is pretty much unusable except for the kids games (which is good because my grandkids use it). There are several threads over on Apple Discussions about the issue.

Even with the 1 gig of RAM I've had a couple of crashes on my new iPad. But in my instance I close out apps because I find the left/right swipe very convienent and having every app I ever use in the multitask area negates the convience of the gesture.

Apple provided the capability to close apps and provided the gestures capability. The fact that you don't find the need to use either doesn't mean that others don't.

 

[SteveAbootman]

I've run into the issue a number of times OP. I've kinda given up on the 4 finger swipe left/right because of it. I just use 5 finger swipe up to access my apps now, and in the event one isn't in the tray, I'll pinch to close and get back to the home screen that way. I hardly use the home button anymore.

 

[TheWheelMan]

It's not comparable.

iOS doesn't multitask in the same way.

It might be worth you reading this article: http://www.macworld.com/article/1164616/how_ios_multitasking_really_works.html

There is no reason to 'close' apps on an iPad or iPhone, unless an app crashes for some reason.

If you install a memory monitor app you will see that at least some, if not all, open apps do take up memory. Seems like the more graphic dependent ones are the worst offenders. I don't think iOS manages memory quite as well as advertised.

 

[NineFace]

I've run into the issue a number of times OP. I've kinda given up on the 4 finger swipe left/right because of it. I just use 5 finger swipe up to access my apps now, and in the event one isn't in the tray, I'll pinch to close and get back to the home screen that way. I hardly use the home button anymore.

yes that closed app came back annoy me every time, it's bug for sure.

BTW what is the different between 4 fingers swipe and 5 fingers swipe?

 

[SteveAbootman]

yes that closed app came back annoy me every time, it's bug for sure.

BTW what is the different between 4 fingers swipe and 5 fingers swipe?

Apparently nothing. I've always done 5, but same functionality with 4. Guess I've been adding an extra digit for no reason -- you get a break thumb!

 

[Sylon]

yes that closed app came back annoy me every time, it's bug for sure.

BTW what is the different between 4 fingers swipe and 5 fingers swipe?

You only need 4 fingers to swipe left and right. Using 5 fingers to swipe inwards (closing your fingers together) brings you to the Home screen. 4 fingers swiped up opens the multitasking tray.

 

[jabingla2810]

If you install a memory monitor app you will see that at least some, if not all, open apps do take up memory. Seems like the more graphic dependent ones are the worst offenders. I don't think iOS manages memory quite as well as advertised.

A memory monitor app?

It's an iPad, not a windows 95 PC.

I have no interest how much RAM is available, it's never been and issue.

look I'm obviously outnumbered in this thread. And like I say in my first post, it takes all types to make a world, it's your iPad so do with it what you want.

I was just trying to explain that closing apps at all isn't necessary.

I have over 40 apps in that tray, I'm sure only the first 5 or 6 are 'frozen' and if I was to open infinity blade 2, it will still run as smooth as butter.

I suppose if your a bit older, like myself, it's understandable to think that it's important to close down all apps to get good performance, but in my 3 years with the iPad I haven't found that to be the case at all.

 

[FlatlinerG]

It's not comparable.

iOS doesn't multitask in the same way.

It might be worth you reading this article: http://www.macworld.com/article/1164616/how_ios_multitasking_really_works.html

There is no reason to 'close' apps on an iPad or iPhone, unless an app crashes for some reason.

Couldn't really care less what web pages you throw, clearing out the multitask and power cycling the device every now and then is an important step for any computer out there. There is a reason why it's one of the first troubleshooting steps to almost any issue.