All Devices Memory management in iOS 13 sucks

[secretk]

"iOS 13 apps are not managing their memory properly" would be a more accurate statement.

I am not sure that this is 100 % true. I understand that this might be true for the specific case of youtube. I have the same issues on my 2018 6th generation iPad with Safari and Books. Both applications are created and maintained by Apple.

Now either there is also iOS bug (and not just Devs not adapting their apps to iOS 13) or even Apple own Devs cannot adapt let alone others.

Either way I don't care. This is unacceptable. They need to fix not ASAP but for 2 months ago.

 

[Rogifan]

"iOS 13 apps are not managing their memory properly" would be a more accurate statement.

iOS closes suspended apps and sends out low memory warnings to apps based you your (the users) request on the system (not exactly managing). If an app doesn't respond to low memory warning by freeing as much memory as possible by purging assets then the system will terminate the app, there is no other option aside from decline your foreground request and obviously that doesn't work. Point is memory management is function of the apps.

This is a issue now because in iOS 13 there was a change to UIKit with the ways app life cycles operate (to provide multi window support). Devs are still learning how it works and apps that appear to work aren't likely optimized yet. To complicate matters matters devs are supporting iOS 12's UIApplicationDelegate for iOS 12 user support.

All we can do is be patient as devs get a handle on this. It seems like many of complaints in the thread of been patched. It will take some devs quite a while to really optimize their apps life cycle behavior.

It’s not nearly as bad as it was when iOS 13 first dropped. I seem to notice it most in Safari now with tabs refreshing more frequently. And I never have more than 10 tabs open at a time.

 

[Tsepz]

It’s not nearly as bad as it was when iOS 13 first dropped. I seem to notice it most in Safari now with tabs refreshing more frequently. And I never have more than 10 tabs open at a time.

Coming from Android where I have 8GB RAM in my phones and can have +15 tabs open without them dropping has made things interesting when using my XS Max, lol.

Going between my XS Max and P30 Pro can be a bit jarring at times, where on the P30 Pro I can go absolutely wold launching apps, browser tabs....sometimes I have two browsers going with multiple tabs on both going, and a bunch of other stuff and I’ll never see a reload, but in iOS I’ll try do the same and comeback to reloads.

I absolutely love using my iPhone XS Max but I do wish Apple would fix multitasking on iOS, even my old Sony Ericsson K850i Cyber-shot feature phone handled multitasking better

The reloads are not even consistent, there are some days where my iPhone will keep most of the stuff open, but it’s rare.

Considering what we pay for these phones one does expect a little more out of them, I am not saying Apple should help it 16GB RAM in but I think 6-8GB RAM would do wonders to these devices.

 

[secretk]

Coming from Android where I have 8GB RAM in my phones and can have +15 tabs open without them dropping has made things interesting when using my XS Max, lol.

Going between my XS Max and P30 Pro can be a bit jarring at times, where on the P30 Pro I can go absolutely wold launching apps, browser tabs....sometimes I have two browsers going with multiple tabs on both going, and a bunch of other stuff and I’ll never see a reload, but in iOS I’ll try do the same and comeback to reloads.

I absolutely love using my iPhone XS Max but I do wish Apple would fix multitasking on iOS, even my old Sony Ericsson K850i Cyber-shot feature phone handled multitasking better

The reloads are not even consistent, there are some days where my iPhone will keep most of the stuff open, but it’s rare.

Considering what we pay for these phones one does expect a little more out of them, I am not saying Apple should help it 16GB RAM in but I think 6-8GB RAM would do wonders to these devices.

The thing is that I have a Sony phone with 4 GB RAM and it still has no issues with tabs or apps reloading. Rarely would my apps/tabs reload. It happens but it is more the case of leaving the phone for a day and then decide to open the same tab/app. Then it might reload. And the reloading is for some reason faster than on the iPhone. I have no idea why and it is obviously just a second or even milliseconds but it is clearly visible that is faster. Now I cannot say if this works for all Android phones or just Sony and the tweaks they did to the Android code they receive as I have had Sony phones for the last 5 years.

The thing is that I know that it is possible. My old Sony phone had 2 GB RAM and had no reloads but I used from 2015 till 2018. My current Sony phone (2018-2020) has 4 GB RAM and like I said no issues. I have common apps between the two phones and for the most cases the Sony phone just loads them faster. This further annoys me when I have to use my iOS devices as the memory management issues get really jarring.

