Is there a quick way to close all open apps?

[matttye]

I'll give you a cast-iron reason why there should be a 'close all' button: because there's a way of closing apps one by one.

Likewise whenever there's a delete button there should be a 'delete all' button (with appropriate safeguards if necessary).

Reason being, the only other way for people to close/delete all is to do it one by one (or three by three in this case) and that's not user friendly.

 

[C DM]

I'll give you a cast-iron reason why there should be a 'close all' button: because there's a way of closing apps one by one.

Likewise whenever there's a delete button there should be a 'delete all' button (with appropriate safeguards if necessary).

Reason being, the only other way for people to close/delete all is to do it one by one (or three by three in this case) and that's not user friendly.

There's certainly that. Even on a desktop system where a much more powerful OS is present where you can do all kinds of things there is still generally no "close/quit all" button/feature.

 

[matttye]

There's certainly that. Even on a desktop system where a much more powerful OS is present where you can do all kinds of things there is still generally no "close/quit all" button/feature.

The difference is that the app list on a desktop is not persistent. When you close an app it usually disappears from the taskbar/launcher/app switcher/whatever.

Whenever there's some kind of persistent history list, you'll find that it is clear-able.

 

[chabig]

Making an easier way to do that by having a "close all" option would only help.

Help with what, making people feel better while promoting useless activity?

 

[cynics]

Help with what, making people feel better while promoting useless activity?

How is it useless?

I use the recent apps as Apple intended, a quick way to get back to apps I was recently using. If I intend to close 20 apps because I don't need them and leave 2 there it would be much easier to close all and reopen 2 apps then close 18 apps....

 

[C DM]

The difference is that the app list on a desktop is not persistent. When you close an app it usually disappears from the taskbar/launcher/app switcher/whatever.

Whenever there's some kind of persistent history list, you'll find that it is clear-able.

Not really. On a desktop, if you switch to another app or minimize the one you are on that's more or less analogous to what you do in iOS--the apps remain in the task switcher and to close them you have to quit each one separately. If you actually close an app, again each one separately, then it gets removed from the task switcher, which is what happens in iOS when you actually close the app (from the task switcher).

 

[Shuri]

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.

I think the point why Apple doesn't implement this is, that if they'd do, people would think it's important to use the close all button. Simple as that. But iOS' multitasking is designed in a way not to manage alle the opened or closed apps, it's not OS X.

 

[matttye]

Not really. On a desktop, if you switch to another app or minimize the one you are on that's more or less analogous to what you do in iOS--the apps remain in the task switcher and to close them you have to quit each one separately. If you actually close an app, again each one separately, then it gets removed from the task switcher, which is what happens in iOS when you actually close the app (from the task switcher).

It's a pointless comparison because desktop apps are actively running when they're in the task switcher. On iOS, they're not unless they're using one of a limited number of multitasking APIs.

 

[jhuynh]

I'm just going to post the following two articles:

http://www.speirs.org/blog/2012/1/2/misconceptions-about-ios-multitasking.html

http://www.speirs.org/blog/2012/1/6/ios-multitasking-in-detail.html

 

[C DM]

It's a pointless comparison because desktop apps are actively running when they're in the task switcher. On iOS, they're not unless they're using one of a limited number of multitasking APIs.

Making it even less necessary to be able to close them all at once--if anything it would make more sense on a desktop machine, and yet that kind of functionality doesn't exist across multiple OSs and many more years behind those OSs compared to iOS.

 

[matttye]

Is there a quick way to close all open apps?

Making it even less necessary to be able to close them all at once--if anything it would make more sense on a desktop machine, and yet that kind of functionality doesn't exist across multiple OSs and many more years behind those OSs compared to iOS.

If you use it as a simple recent app launcher it makes sense to want to keep the list short and sweet.

Closing all desktop apps at once could be catastrophic. Think unsaved documents, incomplete virus scans, etc.

The same doesn't apply on iOS because the OS kicks background apps out of memory when foreground apps need it anyway. Apps must therefore make sure changes are updated immediately and not kept in memory.

 

[C DM]

How is it useless?

I use the recent apps as Apple intended, a quick way to get back to apps I was recently using. If I intend to close 20 apps because I don't need them and leave 2 there it would be much easier to close all and reopen 2 apps then close 18 apps....

For this kind of purpose it would make more sense. However as someone mentioned, people might end up using it for other reasons and getting confused as to what its there for, and Apple is there to do things in a simplified form for the common user, which is another reason why the feature hasn't made it so far and probably isn't really on their list of things to do (despite it being a potentially useful feature at least or in particular for the reasons you describe).

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If you use it as a simple recent app launcher it makes sense to want to keep the list short and sweet.

Closing all desktop apps at once could be catastrophic. Think unsaved documents, incomplete virus scans, etc.

For that particular reason of clearing up the recent apps list, rather than to close out apps, it can be a useful feature.

 

[cynics]

I think the point why Apple doesn't implement this is, that if they'd do, people would think it's important to use the close all button. Simple as that. But iOS' multitasking is designed in a way not to manage alle the opened or closed apps, it's not OS X.

I understand how multitasking works. It's kind of silly to say there isn't a "close all" because people MIGHT THINK it's there for another reason.

 

[BaldiMac]

If you use it as a simple recent app launcher it makes sense to want to keep the list short and sweet.

I don't see how.

-Close all apps and open 3 apps. You see those three apps when you open the switcher.

OR

- Simply open the 3 apps without closing anything. You see the exact same thing when you open the switcher.

 

[Krevnik]

I don't see how.

