Ever since iOS 4.0, I have been pretty OCD about clearing my multitasking bar all the time. It is kind of a pain, but I have always thought that doing it will save battery and RAM. It might not even be a noticeable difference, so I had this question. I was just curious, how often/do you ever clear your multitasking bar? Have you noticed a big difference in your device's performance from what you do?
constantly. i clear the multitasking bar at least 4 to 5 times a day. i also hard reboot about every day also. its crazy how fast you can build up 10-15 apps just using your phone for everyday uses.
it actually might save your battery if you keep things in the multitasking bar. most apps there aren't using any resources, they're just frozen until you need to use them again. keeping them there would save the system from having to restart the entire app again when you want to use it. yes there are some apps that use resources in the background like music players, file downloaders, etc. but it's worth a try to not clear anything for a day (or not as often at least) and see if it makes a difference. personally i clear mine usually just once near the end of the day or if im seeing noticeable slowdown just to clear some RAM. though i do clear the facebook app every time i quit because i don't like how it keeps me online for chat.
Interesting. I think I'll experiment with it to see which is best. Do games use up a lot of resources when in the bar, as much as apps like GPS and Facebook?
Before I hard reset my iTouch, I never cleared my multitask bar. It runs the exact same with a lot of stuff in it than without a lot of stuff in it, IMO. It might run a tiny bit slower with a ton of apps in the multitask bar (I didn't really notice) but overall, runs pretty much the same.
I clear mine constantly and it does make a difference, at least for memory. I have SBsettings (cydia app) and I can see my memory shoot up from double digits to triple digits after clearing my multitask bar. Yes, apps do and will take up memory as long as they remain in the multitask bar (usually 1-10MB), SBSettings does not lie. you can also wait for the memory to be automatically freed up but it's not nearly as effective or as quick as manually closing the apps from the multitask bar yourself.
Oh I know, but the amount it clears is almost negligible* compared to the amount you can free via the multitask bar. *--I know because I've tested and monitored both methods with SBSettings, which does not lie.
If I'm playing anything but casual games, I'll clear it completely. I also clear it completely at the end of day. I only restart my iPod about 1-2 times a week though.
I clear it every time I play a game over 100mb. I also clear it after I play big games. I got hit with a couple of iOS 5 bugs, so I have to be somewhat proactive as well. I restart my device at least once a day.
Jut read that and it makes sense. Maybe it could be poor execution, or just people like us switch apps so fast or do so much on our devices that we see these memory issues more frequently. Also people who use the devices for heavy multimedia and have certain indefinite apps running might also experience memory problems more often. I do know for a fact that my device might not start certain things until I clear everything, but maybe it could be coincidence or fast switching. Maybe its bad programming by the developer!?! I'd also like to say that in theory this is a very sound and technical argument that he has presented. The only thing is execution might now always be handled well like I said earlier. I've experienced my fair share of issues with technology over the years, and Apple isn't excluded in any way, shape, or form.
Everytime before I put it in my pocket again. I just hate seeing things in the multi task bar. The clutter irks me
Glad you posted that link ! Some people seem totally OTT having to close down all the apps they have. I hardly clear any open apps and havent had any issues at all and believe me i play a lotttttttttt of games. The 'clutter' doesnt irk me at all, much more proper things to worry about than lots of apps 'open' !
I'm not sure if I believe all that. I just did a test. I opened System Manager then opened up a load off apps. The free RAM available was 57 MB, then I closed all the apps except for System Manager which I then re-opened and the free RAM available was 220 MB. That's an increase of 163 MB after closing all the other apps in the multitasking bar. Then I freed RAM using the "free RAM" button and the amount of free RAM increased to 338 MB. Anyway, in answer to the question. I clear the multitasking bar before I lock it and before playing graphically/performance intensive games. So quite often.
Yeah, I'm thinking the article is one of those "in theory" type things. Like I said earlier execution plays a part. It might also have something to do with how the developer set up the app. Like why Game Center pops into some games almost instantly and others it takes a lifetime. Also, it seems as if the experiences differ from person to person; depends on how you use your device, what bugs come with the apps you download, iOS bugs you get, and just the fact that technology isn't always reliable.
I wish I could restart my device, the sleep button on the top of my ipod stopped working. Heaven forbid my ipod freezes up, I'm royally screwed.
That's like my worst nightmare. My iPod lags hard every day and if I don't restart it, it stays that way. I've also been experiencing the ) bytes thing this week and had to plug into iTunes quite a bit over the past couple of days. This started happening after a scree showed up the other day that looked like a OTA update.
