Why is closing each app a bad thing?

[RavenSword]

So, I got back from my visit to the Genius Bar, and one of the things I brought up was that I'm noticing certain apps like safari, tweet bot, and pocket casts crashing. He claimed it was due to RAM constraints with those apps running and certain memory intensive apps running at the same time and he said to make sure I swipe the apps and close them in the multitasking menu .

But then I hear Rene and Christina on the vector podcast say that's the worse thing to do.

So which is it? What does it hurt to swipe and close all the apps in multitasking menu?

 

[Just_Me_D]

I can only speak from my experience. Having said that, closing apps and removing them from the app switcher is NOT the worst thing you can do to your iPhone. Dropping it in water, running over it with your vehicle, etcetera, would all be worse. For the most part, closing individuals apps are not necessary, but at times can be quite helpful, especially when an app crashes. Sometimes I'll leave the apps alone and let iOS manage them and other times, I'll manage them. Both work for me and my usage. ...

 

[Jaguarr40]

As stated closing them in the app switcher is not the worst that you can do as they indeed are managed for the most part by the OS. They normally go dormant after 10 mins anyway. I think this is more of a personal choice than anything else. I will close certain apps if I have been using it on and off all day just to clear cache and start fresh. Otherwise it would be your choice and lastly there is no right or wrong here. It's all up to you.

 

[Ariel Babalao]

Si plu kill apps that you won't reopen soon, as for those you use very often, you can have them in the multitasking. Either kill apps or not, it doesn't matter except like you said, some apps crashing because of lack of ram when there are too many apps in the background holding up memory spaces. I just keep the one I use often open all the time, iBook, notability, Facebook etc... When I open AutoCad to view a document or edit a document, I close it once I'm done with it, same to when I open file browser to access and transfer files from my computer to the ipad, I close it once I'm done with it as I know that I will need to open it again about a week later.


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[pr1nce]

I usually close apps out of habit more than anything else. Sometimes I'll forget and maybe go a day or so without closing any apps. I haven't noticed a difference in performance. iOS manages it well.

 

[Coachbulldog]

Why do some believe that closing apps to keep them from running in the background is the "worst thing" I can do?

 

[Ariel Babalao]

Why do some believe that closing apps to keep them from running in the background is the "worst thing" I can do?

Be cause they think that relaunching them later will require more power from the device than if it was already opened and inactive in the background.


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[sting7k]

So, I got back from my visit to the Genius Bar, and one of the things I brought up was that I'm noticing certain apps like safari, tweet bot, and pocket casts crashing. He claimed it was due to RAM constraints with those apps running and certain memory intensive apps running at the same time and he said to make sure I swipe the apps and close them in the multitasking menu .

But then I hear Rene and Christina on the vector podcast say that's the worse thing to do.

So which is it? What does it hurt to swipe and close all the apps in multitasking menu?

It doesn't hurt. If you feel your phone is bogging down or hanging there's no reason not to clear all apps and reboot the phone to try and clear things up. Software gets buggy. Devices start to hang if they are on 24/7 and under constant use.

The only "bad" thing you are doing is wasting your time if you are constantly micro-managing and closing all apps every hour. That is completely not needed. If you have to do that then you likely have real issues with your iPhone other than just needing to reboot it.

 

[John Yester]

Actually it does hurt.... "the iOS multitasking bar does not contain "a list of all running apps". It contains "a list of recently used apps". The user never has to manage background tasks on iOS."

 

[John Yester]

This still applies to iOS 7


Misconceptions About iOS Multitasking — Fraser Speirs

 

[Antron]

What most people tell you is that closing your apps will save your battery life because it keeps the apps from running in the background.

Yes, it does shut down the app, but what you don't know is that you are actually making your battery life worse if you do this on a regular basis. Let me tell you why.

By closing the app, you take the app out of the phone's RAM . While you think this may be what you want to do, it's not. When you open that same app again the next time you need it, your device has to load it back into memory all over again. All of that loading and unloading puts more stress on your device than just leaving it alone. Plus, iOS closes apps automatically as it needs more memory, so you're doing something your device is already doing for you. You are meant to be the user of your device, not the janitor.

The truth is, those apps in your multitasking menu are not running in the background at all: iOS freezes them where you last left the app so that it's ready to go if you go back. Unless you have enabled Background App Refresh, your apps are not allowed to run in the background unless they are playing music, using location services, recording audio, or the sneakiest of them all: checking for incoming VOIP calls , like Skype. All of these exceptions, besides the latter, will put an icon next to your battery icon to alert you it is running in the background.


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[Ariel Babalao]

Nice info. Thanks


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[sting7k]

Actually it does hurt.... "the iOS multitasking bar does not contain "a list of all running apps". It contains "a list of recently used apps". The user never has to manage background tasks on iOS."

Apps can perform background tasks and these tasks can get stuck and hang just like any other task on any other computer. I don't close apps to free up RAM. I close apps when I feel the OS is starting to hang and you can tell it's bogged down, it often is weeks before I notice this happening and I find I have dozens of apps in my app switcher so there's no way to know which single one is causing the problem. Clearing apps followed by a reboot always fixes it instantly. Just rebooting alone does not always fix it.

 

[Spencerdl]

I usually close apps out of habit more than anything else. Sometimes I'll forget and maybe go a day or so without closing any apps. I haven't noticed a difference in performance. iOS manages it well.

EXACTLY...this^^^

 

[Ledsteplin]

iOS does manage RAM very well. It's best to leave them be. It takes a lot of battery to open an app back up after it's been closed. Rarely used apps I may close, but those used regularly, I leave alone. There are exceptions. Twitter used to have issues I could only fix by deleting the background app or deleting the app itself. For the most part, iOS does a great job of managing RAM.


Sent from from my iPhone 5

 

[agarwal.apar]

IMO, only leave those apps running in the background which you really need. Sometime, we forget to close the app and it hurts specially if its a resource intensive app.

As mentioned by others, it's not a bad thing to close the apps but leave few of them open which you use frequently like sms, phone app, safari and iMore! Lol


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[RavenSword]

So just to be clear, closing the apps dosent do any harm? its just it may not be necessary all the time?

 

[agalaria]

I never close apps and i never faced a prob. As in ur case ill suggest to keep basic apps open (Message, whats app, safari, some game you play often). Close all social apps as they will getting refreshed (Facebook, Instagram). Hope this solves your problem. All the best.