I cannot say whether the solution is to increase the RAM or to improve the memory management in iOS. Most probably both and I personally (as an end user) would prefer both.

 

[Tsepz]

The thing is that I have a Sony phone with 4 GB RAM and it still has no issues with tabs or apps reloading. Rarely would my apps/tabs reload. It happens but it is more the case of leaving the phone for a day and then decide to open the same tab/app. Then it might reload. And the reloading is for some reason faster than on the iPhone. I have no idea why and it is obviously just a second or even milliseconds but it is clearly visible that is faster. Now I cannot say if this works for all Android phones or just Sony and the tweaks they did to the Android code they receive as I have had Sony phones for the last 5 years.

The thing is that I know that it is possible. My old Sony phone had 2 GB RAM and had no reloads but I used from 2015 till 2018. My current Sony phone (2018-2020) has 4 GB RAM and like I said no issues. I have common apps between the two phones and for the most cases the Sony phone just loads them faster. This further annoys me when I have to use my iOS devices as the memory management issues get really jarring.

I cannot say whether the solution is to increase the RAM or to improve the memory management in iOS. Most probably both and I personally (as an end user) would prefer both.

You are absolutely on the ball. So I still have my old Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with 4GB RAM around and that still multitasks great, exactly as you describe your Sony Phone. From the S7 Edge I got a Note8 with 6GB RAM (I went on to give the Note8 away to relative), and the 6GB RAM allowed me to simply do whatever the hell I wanted, apps would not reload for days on end, I could leave a paragraph typed in one app and go on to play games, have multiple browsers with multiple tabs open and come back days later and the Note8 still had that same app open with the same paragraph sitting waiting for me to finish. My Huawei P30 Pro is even better with 8GB, I can be incredibly reckless and let apps sit in the background for days and days and nothing reloads.


Before anyone claims that Apple do what they do for battery life I will say that’s nonsense as my P30 Pro can run longer than my iPhone XS Max on heavy usage on some days, or even run as long as my XS Max, despite me doing more in the background in the P30.

I think Apple need to do both, fix task management AND add more RAM, at the very least add more RAM to the “Pro” models.

The 11 series should have been:

iPhone 11 - 6GB RAM
iPhone 11 Pro - 8GB RAM
iPhone 11 Pro Max - 8GB RAM

They could keep going with this setup through the 12, 13 and 14 models and just added features.

With all the above said, I still love using my XS Max I love the attention to detail Apple pay to the aesthetics of their devices, along with the quality of the apps in iOS, they are a cut above their Android counterparts, and the Apple Watch and iPad are by far the best in their categories.

Apple really just need to cut the crap and out more RAM in iPhones and make iOS more multitasking friendly.

 

[secretk]

You are absolutely on the ball. So I still have my old Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with 4GB RAM around and that still multitasks great, exactly as you describe your Sony Phone. From the S7 Edge I got a Note8 with 6GB RAM (I went on to give the Note8 away to relative), and the 6GB RAM allowed me to simply do whatever the hell I wanted, apps would not reload for days on end, I could leave a paragraph typed in one app and go on to play games, have multiple browsers with multiple tabs open and come back days later and the Note8 still had that same app open with the same paragraph sitting waiting for me to finish. My Huawei P30 Pro is even better with 8GB, I can be incredibly reckless and let apps sit in the background for days and days and nothing reloads.

Yes. I tend to open more than 30 tabs on Chrome on my Sony phone and it handles it fine.

Before anyone claims that Apple do what they do for battery life I will say that’s nonsense as my P30 Pro can run longer than my iPhone XS Max on heavy usage on some days, or even run as long as my XS Max, despite me doing more in the background in the P30.

Not so sure about this as well. So my Sony is a compact phone with 2600 battery. Iphone 8 is with I think 1800 and something. Both phones are usually not connected to Internet unless I decide to do it to check something. In other words there is no background work to be done. I use the Sony phone for calls. The iphone is company phone and is more about emails and chat. Anyway the iPhone can last up to 2 days and half on good days. The Sony lasts about 6 days. Same usage. So I am sorry but the battery optimization is something I do not see.

