[cubus]

Ok, so switching between apps is a breeze

But, Jeez Apple... What were you thinking when you came up with the way to close apps.
Minimize, double click, touch and hold and then close. Oh boy. Or maybe I'm missing something here.

Wouldn't that be easier to hold home button to close it and tap to minimize? I find it horrible a d I hate it! How about you guys?

[chobbs1]

I love it! Here is how to completely close the app
Double tap home button for the app switcher to how up and tap and hold one off the icons until it wiggles and the press the red minus button on the top of the app you want to close. Easy peasy

[cubus]

Ok, so how do you close the app you have currently open? That's what is bothering me. Why can't I just close the currently used app and go back to home screen in one step.

[marketsqhero]

Why do you need to close it?

[cubus]

I don't want to have a bunch of them listed in the bottom bar. The only ones I want there are the ones I currently use and not for instance a Clock, which popped in there because of the alarm I turned off.
A Clock app?! Apple, why would I want to minimize the Clock app?

[marketsqhero]

But it's a list of recent apps, not neccessarly ones that are open.

[chobbs1]

It's not like traditional multitasking. It doesn't drain your battery as there are only certain API's that run in the background and "clock" tu use your example is always running. Now it is just showing in your app switcher. It is not bogging anything down

[ghostface147]

I don't want to have a bunch of them listed in the bottom bar. The only ones I want there are the ones I currently use and not for instance a Clock, which popped in there because of the alarm I turned off.
A Clock app?! Apple, why would I want to minimize the Clock app?

Yeah it doesn't actually keep them open, it just lists them there. It's a fast app switcher.

[cubus]

Yeah it doesn't actually keep them open, it just lists them there. It's a fast app switcher.

Yeah, I agree. It's like some weird mix of multitasking and recent app quick launcher.
I'd prefer a dedicated multitasking tool. I don't care about recently opened apps.
So these apps save state. I assume they use RAM, right?

[Readover]

Threads like these are going to drive me crazy! They just spread ignorance! You do not need to "close" the apps! Well yeah, if you think they are ugly and bla bla bla well then you can if you want to but I see no need to do this! There is absolutley no need to close them as Steve said! And as for jumping back and forth between apps to MULTITASK, you dont start one and then jump to one that hasn't been used for 4 days and have 3 rows of apps between? Preposterous.

[JustinHorn]

Threads like these are going to drive me crazy! They just spread ignorance! You do not need to "close" the apps! Well yeah, if you think they are ugly and bla bla bla well then you can if you want to but I see no need to do this! There is absolutley no need to close them as Steve said! And as for jumping back and forth between apps to MULTITASK, you dont start one and then jump to one that hasn't been used for 4 days and have 3 rows of apps between? Preposterous.

Exactly right. There is no need to close apps, ever. They will close themselves if a new app needs the RAM.

Also, like Readover said, all the most recently used apps will be in the first couple pages of the fast app dock. So if you need to open something you used a week ago, just open it the old fashion way via spotlight or the main screen pages.

[Jellotime91]

@Cubus
They don't really use ram.. Very very very little. I opened as many apps as I could and was able to switch through all of them with no hit to performance. iOS has really changed multitasking for the better.

[macharborguy]

Yeah, I agree. It's like some weird mix of multitasking and recent app quick launcher.
I'd prefer a dedicated multitasking tool. I don't care about recently opened apps.
So these apps save state. I assume they use RAM, right?

the saved states are saved to the Flash memory, not to RAM. There may be SOME memory usage when the state is being saved, but that is ONLY in apps that support it.

If an app has not yet been updated to iOS4, when you press the home button it will exit and close the app. Since it was recently used, it will appear in the switcher tray

[omg_its_kerri]

The way to "close" an app doesn't bother me at all. And I agree with the post above mine. I don't see a need to close out an app since there are only certain API's that actually run in the background. I closed out soe apps to see if there was a difference in battery drain. there wasn't. I guess maybe I just don't understand what the big deal is.

[JustinHorn]

the saved states are saved to the Flash memory, not to RAM. There may be SOME memory usage when the state is being saved, but that is ONLY in apps that support it.

This is incorrect, they are saved in RAM if they are in the suspend state. This is how it instantly opens again. If it were saved to disc (flash memory) they would have to be reloaded which is what happens on no iOS 4 apps.

This is also why the iPhone 3G doesn't support multitasking because it only has 128MB of RAM, compared to 256MB in the 3GS and 512MB in the iPhone 4.

[LazyStarGazer]

@Cubus
They don't really use ram.. Very very very little. I opened as many apps as I could and was able to switch through all of them with no hit to performance. iOS has really changed multitasking for the better.

Jello, are the apps you did this with upgraded with new API's, or were they older versions?
The reason I ask, is that if they weren't actually multitasking, it wouldn't matter how many recently used apps are in the app switcher. ??

Although, I wonder if there is a limit as to how many apps the o/s can save state on at one time?

[Jenny#IM]

I went into an apple store today and asked why my battery drained so quickly. The dude told me it was because of all the apps running in the background. Was he wrong about that?

[sting7k]

Apps updated for iOS4 multitasking are stored in saved state in the RAM, they just don't use the processor. You can see it if you get one of the system monitoring apps. Open it up and then start killing apps in the app switcher, watch as your free memory grows.

In the end the only thing I ever find myself using the switcher for is to respond to a text or email that I get while in another app. Otherwise I always go to the home screen and open apps the old fashion way. It's alright because now I know I can kill an app. On the downside some apps haven't mastered coming back from saved state and have bugs with updating. Kind of too much work just to have apps open 2 seconds faster.

@Jenny they shouldn't be draining the battery as they are not using the processor or actually running.

[jsntrenkler]

I went into an apple store today and asked why my battery drained so quickly. The dude told me it was because of all the apps running in the background. Was he wrong about that?

Yes, technically the dude was wrong about it. I recently had apple dude say wow the new iLife is $49. I said "Its always $49" he then replied "we normally sell it for $79 and give a $30 discount if you buy a new Mac. I laughed at him and said "Really? All Macs come with iLife preinstalled!" ... I didn't allow him to continue, I smiled and left.

[Jellotime91]

Yes, technically the dude was wrong about it. I recently had apple dude say wow the new iLife is $49. I said "Its always $49" he then replied "we normally sell it for $79 and give a $30 discount if you buy a new Mac. I laughed at him and said "Really? All Macs come with iLife preinstalled!" ... I didn't allow him to continue, I smiled and left.

Bahahahaa.. The idiocy of Apple store employees is very interesting.

I had a guy tell me I "have like 20 apps running in the background"... I explained to him exactly how multitasking works on iOS haha...

[whmurray]

I love it! Here is how to completely close the app
Double tap home button for the app switcher to how up and tap and hold one off the icons until it wiggles and the press the red minus button on the top of the app you want to close. Easy peasy

You are kidding, right? And if you forget, you come back and find your battery drained. Just what Steve told us they were trying to avoid.

What am I missing?

[chobbs1]

It's all explained in this thread. And for the record. I don't close my apps very often and my battery life has been fantastic! I no longer carry a charger with me to work.

[srikat]

I use RemoveBG to close all running apps with one click.

[whmurray]

I use RemoveBG to close all running apps with one click.

One more reason to jailbreak.

[whmurray]

Yes, technically the dude was wrong about it. I recently had apple dude say wow the new iLife is $49. I said "Its always $49" he then replied "we normally sell it for $79 and give a $30 discount if you buy a new Mac. I laughed at him and said "Really? All Macs come with iLife preinstalled!" ... I didn't allow him to continue, I smiled and left.

Do you mean they really are just "dudes," not "geniuses?"