Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is there a quick way to close all open apps?

melburstein

melburstein

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 3, 2012
153
19
The Genus Bar showed me how to press the Home button to see all of the open apps and how to drag them off the screen, one by one. But does iOs7 provide a way to close all open apps with a single click?
 
Last edited:
Sadly no.
Unless you jailbreak your device but I wouldn't recommend this for you if you just discovered how to close an app :eek:
 
it is such a simple thing, i don't know why they insist on not adding this as a button at the top of app switcher
 
luckydcxx said:
it is such a simple thing, i don't know why they insist on not adding this as a button at the top of app switcher
Click to expand...

Numerous threads about this but because there is really no reason to close apps in iOS. So the current method is sufficient for the times that you actually might need to. And you can close like 3 at a time if need be.
 
sbailey4 said:
Numerous threads about this but because there is really no reason to close apps in iOS. So the current method is sufficient for the times that you actually might need to. And you can close like 3 at a time if need be.
Click to expand...

it is not sufficient for me. i always close all apps. i do not use background app refresh and i do not want my location services on when i don't need them, they kill my battery. i want to close all apps with one button.
 
luckydcxx said:
it is not sufficient for me. i always close all apps. i do not use background app refresh and i do not want my location services on when i don't need them, they kill my battery. i want to close all apps with one button.
Click to expand...
Apple doesn't see a need for it and designed it so that there wouldn't be a need for it. What you do is based on a particular preference but it's not how it's designed to work so based in that design that type of functionality is unnecessary.
 
luckydcxx said:
it is not sufficient for me. i always close all apps. i do not use background app refresh and i do not want my location services on when i don't need them, they kill my battery. i want to close all apps with one button.
Click to expand...

Sorry, 99.9% sure it aint gonna happen because "you want it". Suggest you get used to closing 3 at a time because more than likely thats all you are going to get since Apple says there is no need. I doubt they will incorporate that just for giggles and grins. Of course you never know. :confused:
 
So you don't need to close apps? I thought leaving them open slowed things down?
 
Is there a quick way to close all open apps?

Did you come from Android?

It's not necessary to close apps unless it's an app to continuously run in the background such as music or navigation apps. Other than those types of apps, when you exit an app, it is not using resources in the background. iOS just remembers the state the app is in and when you reopen the app, it is restored. iOS doesn't allow rogue apps to use resources or battery in the background unlike Android.
 
sbailey4 said:
Numerous threads about this but because there is really no reason to close apps in iOS. So the current method is sufficient for the times that you actually might need to. And you can close like 3 at a time if need be.
Click to expand...

There's numerous threads because there is a need for it and people want to know how to do it.

Medz1 said:
So you don't need to close apps? I thought leaving them open slowed things down?
Click to expand...

It might.

sumsingwong said:
iOS doesn't allow rogue apps to use resources or battery in the background unlike Android.
Click to expand...

That's the official stance but whether it's an app or a process gone wild iOS cannot handle 100% of the possibilities.

So anyway... This thread will continue like all the others where people bicker whether it's necessary or not. Apple's developer guide warns that overall system performance can be affected by an app's use of memory. And iOS is supposed to then kill it. So pick a side and grab a bucket of popcorn! :)
 
luckydcxx said:
it is not sufficient for me. i always close all apps. i do not use background app refresh and i do not want my location services on when i don't need them, they kill my battery. i want to close all apps with one button.
Click to expand...

How about two buttons?
If you really insist on closing all apps you can do it by holding both the home and the power button until your phone reboots.
;)
 
"no need to close apps"

That is said a thousand times. But it's just not true. Yes ios is built to never nead to close apps. True. All the apps are supposed to follow the rules to the tea. All the apps are supposed to not freeze or etc. But that not always the case. Apps do freeze. Some worse than others. And some times they take your phone with them. Sometimes you have no idea which affending app is to blame for your phones poor performance. In which times I close all my open apps (or at least the last 5 used) and WA-LA phone works again smoothly. There's ios software rules and then there's all the apps rules. They do not always abide by them. And there is no way apple can micro mange millions of apps to make sure glitches don't happen form time to time. And developers can't either considering they have to completely rewrite their apps each time new ios is released. In short there are too many variables to micro manage all of them. This is why apple does this better than android because they can micro manage the process better than android. But apps still need to be closed sometimes. A button to close them all is needed regardless.
 
