Has anyone experienced better battery life by swiping apps?

metalchick719

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I keep certain apps open at all times (normally those I regularly use), and I don't notice any remarkable difference in battery life. I used to religiously close out all of them (especially back when I used my iPhone 4), but it doesn't change battery life, IMO.
 

AppleKarma

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I still have my old but trusty iPhone 4... and if I close all aps the batery lasts MUCH longer! On my iPad Air it is a small difference, but it is there, so from my experinece I will keep closing them because it does matter for the battery.
 

Wotchered

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I close all apps, webpages and delete history regularly, often every day. Not for battery life although it seems to help, but for the small increase in speed that I gain. Somebody else in this thread mentioned that this fix is short lived, that's why I do it so regularly !
As for sleeping apps using no power, I believe that apps self activate at intervals to check for connectivity etc ( and probably to report in) and I read somewhere that an awakened app can stay active for 10 minutes after doing what they do until the device puts them back to sleep. Sooo... must be using power to some degree but as I have cables,chargers etc I don't care so much. That said I've just put a new battery in my 4s so maybe I do care a bit !!
 

nikkisharif

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I don't think it affects it unless you have a rogue app. I've never been one to worry about closing my apps. Sometimes I do, most times I don't. Battery life is still good
 

HBLEY

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Is it an iPhone 6s that you bought in September or October last year? If yes, then there is a repair program for the battery right now.

https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/#mn_p

You can check your serial number at that link to see if your phone is eligible for this program.

If that's not it, you may want to call Apple Care or bring it to the Genius Bar for diagnostics on the battery.

Alright man! Thanks a lot @doogald!
 

CyreneK

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I have BAR turned off for all apps and never swipe them. I have incredible battery life. 8-9 hours of usage with 18 hours off the charger, leaving 30-40% before I put it back on the charger before bedtime. I don't even want to risk trying it the other way! Lol
 

G.4

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Apps run in the background whether Background App Refresh is on or not. BAR just helps the apps run in the background more efficiently, thus actually helping battery life. I keep it on for all my apps. As far as swiping apps out of multitasking, it can help. It depends on the app. Some have a tendency to go rogue and use a lot of battery. There's been times I swiped a few suspects out, then did a hard reset (reboot), then all was better. When I used said apps again, they performed better.

I would have to respectfully disagree. The entire point of background app refresh is not that the apps would now run in the background, but that when you went back to that app the information would be more current than the last time you viewed it because it was updating in the background, not just running in memory. An app running in memory will only do so until the system needs that memory. Make this test: turn off background app refresh on a given app and leave it open in the background but don't go to it for a few hours as you continue to do other things with your phone. When you do open it, you will notice it updating itself before displaying information (social media apps or Mail apps are best for this test). Take note of how long that process is. Then, the following day, turn background app refresh on for that same app and repeat the process. The app will not take nearly as long for the new information to load due to updating itself periodically in the background. To assume that this background app refresh process does not use more battery, however small it may be, is ludicrous. It simply has to use at least some battery as all processes on a phone do.
 

mark-d

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I swipe apps away all the time. I am an addict. Please help.
I do this occasionally but more to marvel at home many apps are actually open in the background on my phone at the time!

Having read this and having has background app refresh turned off for years now I've just turned it back on and I'll see if I notice any difference in the battery on my iPhone or iPad
 

GlowingBlue

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Background Apps can affect battery life.

I had the same issue where YouTube was running for HOURS after I would close the app. Turns out it was a bug in the YouTube app. Then same thing for Facebook.

What helped for me was
1) Force closing
2) Disabling background refresh for those specific apps in settings
3) uninstalling the app and waiting for an update from the app dev.
 

Ledsteplin

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I would have to respectfully disagree. The entire point of background app refresh is not that the apps would now run in the background, but that when you went back to that app the information would be more current than the last time you viewed it because it was updating in the background, not just running in memory. An app running in memory will only do so until the system needs that memory. Make this test: turn off background app refresh on a given app and leave it open in the background but don't go to it for a few hours as you continue to do other things with your phone. When you do open it, you will notice it updating itself before displaying information (social media apps or Mail apps are best for this test). Take note of how long that process is. Then, the following day, turn background app refresh on for that same app and repeat the process. The app will not take nearly as long for the new information to load due to updating itself periodically in the background. To assume that this background app refresh process does not use more battery, however small it may be, is ludicrous. It simply has to use at least some battery as all processes on a phone do.

I've tested it many times. I never see a difference in battery life. Maybe this will help:
http://solutionowl.com/background-app-refresh-explained-in-laymans-terms/
 

CyreneK

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I turned on BAR and noticed a decrease in battery, but not much of an increase in performance. Not worth having it on in my opinion.
 

Trooper27

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I do this occasionally but more to marvel at home many apps are actually open in the background on my phone at the time!

Having read this and having has background app refresh turned off for years now I've just turned it back on and I'll see if I notice any difference in the battery on my iPhone or iPad

That is cool. Sorry for the late reply was sick and have been pretty busy. I still swipe apps away far too much. :\
 

jrdatrackstar1223

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So, I wanted to revive this thread because I had a question...

I have turned of Background App Refresh, but when I check my battery stats, it still shows apps having background activity. For example, I use the Xbox One app and it shows 16 mins background and 2 mins on screen time usage; the same can be said for other apps (like Amazon for example). How does this still have background activity even though it's turned off.

I am on 10.3.1...
 

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