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iOS 7 'Close All' Multitasking!

notrack said:
That's not the entire truth. It might be the theory of the concept, but the practical reality is different. If I send my navigation app to the background, it keeps running and talking and sucking energy. Need to close it. Also mail keeps making pling at every incoming email. Reminders indicates gps useage unless it's propperly closed. And I believe there are more.
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You are just mischaracterizing the actual situation in your description of "practical reality".

Navigation continues running in the background because it is navigating! No need to close it. Just clear the route. That's kinda like complaining that you have music playing in the background when all you need to do is hit the pause button.

Mail will continue to check for Mail even if you quit the app from the tray.

Reminders only uses GPS if you created a location based reminder. Which functions even if the Reminders app is "properly closed."
 
fivedots said:
In these cases, Mail continues to "pling" even if you hard close the app. Turn off push/fetch.

And if Reminders is using GPS then it is because you have a geofenced reminder set up that depends on it and will not work properly without it. Turn off location services for the app or don't use location-based reminders.
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Sorry, no pling when Mail is closed and push is on. Would be greatly annoying.

But anyways that's not the point, I just want to state that there is a difference between closing apps and not closing apps and there are situations where it makes sense to close them manually.
 
notrack said:
Sorry, no pling when Mail is closed and push is on. Would be greatly annoying.

But anyways that's not the point, I just want to state that there is a difference between closing apps and not closing apps and there are situations where it makes sense to close them manually.
Click to expand...

Yes, there is. Closing the mail app absolutely does not disable push/fetch or notifications.

And as stated by BaldiMac above, there are no situations outside of a buggy app where it makes sense to close them manually.
 
BaldiMac said:
You are just mischaracterizing the actual situation in your description of "practical reality".

Navigation continues running in the background because it is navigating! No need to close it. Just clear the route. That's kinda like complaining that you have music playing in the background when all you need to do is hit the pause button.

Mail will continue to check for Mail even if you quit the app from the tray.

Reminders only uses GPS if you created a location based reminder. Which functions even if the Reminders app is "properly closed."
Click to expand...

Clearing the route doesn't disable the app, it still runs, warns me when I'm driving too fast or at speed traps ahead. The only way to stop it is to close it.

Regarding reminders, when gps is still running when closed, why does the location icon disappear? Is that a different tracking mode or what? (Honest question)
 
BaldiMac said:
:) Either way the apps that you are using are the most recent ones. There is no difference in the amount of scrolling in your scenario.

I'm convinced that most calls for "Close All" are a result of at least a mild form of OCD. :D

----------



1) Sometimes, we want to remove an app from the recently used list for privacy reasons.
2) Sometimes, things go wrong.
Click to expand...

My OCD freaks out when I see someone closing all their apps, even on android. ;)
 
notrack said:
Clearing the route doesn't disable the app, it still runs, warns me when I'm driving too fast or at speed traps ahead. The only way to stop it is to close it.
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I'd guess you asked the app to warn you when you are driving too fast or at speed traps ahead. If the app doesn't provide a way for you to disable that, then it doesn't meet Apple's guidelines.

Regarding reminders, when gps is still running when closed, why does the location icon disappear? Is that a different tracking mode or what? (Honest question)
Click to expand...

The location icon is meant to signify when an app is accessing location services. But location services (if enabled) is running even when no apps are accessing it.

A geofence is just a trigger added to location services and doesn't require the original app to be running. It's kind of like a local notification, except it is based on location instead of time.
 
BaldiMac said:
The location icon is meant to signify when an app is accessing location services. But location services (if enabled) is running even when no apps are accessing it.

A geofence is just a trigger added to location services and doesn't require the original app to be running. It's kind of like a local notification, except it is based on location instead of time.
Click to expand...

Ok, I understand that.


BaldiMac said:
I'd guess you asked the app to warn you when you are driving too fast or at speed traps ahead. If the app doesn't provide a way for you to disable that, then it doesn't meet Apple's guidelines.
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Yes, they can be toggled in the settings menu. I think I understand what you mean. However, from a usability standpoint, when the app isn't needed any more, it makes sense to just switch it off instead of disabling features individually. Especially when these settings actually never change (e.g. I always keep these warnings on).
 
Personally I don't want to play finger origami using 3 digits to swipe things away.

A close all button / function would be logical & useful.
 
notrack said:
Yes, they can be toggled in the settings menu. I think I understand what you mean. However, from a usability standpoint, when the app isn't needed any more, it makes sense to just switch it off instead of disabling features individually. Especially when these settings actually never change (e.g. I always keep these warnings on).
Click to expand...

Sounds like a feature request for the developers. All they need to do is add a "Stop" button (it could even start automatically whenever you launch the app.). Again, similar to how a music app has a "Pause" button. You don't need to quit a music app to stop the music.
 
Smith288 said:
If it was necessary, yes. But it's not. So, illogical.
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If a number of customers want a feature, it's easy to implement and a company is supposedly all about delivering the best possible user experience, then it's logical to deliver that feature.
 
KeanosMagicHat said:
If a number of customers want a feature, it's easy to implement and a company is supposedly all about delivering the best possible user experience, then it's logical to deliver that feature.
Click to expand...

The addition to the feature you request is rooted in a general misunderstanding of how the feature itself works.

Apples not a company that just adds something because enough people complain about something they don't understand.
 
notrack said:
Yes, they can be toggled in the settings menu. I think I understand what you mean. However, from a usability standpoint, when the app isn't needed any more, it makes sense to just switch it off instead of disabling features individually. Especially when these settings actually never change (e.g. I always keep these warnings on).
Click to expand...

No, it actually doesn't.

