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Is There a Trick On the iPad That Closes All Apps That Are Running?

Is there a trick on the I-Pad that closes all apps that are running? Sometimes I do a 4 finger swipe up and am shocked at how many apps are running. That seems to effect memory intensive games that seem to crash often. It takes a lot of time to shut all these apps down, one by one.
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Darryl Lord

Comments: 4 Responses to “Is There a Trick On the iPad That Closes All Apps That Are Running?”

    12 years ago

    Short answer: no, but you could always restart.
    However, it is important to realize that a term like "running" is a bit old fashioned in this case. Only one app is running at a time on your iPad. The one you see. Other apps may be "active" in various ways, like able to handle notifications and such. Some have a little bit going on, like a GPS tracking app (which you tell to track you, so that's what you would want). But only the one you see is really "running."
    That is why you are able to have so many (all, at time) apps in your recents list even though the iOS devices have modest memory.
    Important take-away: there is really no reason to "shut down" apps. Leave them going. Don't think of them as "running" but simply in a paused state. Don't waste your time by trying to shut them down. They aren't using up any real memory or battery.

      Tyler (AllAboutMac510)
      12 years ago

      Actually, if you are using a jailbroken iPad, there is a tweak called switchy and it enhances the app switcher. Part of the tweak includes a brightness slider and also a 'Clear' button which clears all running apps, like you asked. I am almost 100% sure it is free from Cydia but not guaranteed. Consider it if you are jailbroken

      Darryl Lord
      12 years ago

      . . . so I tried shutting down and re-booting and all the same guys are still there. I guess a follow up question might be "what is the purpose of swiping 4 fingers up and seeing what is paused? Why not just have everything on the I-Pad paused and ready to go if there is no performance hit? Let's say all GPS/notifications are turned off so that isn't a factor. Also, what is the purpose of putting these paused apps in the "wiggle mode" and closing them? Seems like Apple wouldn't have included this stuff without a purpose? Just wondering.

        12 years ago

        By "they are still there" I assume you mean in the recents list. That's literally a "recents lists" -- the list of apps you have most recently used. It doesn't mean that the apps "are running" or have any saved state in memory.
        Right, there is no reason to quit the apps. Just leave them paused.
        The one reason to force-quit an app is to force it to restart completely. Apps aren't perfect, and sometimes can benefit from a complete restart. There are some games I play that sometimes freeze up and I need to do this, for instance.

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