-Close all apps and open 3 apps. You see those three apps when you open the switcher.

OR

- Simply open the 3 apps without closing anything. You see the exact same thing when you open the switcher.

The point is more that if it is a MRU list, then having that list be 50 items long isn't terribly helpful to me as a user. Clearing it all out from time to time is kinda nice, although I tend to ignore the list and only use it to switch back and forth between the last couple apps. Otherwise I go through the home screen because I use a MFU layout, and a bit faster once an item I want is far enough back on the MRU list.

Sure, the effect is the same either way on iOS despite the apps being resident in memory or not, but the user experience isn't the same depending on what the switcher is meant to be used for.

It's a pointless comparison because desktop apps are actively running when they're in the task switcher. On iOS, they're not unless they're using one of a limited number of multitasking APIs.

And even if they do background work, iOS can decide to kill them for any number of reasons, and now with iOS 7, relaunch them for background processing later! And there's no good way (minus a 3rd party app) to tell which ones are still resident in memory.

 

[BaldiMac]

The point is more that if it is a MRU list, then having that list be 50 items long isn't terribly helpful to me as a user.

The length of the list is irrelevant. It has no effect on the user if there are more items in the list than they are willing to scroll through.

Clearing it all out from time to time is kinda nice, although I tend to ignore the list and only use it to switch back and forth between the last couple apps. Otherwise I go through the home screen because I use a MFU layout, and a bit faster once an item I want is far enough back on the MRU list.

That's exactly the point and primary use case.

Sure, the effect is the same either way on iOS despite the apps being resident in memory or not, but the user experience isn't the same depending on what the switcher is meant to be used for.

The only reason to regularly clear out the list is a bit of OCD.

 

[The Doctor11]

The only reason to regularly clear out the list is a bit of OCD.

I close apps the second I press the home button. But I have an iPhone 4 so it sorta has reason...it's kinda helps it be faster. But yes I think it's some OCD.

 

[notrack]

The app switcher was designed for more simple tasks like phone, calculator and fart apps. Today app management is more complex, beyond what a system currently can manage. A close-all feature would be a step forward if not a redesign would come. Actually a Quit function would be an improvement already.

 

[Shuri]

I understand how multitasking works. It's kind of silly to say there isn't a "close all" because people MIGHT THINK it's there for another reason.

I believe you that you do, but I know a lot of people who don't know anything about these things and would rather be confused if closing all apps after a session is necessary. In my eyes this fits perfectly into the whole simplistic philosophy of iOS since the very first iPhone.

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The app switcher was designed for more simple tasks like phone, calculator and fart apps. Today app management is more complex, beyond what a system currently can manage. A close-all feature would be a step forward if not a redesign would come. Actually a Quit function would be an improvement already.

Actually the app management hasn't changed that much since iOS 4. The new Multitasking possibilities iOS 7 gives apps, came in with the Background Refresh part in settings, which let's the user decide which apps are allowed to work in the background. I've heard die-hard android users saying, they'd like something like that on their phones natively.

 

[Altis]

I'd like a close all / clear list for the task switcher. I only want apps in the list that I'm using in that session... Not every app on the device in chronological order of last use.

One nice thing is it would immediately stop and close any app playing audio in the background, while also closing certain few apps that do kill battery (ahem, Facebook...).

I don't see the harm in having that button. Honestly, the argument that people might use it when they don't have to is really silly... It's not harmful to close apps. If that's what makes people happy, what harm will it bring? How does it affect anyone else? They're already doing it anyways, the manual way. Some people like a nice clean list of currently used apps.

 

[notrack]

I believe you that you do, but I know a lot of people who don't know anything about these things and would rather be confused if closing all apps after a session is necessary. In my eyes this fits perfectly into the whole simplistic philosophy of iOS since the very first iPhone.

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Actually the app management hasn't changed that much since iOS 4. The new Multitasking possibilities iOS 7 gives apps, came in with the Background Refresh part in settings, which let's the user decide which apps are allowed to work in the background. I've heard die-hard android users saying, they'd like something like that on their phones natively.

Not saying that the current system is bad, it's just not sufficient enough to handle users needs and exeptions for different app funcionalities that are quite different from the original iPhone.

For example, I travel several times a week by car. I use a navigation app,listen to music (music app or a radio app) and run a dashboard cam. Sometimes I get a call, write a text or email during a stop. When I arrive at home, at friends or at the client's office, I don't want to scroll the app list and look for multitasking apps to close. Just close all and everythig is fine.

 

[bkribbs]

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.

If I grab my mom's phone that has 30+ apps open because "its not needed" I can feel a difference between before and after I close them all. Its not placebo, its a real effect.

 

[C DM]

If I grab my mom's phone that has 30+ apps open because "its not needed" I can feel a difference between before and after I close them all. Its not placebo, its a real effect.

There might be some explanation to it, like an app that is running in the background by design, there might be something more to it, like older hardware with less resources in general. What you are describing can and does happen to some people, but more often that's not the case, and isn't supposed to be the case--that's essentially what's behind Apple not really even considering adding something like this (at least not so far).

 

[bkribbs]

There might be some explanation to it, like an app that is running in the background by design, there might be something more to it, like older hardware with less resources in general. What you are describing can and does happen to some people, but more often that's not the case, and isn't supposed to be the case--that's essentially what's behind Apple not really even considering adding something like this (at least not so far).

Well it's a 5s so it's the apps. It's because some do certain functions in the background which they shouldn't. But if developers are going to do that apple should make it easier to stop them all.

 

[david322]

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?

I think you need to Jailbreak and many softwares can help you.