Do you leave apps running in the background or close them?

[Speedygi]

I usually just yolo aka no closing whatsoever

 

[erwaso]

Closing all apps to save battery is a myth. The multitasking tray was put there by Apple for...well, multitasking. It's so you can easily switch from one app to another. Most apps sitting in multitasking are doing nothing. They're in a suspended state. And when one "runs" in the background, it usually doesn't do it for long. Most only do so a minute or less. Apps need to do that so they work as we want them to. You're shorting your apps when you swipe them out for no reason. They then have to work extra hard, using even more resources unnecessarily. Just leave them be. I promise they won't eat your battery or do anything that hurts your phone. Swiping them all out is a waste of time. That said, if an app is misbehaving in some way, then swipe it out to fix it. Otherwise, leave the apps alone and let them perform for you.

I close apps out of habit coming from android.

But has this been proven? One phone with no apps in background versus another of same phone with apps running in background draining battery at same rate?

 

[dpham00]

I close apps out of habit coming from android.

But has this been proven? One phone with no apps in background versus another of same phone with apps running in background draining battery at same rate?

It only really matters when the app runs wild in the background.

 

[Swapnil Vartak]

Usually don't bother closing apps..but sometimes just so I have something to do, I swipe swipe swipe...

 

[felloffthetruck]

It only really matters when the app runs wild in the background.

How can you tell when they are running wild?

 

[rdstryr]

How can you tell when they are running wild?

When they look like this...

 

[Carmen Ng]

I often just close apps that run in the background.

 

[Carmen Ng]

It is better because closing apps that run in the background can increase the battery life.

 

[Quang Tran3]

I close apps out of habit coming from android.

But has this been proven? One phone with no apps in background versus another of same phone with apps running in background draining battery at same rate?

I don't close apps on my S7 Edge and Pixel either. For the past 5, 7 years, the only times I experience Android lag is when I install certain keyboards.

 

[priyeshpachori]

There is no need to close the apps. Ios does a fantastic job of managing rams and apps in the background. In fact apple says that closing an app by swiping up actually makes the phone slower and reduced battery life. This is so because when you launch an app that you have force closed the app is launched from scratch. It loads all of the services required to run that app all over again. This takes time and consumes more battery. So never close any apps. No matter how many you have in the apps switcher window your iphone will never lag, crash or hang because of too many background apps.

 

[priyeshpachori]

Not all the apps in the multitasking window that are running in the background. Apps that have not been used for a few hours are suspended. Mind you that this is different from force closing them. When you force close an app all of its other components and services are completely closed as well. Whereas in a suspended state its like play/pause. When not in use the apps get suspended along with all of their services and simply resumed when required. On the other hand if you launch an app for the first time or after force closing it it has to load all of the services all over again which takes time and drains battery. You absolutely do not need to force close any app whatsoever. Your iphone will never hang or lag or crash due to too many background apps. In fact your phone will feel much more snappy by not force closing apps. Try it

 

[cwbcpa]

It is better because closing apps that run in the background can increase the battery life.

If your goal is to not have them run in the background then you will need to turn off background refresh in settings. Simply closing the app doesn't stop it from refreshing in the background.

 

[Tondone]

I always close whatever apps are runing in the background at the end of the day, but when im using most of my apps repeatedly during the day, I leave them going to speed things up.

 

[hinesmj]

I never close one unless it's frozen or isn't working right. That rarely happens. I just looked and I have a TON running in the background. It actually hurts your battery life in iOS to close them often.

 

[robertk328]

I have to close them! I think it drains the battery when you leave them open but I just do it cause I'm OCD about it

It doesn't drain battery leaving them open, but it does take more battery/processing power to open them after you've closed them. Think of minimizing an app vs closing it.

 

[robertk328]

It is better because closing apps that run in the background can increase the battery life.

And these apps will take more battery to re-open.

 

[dpham00]

How can you tell when they are running wild?

In my case, the phone was warm even tough it wasn't being used and the battery was draining quickly even on idle

 

[trparky]

When you force close an app all of its other components and services are completely closed as well. Whereas in a suspended state its like play/pause.

OK, so where does an app goes when it gets suspended? Does it get written to some page file stored in flash memory or compressed in RAM to take less space?

 

[Ledsteplin]

I don't usually close them, but every once and a while I will realize there are 15+ apps opened, and will close them all. But if what Rob says about battery life for re-opening is true, that is an excellent reason to keep them opened!

It doesn't matter how many. I usually have over 100 apps in multitasking. It doesn't mean they are running.

 

[AustinIllini]

And these apps will take more battery to re-open.

This is an ongoing discussion in the Android Realm, but it applies here. You have nailed it on the head. Apps that have background app refresh will do more damage to reopen and killing them messes around with the A chip's memory management.