When you "close" an app via the multitasking tray, you are clearing it from it's last known state. That means when you open that app the next time, it will take more processing power to boot it back up and get it going. If you leave it in the multitasking tray, it will re-open much faster.

And just because an app is "open" does not mean it is running in the background. Its state is saved in RAM (and it's 100% not using any processing power unless specified otherwise, such as playing a song or navigating a route).

"Closing" all of your apps does not make your phone faster, simply because those apps are not doing anything. In fact, that actually makes your phone slower and less efficient.

The only time you ever need to close an app is if the app hangs/freezes/crashes/etc. Any other time you manually close an app, there's just no gain. "Freeing up RAM" does not make your phone faster, as this RAM does not work in the same way as your Windows/Mac does. In fact, the OS actually performs better when the RAM is full, because it can multitask faster without having to process more "opening" and "closing" apps.
 
Smith288 said:
The addition to the feature you request is rooted in a general misunderstanding of how the feature itself works.

Apples not a company that just adds something because enough people complain about something they don't understand.
Click to expand...

Damn this is a pompous thread with some arrogant assumptions being made about people.

I fully understand the belief that it's not necessary to close all apps, but I want to as do others.

You clearly don't, so why are you worried whether Apple includes the feature or not?

You wouldn't use it if they did anyway.
 
KeanosMagicHat said:
Damn this is a pompous thread with some arrogant assumptions being made about people.

I fully understand the belief that it's not necessary to close all apps, but I want to as do others.

You clearly don't, so why are you worried whether Apple includes the feature or not?

You wouldn't use it if they did anyway.
Click to expand...

So, it's pompous and arrogant to have an understanding of how a feature works? And, yet, perfectly reasonable to expect an unnecessary feature simply because you want it.
 
KeanosMagicHat said:
Damn this is a pompous thread with some arrogant assumptions being made about people.

I fully understand the belief that it's not necessary to close all apps, but I want to as do others.

You clearly don't, so why are you worried whether Apple includes the feature or not?

You wouldn't use it if they did anyway.
Click to expand...

It would be the equivalent of Apple making a feature to 'unpurchase' an app.

You can delete an app currently, but people might want to tidy up the 'purchased' section of the App Store.

It would be completely pointless, and so would this.

We don't have a belief that apps don't need to be closed, this isn't like religion or faith. We know the facts, and this feature to 'kill all apps' which is repeatedly asked for is pointless.
 
Why does this subject always seem to come back? :p

Apps displayed in the task switcher are either:


Active/Running:

System Apps like Phone, Messages and Mail are always running regardless if they are displayed in task switcher or not.

3rd Party apps like Pandora, Spotify and also the native music app are coded to run in the background (so you can listen to music and do something else) but they CAN be closed.

Frozen State:

These are apps that are in a suspended state. They are not using battery power but they are using some RAM to sustain this state so if they need to be active again they can be quickly. (think of this like Windows sleep/hibernate mode).

Recently Opened

The task switcher also keeps a history of apps you used at some point. I'm not 100% sure if it remembers apps for only the last 24 hours or if some apps start dropping off the list to make room for newer ones once a specific limit is reached (like 20 apps). These do NOT use any memory or battery power. They basically represent a shortcut.
 
BaldiMac said:
Restart? :D

It's not something that I would ever expect to be added. Apple has made it clear that they don't believe that managing background processes should be the users job.
Click to expand...

When I restart my apps do not close. Never have. Am I missing something?
 
Night Spring said:
"Closing" all apps is useful when you want to switch rapidly between a few apps and don't want to scroll through all the other open and recently used apps. You close all apps, then open just the ones you'll be using, and it's a much cleaner experience. This is one of the reasons I'm sticking with jailbreak -- there are tweaks to close all apps at once, and also tweaks to show only actually running apps, and even a tweak that shows both recently open and actually running apps, but the ones that have been recently opened but not actually running are grey.
Click to expand...

This doesn't really make sense because if you open the apps you want to use they will be at the front and none of the other ones will get in the way.
 
People confuse theoretical with practical. Apple tells us it's not necessary. It is. Removing apps from the recently used apps list frees resources. Lots of discussions on this.

A contradiction from the linked article (emphasis mine):
"From there, a Suspended app remains in the device’s onboard memory so that it can be quickly launched again (sort of like how Mac OS X Lion handles apps now). Contrary to popular belief, the Suspended state does not use your device’s system resources or battery life. If there are too many apps in the Suspended state, iOS is smart enough to purge unnecessary suspensions and move apps to the “Not running” state."

If they are not using resources there is no reason to purge. But they are purged to free resources when entering a Low Memory condition so they are using resources.

So you can wait for a low memory condition so iOS purges apps or you can close them yourself. Apple does not mention what the user experience is in a low memory condition. However, I can when I pick up my kid's iPod with over 50 applications in the recently used app list. It ain't good.

There's a reason developers tell you to close apps or restart your device when their large applications don't load.
 
BaldiMac said:
So, it's pompous and arrogant to have an understanding of how a feature works? And, yet, perfectly reasonable to expect an unnecessary feature simply because you want it.
Click to expand...

No it's pompous and arrogant to assume that others don't understand the point being made simply because they hold a different opinion.

Armen said:
Why does this subject always seem to come back? :p . . . .
Click to expand...

Apple give the user the ability to close multitasking apps, so they are acknowledging that some owners wish to have that functionality.

That being the case, instead of having to dispense with 1-3 at a time with various fingers, why wouldn't those same people not want the simplicity of a single Clear All button?

It baffles me why those that don't are even bothered . . . . especially to the extent that they feel the need to passionately defend the status quo.

(that last sentence wasn't specifically toward you Armen)
 
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