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iPhone X - Why hold to force kill apps?

lyhte

lyhte

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 27, 2008
69
3
On an iPhone X, when you go to the app switcher, in order to force kill an app you have to hold down the app until a red minus circle appears and then you can either press the circle or swipe the app up to kill it.

Why is there the extra added step of holding down the app prior to being able to swipe up to kill? I don’t see why we couldn’t just enter the app switcher and swipe up to kill an app.

Now, if swiping up from the app switcher had a purpose or function, I would understand the need to hold an app to differentiate the kill function from whatever the swipe up function would do, however, the swipe up function in the app switcher serves no purpose (or none that I’ve found up to this point). It simply returns us to the home screen which tapping outside the app switcher does as does swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

Any thoughts as to the presence of this unnecessary, extra step? Also, has anyone found a way to just swipe up to kill apps without raking the extra step of holding down the app first?

Thanks for your comments!
 
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The extra step is to improve efficiency by discouraging people from killing apps unnecessarily. Unless an app malfunctions, there’s no reason to kill it. iOS is smart enough to handle power and memory management without user intervention and malfunctioning apps ain’t a regular occurrence.

There’s no other way to kill app on iPhone X.
 
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I imagine it’s to keep from accidentally killing an app.

I regularly end navigation this was and it’s a bit annoying doing it without really looking especially now that google maps has been updating to iPhone X mode. It’s my only honest gripe about this phone.
 
It's the most annoying change they made and one they hopefully remedy at some point. All they have to do is make it a little tougher to inadvertently force close the first app as you swipe up to get into "close/switch" mode. Really obnoxious to have to sit and wait - completely throws off the flow of an otherwise super smooth software/hardware combo.

I hate nothing more than having to switch through a ton of apps to find what I want. My phone is a critical work tool above all else and I only run about 4-6 core apps at a time 90% of the time anyway.
 
DNichter said:
Why force kill apps at all? Besides an app having a major issue, I never do it.
Click to expand...
I'd say an app having any issue, major or not. It doesn't really have to be an issue--it could be normal app behavior. For example, as I go out for a run in the morning I gradually lose Wifi from home. No biggie--normal. But if at that moment I happened to launch an app that needs a login, which would use Face ID, the app might fail due to no data and ask to log back in. A simple force close of that app and relaunch is easier for me than typing my actual login password.

So I would really prefer if a simple swipe up in the switcher killed the app, without the delay.



Mike
 
Tinmania said:
I'd say an app having any issue, major or not. It doesn't really have to be an issue--it could be normal app behavior. For example, as I go out for a run in the morning I gradually lose Wifi from home. No biggie--normal. But if at that moment I happened to launch an app that needs a login, which would use Face ID, the app might fail due to no data and ask to log back in. A simple force close of that app and relaunch is easier for me than typing my actual login password.

So I would really prefer if a simple swipe up in the switcher killed the app, without the delay.



Mike
Click to expand...

I suppose. I don't know, I never think about it.
 
DNichter said:
I suppose. I don't know, I never think about it.
Click to expand...
I will admit I originally didn't know you could still swipe up after the delay--I ASSuMEd you had to use the red X. After finding out I could still swipe up it wasn't as much an issue.

Okay as long as I am admitting.... I confess I do sometimes like to clear out the switcher. I don't care what Apple or anyone else claims, my phones always seem to run better after doing that. :)


Mike
 
Tinmania said:
I will admit I originally didn't know you could still swipe up after the delay--I ASSuMEd you had to use the red X. After finding out I could still swipe up it wasn't as much an issue.

Okay as long as I am admitting.... I confess I do sometimes like to clear out the switcher. I don't care what Apple or anyone else claims, my phones always seem to run better after doing that. :)


Mike
Click to expand...

Haha it's all in your head. But yea, holding for a second and then swiping up isn't so bad.
 
haruhiko said:
Because swiping up means home button now. It’s to prevent accidental killing of apps. No conspiracy theory here.
Click to expand...

swiping up from the bottom of the screen means home button. not swiping up from middle of the screen which you can still do after holding down on an app in app switcher. just get rid of the step to hold down on app first, and don't allow the current app to get killed in the same gesture as entering the app switcher.
 
i hate phones said:
swiping up from the bottom of the screen means home button. not swiping up from middle of the screen which you can still do after holding down on an app in app switcher. just get rid of the step to hold down on app first, and don't allow the current app to get killed in the same gesture as entering the app switcher.
Click to expand...

I understand fully but if you’re Apple you must consider less experienced users using this phone with a whole new interaction method. Asking them to change their decade old habit of pressing a button to swipe up is already difficult, let alone asking them to distinguish between swiping from the bottom and swiping from middle.
 
Because Apple is discouraging you from closing apps. If anything closing apps is going to become even more cumbersome in the future. Apps running = money. The company producing the app has access to your phone to send and track ads. And the phones battery takes on extra stress, sending it to an earlier grave, and making sure your upgrade cycle is less than two years.
 
akash.nu said:
The extra step is to improve efficiency by discouraging people from killing apps unnecessarily. Unless an app malfunctions, there’s no reason to kill it. iOS is smart enough to handle power and memory management without user intervention and malfunctioning apps ain’t a regular occurrence.

There’s no other way to kill app on iPhone X.
Click to expand...
Shouldn't it be up to the user whether or not they want to close apps? Making it less convenient (or penalizing the user) seems like a stretch, this seems more like a gesture limitation than anything.
 
ericgtr12 said:
Shouldn't it be up to the user whether or not they want to close apps? Making it less convenient (or penalizing the user) seems like a stretch, this seems more like a gesture limitation than anything.
Click to expand...

It’s a well known fact that most of the times end users don’t know what they are doing and they end up blaming the manufacturer for poor performance.

Also, when you’re manufacturing something at a scale of billions of units, there has to be restrictions and specifications imposed. Letting users run wild is a recipe for absolute chaos.
 
Joe h said:
Because Apple is discouraging you from closing apps. If anything closing apps is going to become even more cumbersome in the future. Apps running = money. The company producing the app has access to your phone to send and track ads. And the phones battery takes on extra stress, sending it to an earlier grave, and making sure your upgrade cycle is less than two years.
Click to expand...

Where do you even come up with such wild imagination?! Impressive stuff there.
 
adamhenry said:
Constantly going into settings to turn location services off and on depending on whether I am using the app or not? I don't think so.
Click to expand...
Check your Privacy > Location Services > [app] setting anyway. All of mine have an option for "while using" and only a few have "always."
 
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