Switching from app to app

[anbshilling]

Hi!

When I am in an app and hit the "home" button to go back to the main home screen, does the app I was in close or is it still running in the background? I just hit the home button for a second and move on to another one. Should I be doing something different? I don't want to waste battery life by having several apps running that I'm not using anymore. Does this make sense?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks and I'm sorry if this has been answered already!

 

[Italchef]

I'm sort of curious about this myself. I read somewhere that if you push and hold the home button for 5 seconds, it closes all the apps that are open as they run in the background otherwise. I don't know if this is true or not. I have my email accounts set to manual, so does that mean that they will download only when the app is open? If the iPhone sleeps while its checking, does it continue to check?
Mick

 

[Dimwhit]

I don't know the official answer, but I'm pretty sure the application is still open, but not running. Seems to 'pause' the application until you go back to it. Holding down the home button for 8 or so seconds will completely quit the app (I think only the one you were in, not all of them).

I've noticed, for example, that with the solitaire game I play, if I hit the home button and do something else, I can return and resume my game. But if I hold the home button for the 8 seconds when leaving the game, when I return, my previous game is gone. I assume completely shutting down the phone and rebooting would do the same thing.

Other programs, however, can probably maintain your current state even through a hard shut down.

 

[bjobes]

I could be incorrect but I believe one of the agreements for the SDK is applications are not permitted to run in the background.

 

[iTeen]

No apps run in the background, exept for when the iPod is playing and you are doing other stuff (web surfing...ect.).

 

[darkfiber]

Doesn't email run in the background? I would think it would have to in order to notify you when new mail arrives.

 

[Macgic]

Doesn't email run in the background? I would think it would have to in order to notify you when new mail arrives.

yes it does

 

[Ntombi]

The answer is that no 3rd party apps run in the background. Mail, Maps, and the other native apps can run after you hit the home button, but no apps that aren't native to the iPhone can.

If you hit the home button, you've quit the 3rd party app. If you want to be sure to not just close, but completely quit native apps, hold the home button for at least 5-7 seconds. You'll see the screen go black for just a moment, and then it'll bring you back to the home screen.

 

[equlizer]

you want your apps to stay alive? Is your iphone jailbroken? Go into cydia and download "insomnia". That will keep your programs alive no matter what they are. And if you want to switch between programs on the fly, go download "dock 3.1"