iPad and RAM usage

[Padcatt]

does iOS do a pretty good job of managing resources so that if I wind up with many more apps running than I intended to, my processor power and remaining battery charge won’t be draining away in the background faster than if I’d very conscientiously quit all aps not needed, the moment they weren’t needed anymore?

thank you!

 

[scifan57]

iOS has very good memory management. If you have too many open apps, iOS will allocate memory to the currently active apps and will close apps that aren't in current use.

 

[J. A.]

Also, Apple doesn‘t recommend closing apps on a regular basis. That‘s only necessary when an app behaves erratically.

Apps that are not used, remain in a „frozen“ state, freeing up the RAM they were using. When you use them again, they need way less energy and CPU than an app that has been force closed, and has to start from scratch.

 

[giradman]

Agree w/ previous comments - numerous apps are kept in a 'frozen' state, as already described, which actually 'frees up' RAM for other uses, plus these apps when re-opened will return to their previous states w/o having to waste resources (e.g. battery life) to start anew.

If an app is misbehaving, then 'force close' from the multi-tasking location, otherwise do not worry about the situation - that's how iOS works efficiently - more information HERE, plus plenty of other google hits if you want to search. Dave

 

[Padcatt]

very good to know..I’ll leave things open and let iOS deal with it.

 

[Aerofly]

One thing to remember though is if you have set ‘Background App Refresh’ on in settings. Depending on which apps you’ve selected could seriously affect your battery, and in some cases, data usage.

 

[scifan57]

Facebook is one of the biggest offenders in this respect and will continue to work in the background even if background app refresh is turned off..

 

[Padcatt]

thank you for mentioning that..hadn’t occurred to me but makes sense - things set to constantly check and refresh - that that would wear down battery life faster than a User might intend.

I shut it off, and I assume that when I bring to the front an app that would have been refreshing, I might have to wait a few seconds while it refreshes after being brought to front?

thanks!

 

[scifan57]

thank you for mentioning that..hadn’t occurred to me but makes sense - things set to constantly check and refresh - that that would wear down battery life faster than a User might intend.

I shut it off, and I assume that when I bring to the front an app that would have been refreshing, I might have to wait a few seconds while it refreshes after being brought to front?

thanks!

Yes, if an app hasn’t been refreshed in the background it will update itself when you open it so there will be a short waiting period before you can use it.

 

[twerppoet]

You can always go to the battery settings to check which apps have been hanging out in the background.

Also, I believe Facebooks’s really bad background battery gobbling behavior was fixed. Or reportedly fixed. Experience shows that it can be more presistant than some apps, but it does shut down, eventually, and doesn’t hog the battery as much as it did.

 

[scifan57]

Of course you can use the Facebook website instead of the app, avoiding the problem completely.