"iPad running low on memory"

[swsmpbaby985]

Lately I've been getting the following message pop up on my iPad something to the effect of "iPad running low on memory" and a suggestion that I power it off then back on. I've noticed that I only get this popup when I've launched the Google Earth app. I currently have the iPad 2 running iOS 5.1 and currently have. 5.7GB of space actually used and have 22.9GB of storage available. So my question is why am I getting this message at all of I have so much storage available?

 

[applejosh]

My guess would be this is concerning RAM (I think the iPad2 has 512MB of RAM) and not storage space.

 

[Sancho90]

I agree with Josh.

Make sure to clear out the apps in the dock you aren't currently using.


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[swsmpbaby985]

I thought that the background apps that were in "suspended state" wasn't supposed to have any effect in a situation such as this?

 

[Sancho90]

I thought that the background apps that were in "suspended state" wasn't supposed to have any effect in a situation such as this?

Suspended in that state, meaning the RAM is holding them there for you. With more apps open, more RAM will be used. Eventually you will bog it down.


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[swsmpbaby985]

Thanks for clarifying that. I had never before gotten that message on my iPhone 4 which also has 512MB of RAM and I seldomly delete the background running apps on that device.

 

[Sancho90]

Thanks for clarifying that. I had never before gotten that message on my iPhone 4 which also has 512MB of RAM and I seldomly delete the background running apps on that device.

I think it all comes down to what elements are used when the app is loaded. Since iPhone apps tend to be less... Let's say, exuberant, they have less UI elements to load. Leading to less RAM needed to hold them there.


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[summerlin18]

Food for thought: you will also have much better battery life when you kill those apps that you aren't using in the background. Win win

 

[zerog46]

Actually the iOS software knows when to "kill" the apps. Really no need to do this and it won't increase your battery life.


iPhone.

 

[swsmpbaby985]

Like I said I only get this message on th iPad and only when launching the Google Earth app, to my knowledge since the app is universal it has the same "elements" and is there for equally "exuberant" the only difference being compatible for a larger screen size. So I'm not really sure why I've that problem, only began noticing it since iOS 5.

 

[jalba3]

I've read several articles that iOS is advanced/intelligent enough to distinguish when an app is placed in the background, how much memory it utilizes and when is it time to delete that cache for a new app running in the fore/background.

Regardless no OS is perfect and sometimes requires user input. I would recommend what other have stated is to double click the home button and close those apps. I usually do it once every 2 weeks (even though not necessary considering the non-power user that I am).

 

[andsoitgoes]

Just to note, iOS is smart but it's far from as smart as most people would believe.

As most jail breakers know, iOS apps sit and store memory in their greedy pockets. Right now I have only one tab in safari open but don't have nearly full ram. Clearing all apps still leaves me with 220 megs free.

Many times it works, yes, but not always. And honestly that alone is one reason I jailbreak. I can control what's open, how it's cleared and so on. And I can turn around and use the tools incorrectly and mess things up, proving to me that there's a reason Apple does what they do for a reason.

So clear those apps out. Just because they aren't running DOES NOT mean they are not Tucking memory away. In fact, they ARE.

 

[Deff]

Thats just nonsense. iOS does know when to clear RAM. It knows that it doesn't need to clear out apps from the RAM as long as there is still free RAM available. This doesn't influence slow down any running apps (since there is still free RAM) and it makes switching back to apps faster. As soon as iOS runs low on RAM it will start removing idle apps from the RAM, resulting in more RAM available for the running app. The problem can be that when launching a new app, it takes a few moments to clear the RAM, resulting in to little RAM available for the app. But every time this happened to me I could just ignore the warning and keep using the app. (since the RAM got cleared eventually)

*edit* I must add that the poster above me has a point that it can't hurt to manually close apps, since that will effectively free the RAM, but in my experience iOS does a good enough job in managing the RAM. (definitely don't see the point of jailbreaking for this, as anyone can close background apps)

 

[swsmpbaby985]

I by no means would consider myself to be a "power user" I do however consider myself to be very iOS savvy. I actually am surprised Apple haven't implemented a "kill all switch" within iOS yet...hey that's what iOS 6 or 7 is for right? As stated before I'd never get these messages before when I was running iOS 4.0 and up. While I do ignore the pop up that appears about the memory it has somewhat become annoying as I personally don't see a need to spend another $400+ on the iPad 3 when this one is just as fine.

 

[Elaine Merrin]

Why have I got low memory?

 

[iOS Gravity]

Your ram is probably almost used up. Try clearing some apps.

 

[Peligro911]

Some people confuse the memory message with memory on the phone and iCloud memory make sure you know what one you are low on. I have never seen a message related to ram on a iPhone or ipad ever. If it's lagging hold home button and power until it reboots this is a hard reset.


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