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oeagleo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 5, 2016
712
417
West Jordan, Utah
I like to keep the "open" apps at a minimum, just my OCD kicking in. However, when I swipe up and right to open the "list" of apps that have been previously used, and I want to clear them, I must move each and every one "up" to remove it from that list. On my Android phone, (Samsung S10+) there was an option to "Clear All". My question is there a way to do this with my setup?
TIA
 
I like to keep the "open" apps at a minimum, just my OCD kicking in. However, when I swipe up and right to open the "list" of apps that have been previously used, and I want to clear them, I must move each and every one "up" to remove it from that list. On my Android phone, (Samsung S10+) there was an option to "Clear All". My question is there a way to do this with my setup?
TIA
Firstly, you can swipe up and hold for a half-second instead of swiping up and right. This should bring up the recently used apps list. Just trying to reduce the effort, so you should use whichever gesture feels best for you.

Secondly, clearing apps from the recently used list should only be done for misbehaving apps. Force-closing an app removes it from memory and that app has to restart from scratch the next time it is used - this uses system resources that wouldn't otherwise be required.

I understand your need to keep open apps at a minimum, but that practice can cause the system work much harder than it was designed to work. The system was designed to do the housekeeping so you don't have to worry about it. Think of it as telling your OCD who is really in charge :)
 
With iOS 13 you’ll find ample reasons to force quit one or more apps from time to time. But as a general practice it’s not needed and doesn‘t improve anything. I understand the impulse though, I was doing it myself quite a bit in the past. No longer but with the current software the opportunity to indulge the impulse will present itself soon enough.
 
With iOS 13 you’ll find ample reasons to force quit one or more apps from time to time. But as a general practice it’s not needed and doesn‘t improve anything. I understand the impulse though, I was doing it myself quite a bit in the past. No longer but with the current software the opportunity to indulge the impulse will present itself soon enough.
Not sure what iOS 13 really changes when it comes to that.
 
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If, as it indicates, those apps are running "in the background" and kept open in order to facilitate faster opening, aren't they using resources? Memory? Battery? I have to wonder about that, some resources must be used in order to keep the "marker" as to the state of the app.
The Android had an option "Close All" for this reason. I wonder if Apple says "you don't need to do that" because they just don't want to have the option, or there is indeed a "0 resources" state that can keep an app open in the background.
 
If, as it indicates, those apps are running "in the background" and kept open in order to facilitate faster opening, aren't they using resources? Memory? Battery? I have to wonder about that, some resources must be used in order to keep the "marker" as to the state of the app.
The Android had an option "Close All" for this reason. I wonder if Apple says "you don't need to do that" because they just don't want to have the option, or there is indeed a "0 resources" state that can keep an app open in the background.
From what I've learned from the gurus on these forums, the apps are "frozen" and aren't using any battery power. They do use some RAM, but iOS is based on BSD and BSD uses as much available RAM as it can whether it needs it or not ("unused RAM is wasted RAM"). So, closing apps to reduce RAM usage is a waste of resources because the cache is just going to be repopulated anyway. Constant repopulation (the system fighting user interaction) will use battery power unnecessarily.
 
You can swipe multiple apps up at the same time. It’s not a “clear all” button, but it’s quicker than doing them one by one. :)
 
The pictorial list of apps is best thought of as a recently used list. Almost none of them are “open” or “running”. They are suspended, meaning their state is stored for quicker restoration. That’s all. In fact, if you delete the suspended state, it uses more power to start one of the apps from scratch.
 
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