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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > iPhone, iPad & iPod > Kill-All-Apps option

View Poll Results: Should iOS have a kill-all-apps switch/button?
Poll Options:
Yes 3 votes (33.33%)
No 6 votes (66.67%)
Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll
Kill-All-Apps option
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MacinTommy
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Mar 22, 2012, 10:15 AM
 
Why hasn't Apple done this in iOS yet? It's really a pain in the ass clicking every single app to stop running in the background. Do you think this should be an option?
     
Big Mac
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Mar 22, 2012, 10:35 AM
 
Apple doesn't want users thinking that's necessary, and most of the time it's not. If you think that every app in the app switcher dock is running and taking up resources, that's an incorrect assumption. The switcher shows the most recently used apps, whether they're running or not. The OS is supposed to dynamically manage system resources and quit apps as necessary. If you're concerned about a larger app you recently used taking up too much memory, that could be a valid reason to quit it, but there's no reason to go on a crusade and kill all background apps.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
turtle777
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Mar 22, 2012, 10:44 AM
 
I just hold the Home button and Power button until the iPhone restarts. I'm not using the power-down slider though.

-t
     
Big Mac
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Mar 22, 2012, 10:51 AM
 
That's probably not the best practice. That isn't meant as a graceful restart. it's like holding down your Mac's power button to shut it down.

If necessary, I either use my jailbreak multifl0w utility to quickly shut down large unneeded recent apps, or I restart.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
turtle777
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Mar 22, 2012, 10:53 AM
 
So ? The only reason NOT to do it on the Mac is the HD and open data. There is no danger of mechanical damage on the iPhone, and changes in data is normally written to the memory right away.

I prefer a REAL fresh start. The power-down button does NOT (AFAIK) restart everything completely from scratch.

-t
     
QSilver
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Mar 22, 2012, 11:19 AM
 
I voted "Yes" but I'm not sure I actually have a need for that option.
     
mduell
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Mar 22, 2012, 12:04 PM
 
Why are you killing apps?
     
subego
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Mar 22, 2012, 12:13 PM
 
Self defense. App threatened to "cuts" me.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 22, 2012, 01:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacinTommy View Post
Why hasn't Apple done this in iOS yet? It's really a pain in the ass clicking every single app to stop running in the background. Do you think this should be an option?
Because none of those apps are actually RUNNING in the background.

You're asking for a manual control that does what the system already completely takes care of for you.

Fraser Speirs - Blog - Misconceptions About iOS�Multitasking

Here is the advice - and remember it is wrong:

All those apps in the multitasking bar on your iOS device are currently active and slowing it down, filling the device's memory or using up your battery. To maximise performance and battery life, you should kill them all manually.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. There are caveats to this but anyone dispensing the advice above is clearly uninformed enough that they will certainly not be aware of these subtleties.

Let me be as clear as I can be: the iOS multitasking bar does not contain "a list of all running apps". It contains "a list of recently used apps". The user never has to manage background tasks on iOS.



Would you like to now go whine some about how Apple doesn't include manual memory allocation in OS X?
     
mduell
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Mar 22, 2012, 02:17 PM
 
That's not entirely true, ever since iOS 3 (or was it 4?) when Apple enabled background processing the apps in the tray have been able to do certain things (play music, etc) in the background.
     
turtle777
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Mar 22, 2012, 04:59 PM
 
I think Apple should include a placebo button that claims to kill all apps.

And one for world peace

-t
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 22, 2012, 06:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
That's not entirely true, ever since iOS 3 (or was it 4?) when Apple enabled background processing the apps in the tray have been able to do certain things (play music, etc) in the background.
That article describes the status quo under iOS 5.

Five extremely limited and very specific tasks, most of them for no longer than 10 minutes before the OS kills them outright.

Feel free to read the article for details; it's quite comprehensive.

A "kill all apps" button would be almost completely useless. Being able to kill the last two or so apps is more than sufficient; none of the others are actually going to be resident in memory at all, anyway.
     
abbaZaba
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Mar 22, 2012, 09:10 PM
 
     
MacinTommy  (op)
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Mar 23, 2012, 11:07 AM
 
I think it's funny this thread got a shout-out in the forum round-up on the front page of the NN.
     
MacinTommy  (op)
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Mar 23, 2012, 11:10 AM
 
If apps don't truly close, then whats the point of double-clicking the home button and seeing all the "running" or "recent" apps? I'd rather have the option to double-click the home button to intstantly open favorite contacts (like in the past) or be able to assign an app to open.
     
abbaZaba
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Mar 23, 2012, 11:58 AM
 
Really? it's the fastest way to switch to a recent app
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 23, 2012, 12:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacinTommy View Post
If apps don't truly close, then whats the point of double-clicking the home button and seeing all the "running" or "recent" apps? I'd rather have the option to double-click the home button to intstantly open favorite contacts (like in the past) or be able to assign an app to open.
App-switching shortcut.
     
Big Mac
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Mar 23, 2012, 12:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by abbaZaba View Post
Really? it's the fastest way to switch to a recent app
It's actually rather pitiful app switching compared to what Apple could implement even if it just were to steal the jailbreak innovations in that area.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
MacinTommy  (op)
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Mar 23, 2012, 01:50 PM
 
Maybe a gesture of some sort could be implemented? My home button is glitchy already.
     
abbaZaba
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Mar 23, 2012, 02:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by Big Mac View Post
It's actually rather pitiful app switching compared to what Apple could implement even if it just were to steal the jailbreak innovations in that area.
if the app you want is in the first 4, I can't think of a better way. if it's the 9th or 14th app, then it's terrible
     
   
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