I think Apple need to do both, fix task management AND add more RAM, at the very least add more RAM to the “Pro” models.

The 11 series should have been:

iPhone 11 - 6GB RAM
iPhone 11 Pro - 8GB RAM
iPhone 11 Pro Max - 8GB RAM

They could keep going with this setup through the 12, 13 and 14 models and just added features.

Makes sense.

With all the above said, I still love using my XS Max I love the attention to detail Apple pay to the aesthetics of their devices, along with the quality of the apps in iOS, they are a cut above their Android counterparts, and the Apple Watch and iPad are by far the best in their categories.

Apple really just need to cut the crap and out more RAM in iPhones and make iOS more multitasking friendly.

I have no issues with the hardware. I like it. I however hugely dislike iOS. It has far too many bugs and issues for me to consider it good OS. Too many restrictions, too much ram management issues, too much bugs. It is not a stable OS and the fact that they release new version every year does not help. I have been using iOS for 1 year and a half now. Nevertheless I had to work with iOS 11, iOS 12 and iOS 13. And I must say this transition from version to version is something I dislike. It is not done properly. And I see it as a drawback instead of positive thing. I don't see the benefits that brings me that much because there are always some issues that overshadow them. I would prefer to wait for a new version more than an year but to have stable version.

This is why I have no issues with Sony. Yes they are slow, but they also never deliver unstable version. I install the new version and use it. No need for apps to be adapted, no need for me to get used to the new version and read on forums what is going on. It is transparent for me. I don't have such experience with iOS.

 

[Tsepz]

Yes. I tend to open more than 30 tabs on Chrome on my Sony phone and it handles it fine.



Not so sure about this as well. So my Sony is a compact phone with 2600 battery. Iphone 8 is with I think 1800 and something. Both phones are usually not connected to Internet unless I decide to do it to check something. In other words there is no background work to be done. I use the Sony phone for calls. The iphone is company phone and is more about emails and chat. Anyway the iPhone can last up to 2 days and half on good days. The Sony lasts about 6 days. Same usage. So I am sorry but the battery optimization is something I do not see.



Makes sense.



I have no issues with the hardware. I like it. I however hugely dislike iOS. It has far too many bugs and issues for me to consider it good OS. Too many restrictions, too much ram management issues, too much bugs. It is not a stable OS and the fact that they release new version every year does not help. I have been using iOS for 1 year and a half now. Nevertheless I had to work with iOS 11, iOS 12 and iOS 13. And I must say this transition from version to version is something I dislike. It is not done properly. And I see it as a drawback instead of positive thing. I don't see the benefits that brings me that much because there are always some issues that overshadow them. I would prefer to wait for a new version more than an year but to have stable version.

This is why I have no issues with Sony. Yes they are slow, but they also never deliver unstable version. I install the new version and use it. No need for apps to be adapted, no need for me to get used to the new version and read on forums what is going on. It is transparent for me. I don't have such experience with iOS.

The lack of consistency update to update is an issue.

I have been using iOS since iOS 6, and yeah, it has had some huge changes, some of which have been incredibly jarring, although you’d be shocked to know that this is not the worst it has been, the transition from iOS 6 to iOS 7 was by the worst, fraught with bugs and horrible inconsistencies and major changes in functions, it was confusing and the UI looked off.

Hopefully Apple will use iOS 14 and 15 to fix what they have done in iOS 13, it feels like they need to slowdown and work longer on bugs.

 

[ablatt]

Why can't IOS swap pages from RAM to flash memory when needed?

 

[bmac89]

Why can't IOS swap pages from RAM to flash memory when needed?

I have the same question and keep meaning to ask. Interested to know!

 

[secretk]

The lack of consistency update to update is an issue.

I have been using iOS since iOS 6, and yeah, it has had some huge changes, some of which have been incredibly jarring, although you’d be shocked to know that this is not the worst it has been, the transition from iOS 6 to iOS 7 was by the worst, fraught with bugs and horrible inconsistencies and major changes in functions, it was confusing and the UI looked off.

Hopefully Apple will use iOS 14 and 15 to fix what they have done in iOS 13, it feels like they need to slowdown and work longer on bugs.

