gadgetmanBrian PSA: NO NEED TO FORCE QUIT APPS ON AN iPHONE!!! 

While working in the office for the last three weeks, there is a very common behavior I have noticed when people use their phones; force-quitting (swiping up) apps on an iPhone.

iPhone apps do not run in the background (with a few exceptions, below). Force quitting apps slows your iPhone down and actually makes your battery life worse. 

When you bring up the app switcher (by double-clicking the home button or flicking up on an iPhone X), that list of apps is actually like a browser history. It’s not showing you apps that are currently running in the background; it is simply a list of the last dozen or so apps you have used. The purpose is to make it easy to quickly switch between the last few apps you have used.

On an iPhone; with very few exceptions, apps cannot keep running in the background when you are not using them, iOS limits this to maximize battery life. 

Among the kinds of apps that can actually run in the background are:

• Location apps like Google Maps – it has to update your location;
• Music and Audio apps like Spotify and Pandora – you want to be able to listen when the screen is off;
• Phone and VoIP apps like Skype and Whatsapp – so you can use the device as a phone;
• Fitness and workout apps like RunKeeper – theses apps can track your location (see above), type of workout and its associated performance data.

When you are using an app and then hit the home button, most apps ‘freeze’ their current state so when you go back to it, it loads quickly to right where you were when you last used it. Some apps use a timer to decide if, when you return to the app, you can return to where you left off or if the app is starting fresh.

Force-quitting apps seems to be an OCD-like behavior among some people; but take it from your friendly neighborhood gadgetmanBrian; this is not necessary and is a good habit to break.

If you want to be OCD about your phone; try and keep the screen clean 😉

Thanks for reading!