Leave them apps alone (open)

[Rudi]

    
It's *fairly* common knowledge that it's better to leave running apps running, and not close them, which ultimately is more laborious for the device and uses more battery. If you did not know, see this confirmation by Google’s head of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer?

I used to constantly close my apps on my iPhone a few months back... but I've learned that keeping them open is better...and it's faster to access the apps again as they are just dormant. There is no need for the OS to reload them each time.

[HansV]

Thanks, Rudi.

[PJ_in_FL]

Yes, but ...

Leaving often-used apps open makes sense. Apps like Phone and Messaging, maybe even Browser. But every time I check local news, play a game or use the calculator, these apps remain in memory even after closing via the BACK button. What eventually happens is the phone's UI becomes less responsive, and even affects other apps which show up in various ways, like stuttering audio route directions from Maps.

I see this by going into Settings .. Apps and seeing how many have the Force Stop button active, meaning they're in active memory, and Show Notifications checked, which is much worse because that causes the program to regularly "phone home", turning on and using power-hungry RF. All these cycle-stealers combine to make my phone slow down.

I greatly improve responsiveness by unchecking nearly ALL the Show Notification boxes, and liberal use of the Force Stop button, throwing caution to the wind and ignoring the "... may misbehave" warning.

So I'll let Android manage what's in memory, but I'll decide what gets to stay there!

[John Gray]

I understood that that "no battery penalty in leaving apps running" applied only to iPhones/iOS, and not to Android phones...

[HansV]

The article mentioned by Rudi states that it also holds for Android phones, and it's confirmed by Hiroshi Lockheimer (Senior Vice President at Google)

[Rudi]

PJ, in refering to notification from these running apps, you are correctly pointing to the fact that although the app is suspended, it can still be using a bit of power to send notifications, to read GPS location, to push and pull info, etc... The trick is to switch off background activity in general on the device to suspend all these actions on the open apps. So, the apps can actually remain open, but it is important to ensure that background activity for the app is off. See the links below for details:

iOS
No, Closing Background Apps on Your iPhone or iPad Won’t Make It Faster
4 ways to take charge of iOS's Background App Refresh feature
An interesting "trick" to free memory in iOS

Android
You Don’t Need to Install a Task Manager: How to Manage Running Apps on Android
How to Disable Apps Running In The Background in Android

[PJ_in_FL]

Thanks for the links Rudi!