Yep. Agree. I see two options:

1. Option 1 -> they keep the same update schedule (every year) but they deliver less features in each new major version. This way there are less changes for regression bugs and they can start testing earlier and then fix bugs on time.
2. Option 2 -> they change the update schedule. Instead of doing it every year (12 months) to do it every 18 months. That I am not sure how much it works as they tie the new version with their new model releases. So maybe Option 1 is the better one.

 

[Tsepz]

Yep. Agree. I see two options:

1. Option 1 -> they keep the same update schedule (every year) but they deliver less features in each new major version. This way there are less changes for regression bugs and they can start testing earlier and then fix bugs on time.
2. Option 2 -> they change the update schedule. Instead of doing it every year (12 months) to do it every 18 months. That I am not sure how much it works as they tie the new version with their new model releases. So maybe Option 1 is the better one.

Both your options make a lot of sense.

If they did do option 2 then what they could do is add a feature in a .x update e.g. bring the iPhone 12 along with iOS13.5 or something like that, with one or two headline features for those phones and then bring new iOS 14 early in the following year with bugs sorted out completely with whatever overhaul they have done.

 

[secretk]

Both your options make a lot of sense.

If they did do option 2 then what they could do is add a feature in a .x update e.g. bring the iPhone 12 along with iOS13.5 or something like that, with one or two headline features for those phones and then bring new iOS 14 early in the following year with bugs sorted out completely with whatever overhaul they have done.

Yes this is an option as well. Honestly for me they should put more focus on stability. And it is not just about Apple and iOS honestly. I think that nowadays more and more we talk about stability in the IT sphere. I work in IT and I know how stability is treated as a topic. I think that it is understanding as a lot of companies like Apple have to maintain and enhance existing product for already more than 10 years. The older the product is, the more chances for technical debt and issues. And I am guessing we are starting to hit this point.

 

[BulkSlash]

Why can't IOS swap pages from RAM to flash memory when needed?

You've hit the nail on the head there. As far as I'm aware iOS still does not have any kind of page file paradigm to stash data when RAM fills up and this is why iOS has reloads. Back in the day when flash was slower and more limited it made sense for Apple to not have a swap file as it would have made eaten up storage and not really helped performance. These days I think they don't have it to drive people to upgrade because all their apps keep reloading (it's what drove me mad on my 6 Plus).

Apple's method of "tombstoning" apps used to be the superior way of doing it in the early days as the more optimised iOS meant more apps could fit in RAM and frequently used apps would always be running whereas Android had to reload apps from scratch or from a slow swap file. These days with flash speeds being so fast Android has the advantage as it can keep more large apps running by pushing them out to the page file.

So while Apple can occasionally bump up the RAM in newer models to help, the best long term solution would be to add some kind of virtual memory system.

 

[Blue Hawk]

Some apps I’m not closing from the app switcher. But sometimes I cannot start them again.

 

[Rogifan]

Safari is worse than ever. I’m using the latest iPad Pro. I have 7 tabs open. Every time I switch from one tab to another the page refreshes. It’s ridiculous.

 

[4492865]

Numbers too on iPad. Switch to another app to copy something and paste into Numbers and it first has to reload. That's bizarre.

 

[boygiant]

Definitely encountering this a lot more on iOS 13.

 

[Tsepz]

So busy running iOS 13.3.1 Beta 2 and there seems to be a slight improvement in multitasking, but still not totally sorted out.

Safari is worse than ever. I’m using the latest iPad Pro. I have 7 tabs open. Every time I switch from one tab to another the page refreshes. It’s ridiculous.

Numbers too on iPad. Switch to another app to copy something and paste into Numbers and it first has to reload. That's bizarre.

This is son ridiculous that it even happens on an iPad Pro. That is just sad.

 

[Rogifan]

If Apple is going to allow Safari to continue to suck then at least allow users to set a different app as the default browser.

 

[Blue Hawk]

If Apple is going to allow Safari to continue to suck then at least allow users to set a different app as the default browser.

I hope this happens with iOS 14. Browser and Mail App. Like on macOS.

 

[cynics]

Compromises due to hardware limitations. Safari is an obvious one. Safari operates in RAM as two entities, the app and the tab.

The most RAM available for use for Apps including safari is 1.3gb on 2gb devices, 2gb on 3-4gb devices and 3 gb on iPad Pro that have 4+gb of RAM. 1.3 to 2gb is your average user.