PicnicTutorials said:
"no need to close apps"

That is said a thousand times. But it's just not true. Yes ios is built to never nead to close apps. True. All the apps are supposed to follow the rules to the tea. All the apps are supposed to not freeze or etc. But that not always the case. Apps do freeze. Some worse than others. And some times they take your phone with them. Sometimes you have no idea which affending app is to blame for your phones poor performance. In which times I close all my open apps (or at least the last 5 used) and WA-LA phone works again smoothly. There's ios software rules and then there's all the apps rules. They do not always abide by them. And there is no way apple can micro mange millions of apps to make sure glitches don't happen form time to time. And developers can't either considering they have to completely rewrite their apps each time new ios is released. In short there are too many variables to micro manage all of them. This is why apple does this better than android because they can micro manage the process better than android. But apps still need to be closed sometimes. A button to close them all is needed regardless.
Click to expand...
It's usually that all apps generally don't need to be closed, not that some apps don't need to be closed occasionally for one reason or another (which is essentially why the ability to close apps individually exists).

The various situations you describe do exist bit they are much more of an exception than the rule, and adding a feature for exceptional reasons (which mostly shouldn't be there to begin with and are there due to some issues or something not going properly) isn't how/why features are usually added.
 
Gjwilly said:
How about two buttons?
If you really insist on closing all apps you can do it by holding both the home and the power button until your phone reboots.
;)
Click to expand...

the apps are still open when you reboot

----------
C DM said:
Apple doesn't see a need for it and designed it so that there wouldn't be a need for it. What you do is based on a particular preference but it's not how it's designed to work so based in that design that type of functionality is unnecessary.
Click to expand...

sbailey4 said:
Sorry, 99.9% sure it aint gonna happen because "you want it". Suggest you get used to closing 3 at a time because more than likely thats all you are going to get since Apple says there is no need. I doubt they will incorporate that just for giggles and grins. Of course you never know. :confused:
Click to expand...

I'm sure that if they made a button for it 99.9% of people would use it. All it would take is a few lines of code. If you didn't want to use it you wouldn't have to, it would be nice to have the option.
 
luckydcxx said:
the apps are still open when you reboot
Click to expand...
You mean they are still displayed in the app switcher? Yes they would be there as that is mainly a list of recently used apps not apps that are necessarily actually running or doing something.

Seems like misunderstandings like these can be what's behind people doing things like constantly closing out apps without often actually needing to.

Plenty of typical iOS users don't even know about the app switcher or use it and especially don't know about closing even single apps. Apple doesn't want the typical person worrying about as even those who know some of it all still have plenty of misunderstandings.
 
C DM said:
You mean they are still displayed in the app switcher? Yes they would be there as that is mainly a list of recently used apps not apps that are necessarily actually running or doing something.

Seems like misunderstandings like these can be what's behind people doing things like constantly closing out apps without often actually needing to.

Plenty of typical iOS users don't even know about the app switcher or use it and especially don't know about closing even single apps. Apple doesn't want the typical person worrying about as even those who know some of it all still have plenty of misunderstandings.
Click to expand...

If they were launched and are sitting in the app switcher they are taking up memory, maybe not a lot of it but some. Even with a reboot they have allocated space in the RAM. They have been put in a "suspended state".

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/01/05/how-ios-multitasking-really-works/
 
luckydcxx said:
the apps are still open when you reboot
Click to expand...

As stated above, that is wrong. No apps are open after a reboot. What you see is simply a list of recently used apps.

From the page you linked, "You don’t need to manually manage the iOS multitasking bar because the apps you see after double tapping the Home button are not actually “running.” In fact, it’s better to think of the multitasking bar as something like a browser history, not a task manager." And..."Bottom line: If you try to manually manage your iOS multitasking bar, you’re wasting your time."
 
luckydcxx said:
If they were launched and are sitting in the app switcher they are taking up memory, maybe not a lot of it but some. Even with a reboot they have allocated space in the RAM. They have been put in a "suspended state".

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/01/05/how-ios-multitasking-really-works/
Click to expand...
Taking up memory means pretty much nothing as far as running/using battery/etc. and when you reboot they are not even in memory anymore.

The very article you linked to says that the bottom line is that if you manage the apps and memory yourself you are essentially wasting your time.
 
It may not be necessary too, however a lot of people close all the apps in the recent apps list if nothing else to at least clean it up. Making an easier way to do that by having a "close all" option would only help. Its not like you HAVE to close all the apps.

This is one of those, well if I don't need then I don't want anyone else to even want it. Some times I think Apples worst enemy are Apple users.
 
"A lot" on MacRumors is still just a tiny niche. I don't see this being implemented unless it's something that the masses need. The majority don't seem to obsess over closing apps which is typically behavior based on a lack of understanding anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back