Ever since I got my first cell phone in 9th grade, I’ve been absolutely terrible at remembering to charge it. So terrible, in fact, that I considered making it my go-to response to the classic “What is your biggest weakness?” a question that is always asked at job interviews.
Note: I’m joking. I never really would have considered that to be my answer. It’s embarrassing. Besides, we all know the only way to answer the weakness question is something really vague like “organization” or simply turn it completely on its head and go with “I work too much.” Such a strange question.)
Seriously though, a cell phone that keeps dying is bullshit. So I’m doing everything I can to deal with the problem. And for years the main weapon in my arsenal was the good old Force Quit Swipe.
Here’s how it’s done.
Step 1:
Open the “app switcher” or “multitasking menu” by double-tapping the home button.
Step 2:
Swipe through your apps like it’s a game of Fruit Ninja.
Whether you’re the guy whose phone always beeps (like me) or the girl who somehow never drops below 50%, chances are you do too (if you have an iPhone).
Unfortunately, as I have only recently discovered, we are all total waste of time. Forced exit with the finger is a myth.
Error
Most of us believe that the apps that appear in our multitasking menu are still running in the background, draining the battery and slowing down our phones in the process.
It’s not true, claims a former Apple technician.
“The truth is, those apps in your multitasking menu don’t run in the background at all: iOS freezes them where you last left the app so it’s ready to go when you come back.”
A closer look
For a more detailed look at what’s actually going on inside your phone, check out this diagram from Apple’s Application Programming Guide. Shows different execution states for apps on iOS:
And here is the description of each condition:
The three we are interested in here are active, backgroundand suspended.
When you use the app, it is active. Uses CPU and memory.
After you press the home button, that app enters the background state, where it remains for a very short time before moving into suspended state.
Note: Some apps have exceptions and will stay in the background for longer. This would include an app that downloads a podcast, music that plays, and a navigation system that tracks your location.
So basically, anyone who aggressively force quits every app in sight is treating the suspended apps as active.
To make matters worse, there’s reason to believe that it’s actually forcing apps to close It’s getting smaller battery life. Here’s that same former Apple technician to explain:
“Closing the app removes the app from the phone’s RAM. Even though you think that might be what you want to do, it’s not. When you reopen that same app the next time you need it, your device has to reload it into memory. All that loading and unloading puts more strain on your device than just leaving it alone. Plus, iOS automatically closes apps as it needs more memory, so you’re doing something your device already does for you. You should be the user of your device, not the janitor.”
It’s like turning your car off and on again for no reason. All you’re doing is wasting fuel.
So what about that view after double-tapping the home button?
As for the multitasking menu, think of it as a “Recently Used” section, as opposed to a “Currently Open” one.
Here’s a quick little experiment to prove it:
Restart your phone. When it turns back on, double tap the home button without launching anything. APPS EVERYWHERE, despite having just completely restarted your phone and not opened anything.
To take away
Force closing apps is a surprisingly silly idea. Hopefully we can all agree on that now.
But how have so many of us been unaware of this fact for so long? That’s a question that really gets to me.
I mean, one Google search will convince even the staunchest believers in Force Quit Swipe that it’s unnecessary and ineffective.
Personally, I think it comes back to the fact that when we’re presented with information that seems logical (of course, closing that app running in the background will save battery!), and the source of that information is someone we trust (a friend or family member), we rarely question it.
Even in this digital age, when every answer is just a click away, we can all still fall victim to believing a myth.
What else do we believe just because we’re told it’s true?