Nearly 100 posts later...
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I watched this thread develop and was sort of trying to force myself to stay out of it. Clearly, the comedic value of this thread is rivaled only by Stolen Receipt Guy's thread of yesterday. The sad part, though, is that we (you all?)
not only failed to really address the poor OP's questions... but
you BAGGED ON HIM with a -5 rating! Why???
The one biggest annoyance I have with iOS 4 is the multiple app icons in the bar when double click on the home button, by the end of the day, I have something like over 30 icons of all apps I used in the day. My questions are, why can't the app just simply quit like it used to be? do they take up any memory or other resources while not in use, do they run any tasks in the background? Is there a way to get rid all of them with a simple tap instead of remove they one by one? Can this be prevented in the first place? This really annoys the crap of me!!
I think the answers are:
1) it can't quit "like it used to" because Apple changed the way iOS "quits" apps. More specifically, they changed the behavior of the home button and it doesn't "quit" your app any more. It is presumed that they did this in response to the world-wide outrage that you couldn't have multiple apps running on the iPhone.
2) they DEFINITELY take up memory and resources while "backgrounded." People will (obviously) debate until the cows come as to whether or not this has any noticeable effect on you. But there is no question: resources (including memory and --
gasp -- CPU CYCLES!) are obligated to these backgrounded apps.
3) yes, they run "tasks" in the background... although people will jump on me here. There are certain "tasks" that are allowed by iOS to be performed while an app is not in the foreground. They were briefly touched on in this thread. They include location updates, audio playback, voip, AND OTHERS.
4) there is no way to wipe them all out with a single tap (or even two or three taps). Assuming we're talking about non-JB'd iOS, the only way is to double-click the home button, press and hold one of the apps in the tray, wait for "jiggle time," and then start tapping each app's "dismiss" badge.
5) there is no way to "prevent this in the first place," again assuming you haven't jailbroken your device.
I really had to bite my tongue to keep my opinion out of this reply. Now that I've done so, however, I'm thinking I might quote myself and "expand" with some commentary in a subsequent post.