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Jun 24 / innocent114

How-To: Terminate Background Applications on your iPhone 4

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how-to close background apps on the iPhone 4

We received the iPhone 4 we ordered yesterday and I must say I am enjoying this fine piece of machinery and one of the things I was looking forward to utilizing the most was of course – the multitasking and boy have I used it. One thing I couldn’t figure out for the life of me was how to close all of these fine apps, even our own study app Cram, I was running and for a minute there I even stupidly assumed that you couldn’t close the apps until I opened my little iPhone 4 loving eyes.

So let me share this info already to spare you the potential speed loss your iPhone 4 may suffer in the future from tons of open apps.

To ensure you maintain great performance on your iPhone 4, make sure to close the apps you don’t need in the background. In order to do this:

1. Double tap your home button. When you double tap the home button your multitask view will appear.

how-to close background apps on the iPhone 4

2. Tap and hold the app icon you want to close, just as you would on the home screen to rearrange icons or delete an app.

how-to close background apps on the iPhone 4

3. Hold the app icon until a red “-” button appears in the left-hand corner of the icon.

how-to close background apps on the iPhone 4

4. To close the app, tap on the red button in the corner of the app you want to close.

Now your app will actually be closed and will free some of that memory on your new iPhone 4, giving you time to study using your favorite flashcard app Cram.

Hope this helps – Enjoy!

Filed under iPhone/iPod
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  • Nmanix

    Brilliant information – clearly explained
    HUGE thanks

  • http://twitter.com/BCFiPhoneApps BCFiPhoneApps

    if you want to learn more iPhone Apps, you should go to this link: http://howdoigetiphoneapps.com

    In this site there are more than 250 Apps,Videos,Download Links,Secrets………and more..

  • Guest

    Thanks for the details. Here are some tips related to battery life: http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

  • SachaG

    For it to work on 3GS you need to download the iPhone 4 software to your phone. This can be done by simply connecting to iTunes on your pc. It will them probably give you the option to upgrade to IOS4 or whatever the latest version is.

  • ONGUEST

    thanks this helped me out so nicely.. man oh man i had 45 apps open 

  • Dragonsoul1759

    when i double click the home button it just goes to home and im on the home screen

  • Shiva Machana

    Thanks

  • My2202

    Your comment is incorrect.

    The technique in this article absolutely does shut down the application.  Shutting down an application is NOT the same as wiping out all saved information.  Safari is no longer running when you shut it down, but once you open it again, information from the last session is still going to be there unless you’ve cleared it.  Just like if you shut down a game – when you reopen it, the game remembers which boards you’ve already passed.

    The technique does work, and has improved my battery life dramatically!  Thanks for the article!

  • My2022

    You are incorrect.  It does shut down apps.  It’s easy to test it yourself – you’ll find that instead of pick up where you left off in games, etc. you are taken to the intro the next time you open the app.

  • Noca04

    Great.  I wish they’d written this in the instructions (oh wait. . .there weren’t any!)  Many thanks.

  • Gorgonline

    Is there anyway to terminate the app while using it or do i have to do this process everytime I use an app???

  • http://www.facebook.com/ashli.norton Ashli Norton

    Don’t think so. The “process” is just a few taps though.

  • frizzlefry

    AAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! zomg you’re so funny i’m going to pee myself

  • frizzlefry

    Try it using photos to view an image. Exit and reopen and opens to the same image. Then shut it down from the multitask view and reopen and it goes back to the camera roll.

  • Ame

    Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Short, direct, illustrations — just what I needed,

  • Littleninjadevil

    thanks for the info. exactly what I needed

  • Null

    Thanks – good simple article

  • Cheryl

    Great Info to have. I had no idea all the apps were still open.  Thank you :-)

  • Anjdhg

    thank you sooo much :) this was so helpful :)

  • Emorente

    I need one app to close al multitasking at one tap !!!

  • http://twitter.com/gaytweetz Gay Tweets

    your mom pees herself.

  • Blackathena

    I stumbled across this gem while trying to find out how to stop all of my family’s apps coming into my iphone, which has been happening since I did the cloud. This is wonderful! Thank you. And if you know how to stop one phone pulling in everybody’s apps, I’d love to hear it.

  • Yaminah

    Not sure if this demonstration is closing the appps running in the background or not. But I do appreciate the info! Thank you

  • Maripat67

    Great info…thanks!

  • Guest

    Great tip. Thanks

  • Csplus3122435400

    It is awesome thank you for your helpl

  • DALE SIRL II

    a great little tip for preserve the battery life..thanks very much..(newbie)

  • Dayday0550

    If you open safari after closing it using this method, it has to reload the link from the Internet meaning it closes out of the browser. If you don’t close it out and just go back to it the page does not have to reload. This def closes the app.

  • Chaitanya

    Awesome!! Thank you.

  • Babygirl_99

    Thank you very helpful! Couldnt remeber how to do it!

  • Kathy7890

    Ok,,, I hate to sound like a numbskull but my battery only stays alive for 4 hours so I am trying what you said..
    But my question is… What does “running in the background” actually mean?

  • Malik_prince

    not show (red -) on my iphone 3gs OS 4.2.4……… please help

  • Amanrocks89

    thanks a ton for the help…i closed around 80+ apps today…….phewwwwww
    amandeep singh

  • BoomBoom

    Thanx alot..been very helpful!

  • Geoffreyperkins

    How do delete all or multiple bground apps?

  • Nshrader

    thank you ! That really helped me.     Newbie to iphone. :-)

  • Roger

    Thanks!!!

  • Rajan

    nice info step by step
    realy help full..

  • Jonelliott23

    I pee on your mom

  • Anonymous

    While this does close running apps, an app in the multitasking bar doesn’t necessarily mean it is running.  It includes your recently used apps as well.  It’s article like this that are making iPhone users paranoid that they have to clear all the icons out of the recently used menu.  

  • http://www.themorningprayers.com/ Missy M

    This really helped me.  I was beginning to think I had bought a defective iphone 4 because the battery life was way too short.  Whew!  Thanks a much!

    Doinitmyway The Mornng Prayers

  • http://themmonline.blogspot.com/ Blogging Resources

    Thanks .. I was loosing all my battery real quick because of those apps running in the background. Thank you very much again.

  • BJAK

    Thank you!

  • Paco10301

    It’s just a recent history. Theyre not running. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4211#

  • Christierice32

    So will I Lose them, do that take it off my short cut

  • Sara

    wow I had all my apps running in the background! Never knew, thanks for the article!

  • Ghrisa

    Excellent.It works on Iphone 4S.Great Phone. First time owner of Iphone. Thank You

  • AnAustinGuy

    I don’t have a mom… my dad and I share yours   ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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