Websites can use a lot of data.....

Each tab being its own entity can really add up once you start click links, scrolling back, etc...

Websites that are just heavy in images, looping ads, pointless players, etc along can even cause memory problems on their own. "This webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred....." message is common. This happens on a Mac as well.

When resources are needed for other apps tabs will be closed. I sometimes feel iOS uses Safari a little to willy nilly instead of expecting other apps to release data first but its a good source for resources.

Other browsers while they still use WebKit can take different approaches to handling webpage data including storing a lot of it locally (other data). Its worth testing out other browsers for speed and tab reloading and potentially using one of them if they're methods work for you better.

Apple uses safari to support its ecosystem (ApplePay, iCloud, etc) so its going to be the default for a while but other browsers open links in their own browser so for heavy multi-tab browsing using another browser while admittedly not perfect isn't that bad.

I'm not making excuses for Apple but this is issue across all OS's that have limited resources. Some browsers just do a better job mitigating the issue better then others. Open enough tabs and you can eventually find faults in all of them, getting it to the point where your usage is under that amount is key.

 

[canesalato]

Does it?
Perhaps a bit, yes, but maybe it is also that it is a more capable OS. Maybe too much to run perfectly on RAM-starved tablets and phones equipped with 64-bit processors and retina displays.

 

[secretk]

I'm not making excuses for Apple but this is issue across all OS's that have limited resources. Some browsers just do a better job mitigating the issue better then others. Open enough tabs and you can eventually find faults in all of them, getting it to the point where your usage is under that amount is key.

This is true but the threshold is quite different. I would accept that Safari would have issues with say 50 tabs. I do not accept it when it comes to 5 tabs. It is true that it would never be perfect, but currently is just too much imperfect. For a phone I can see the argument that most people would not be productive with 15 or 20 tabs on a phone.

This is not the case when it comes to the iPad. Apple is advertising the iPad as a device that can potentially replace your laptop. Well I open at least 3 or 4 Chrome windows each with 25 to 30 tabs on my laptop. I don't expect the iPad to handle all of that, but I expect to handle at least one window with that many tabs. Currently this cannot be done and this is the issue.

I don't want Apple to cover the fringe cases. I want them to cover the common use case. This currently just does not happen.

 

[minimo3]

It’s particularly shocking when you can open 10-15 Chrome tabs in a ‘ram starved’ 2GB Chromebook (that costs $150) and switch between them without any reloading. I’m assuming it’s because ChromeOS does RAM page swapping to flash. If it does it’s very seamless since I don’t notice any delays. Meanwhile a $700 iPad Pro which is touted as a laptop replacement can barely handle 3 tabs in safari without reloading

 

[canesalato]

It’s particularly shocking when you can open 10-15 Chrome tabs in a ‘ram starved’ 2GB Chromebook (that costs $150) and switch between them without any reloading. I’m assuming it’s because ChromeOS does RAM page swapping to flash. If it does it’s very seamless since I don’t notice any delays. Meanwhile a $700 iPad Pro which is touted as a laptop replacement can barely handle 3 tabs in safari without reloading

You are absolutely right.
To all people frustrated, I encourage you to look for alternatives. For ten years i have been waiting for the day i could use my iPad as a replacement for my laptop. Somehow, with iPad OS 13, it’s closer than ever, and yet, I also feel it has never been so distant from doing so. Why so many issues in keeping things open without reloading? It’s true, iOS13 made it worse, but the problem has been going on for years! I remember when I was complaining about the first iPad Air being ram-starved and tabs reloading. People replied to me that the amount of RAM was fine, that it was a software problem. Well...maybe! On a 4gb surface Pro tabs do not reload. But why is this ok? Why has it being going on since the first iOS version without it being addressed probably. Is it acceptable on a >1000 production device? Well, today there are alternatives from other companies and they work well. And after years in the Apple ecosystem I have started exploring these alternatives and, let me say it, it feels good. How increasingly, unreliable and restrictive the Apple ecosystem has become, only becomes evident when you try something else and give you a couple of weeks to make it work and get used to it. There is a big struggle to switch, bringing with us our data. Of course, by design. Now I feel dumb for having waited so long, trying to make the iPad work properly as a production machine. Fresh air.