Deleting Completed Apps

**rts#im** · 07-07-2011, 08:56 AM

After using an App, how can I delete it from running in the background. Such usage seems to be slowing my phone considerably?

**Alli** · 07-07-2011, 09:01 AM

Most of your apps don't run in the background. When you double tap the home button, you are bringing up the fast app switching bar - this doesn't show you what's running in the background, just what you've recently used.

Anyhow, you can remove them from your fast app switching bar by holding your finger down on one until it jiggles - just like you would when you delete an app - and then click the x.

Again, this will remove them from your list of recently used apps, but most of them are not running in the background anyway, so it won't effect the speed of your phone.

**Fausty82** · 07-07-2011, 09:22 AM

Like Alli says, well-written, well-behaved apps don't typically run in the background... and she has provided the info about closing them.

**rts#im** · 07-07-2011, 09:56 AM

Thanks for your reply, does the same hold true for an old iPhone (I think the 2nd one sold)? I can't seem to get it to work the way you described.

**Fausty82** · 07-07-2011, 10:14 AM

It's not tied to the hardware... this option was made available in iOS4. I don't think the iPhone models prior to the 3GS will run iOS4 (at least not without slowing to a crawl - and some features are totally inactive on early hardware). Versions prior to iOS did not have any multi-tasking, so nothing ever ran in the background (except some basic phone/messaging apps written into the OS by Apple).

**UkimeNikushimi** · 07-11-2011, 12:07 AM

@rts: I assume, being in the iPhone 3G section of the forums that you are using an iPhone 3G. (The iPhone 3G IS the second generation of iPhone, that is the iPhone after the original iPhone)

On iPhone 3G, apps from the App Store do not access multitasking. That is, they do not run in the background.

The only apps that DO background themselves are Safari, iPod and Mail. So if you have pages in Safari loaded, they may be slowing your phone down, though they should automatically clear from your RAM as you iPhone requires.

**Rodville** · 07-11-2011, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Alli

Most of your apps don't run in the background. When you double tap the home button, you are bringing up the fast app switching bar - this doesn't show you what's running in the background, just what you've recently used.

Anyhow, you can remove them from your fast app switching bar by holding your finger down on one until it jiggles - just like you would when you delete an app - and then click the x.

Again, this will remove them from your list of recently used apps, but most of them are not running in the background anyway, so it won't effect the speed of your phone.

That won't work with the 3G. It doesn't have app switching. It was disabled on the the first 2 gen iPhones. Well 3G since the 1st gen didn't even get iOS 4

Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

**Alli** · 07-11-2011, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by Rodville

That won't work with the 3G. It doesn't have app switching. It was disabled on the the first 2 gen iPhones. Well 3G since the 1st gen didn't even get iOS 4

Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

Which makes it even less of an issue since the 3G doesn't have multitasking.

**jayfuerstenberg** · 08-13-2011, 03:41 AM

Apps in the background do consume memory but never CPU power. If memory is tight it could cause issues like crashes so it's a good idea to keep the background apps to a minimum.