Closing an application window without having to minimize it first?

[Rudee66]

Is there a way to close an application window without having to minimize it first in order to close it? Thx

 

[patruns]

What app are you referring to? Usually you have a quit option in the app or you simply back all the way out. If you mean the screen with smaller windows showing the most recently used apps, that is all it is. You are not closing them, you are just removing them from the list. They are not necessarily running unless you either backed out of an app with a quit option or the app always runs in the background.

 

[Rudee66]

I'm not referring to any specific app, I just notice when I open a native app I can't simply close out of it, and it ends up joining a list of other open apps, which in order to close, I have to select each one in it's minimized window, and select "remove from list" to close it. I would like to be able to open an app such as Google earth, and then close it with a swipe or something. Is that not possible?

 

[YAYTech]

I'm not referring to any specific app, I just notice when I open a native app I can't simply close out of it, and it ends up joining a list of other open apps, which in order to close, I have to select each one in it's minimized window, and select "remove from list" to close it. I would like to be able to open an app such as Google earth, and then close it with a swipe or something. Is that not possible?

When you do that, you aren't closing the program you are (as it says) removing it from that list. Most apps when not active don't actually run, unless they're specifically designed to run in the background (such as music apps). Android is designed this way to be so efficient as to not need to think about closing programs anymore, but simply go to what you want to do next, and do it. That said, sometimes apps aren't designed as they should be, or something doesn't quite work like it should, and it is nice to be able to close them for real. For that you need a task management/task killer program. I use SystemPanel Lite (free). It will show you processes that are running, and a readout of resources being used overall, and per app. Note that some apps will automatically restart themselves if you kill them, as they're meant to run in the background all the time (Facebook, some Google apps, etc).

Overall, don't worry about closing apps unless you see that something is slowing down the system or causing other issues. It's just not how Android is meant to be used. Windows is going that direction with their new app system in Windows 8, and iOS is the same way.

 

[stkorn97]

Yeah, Android closes apps as it sees fit. Unless its an app that you are forcing to run, it will take care of everything on its own.

 

[sfhub]

Removing an app from the recently used list must be doing more than just cosmetically removing it from a list. If I press the Home button while in Chrome, then I press the Chrome icon, I get back the tab(s) I was viewing. If I do the same, but after pressing Home, I swipe away Chrome from the recently used list, Chrome has lost all the tabs I had open.

I've also had apps that were hung (Chrome, Opera Mini) where removing them from the recently used list and rerunning allowed them to function again.

UPDATE: after more testing, it seems when you tap-and-hold and choose remove from list, it does just that, remove from list, but the app is still sleeping with the memory context.

If you swipe the app off the list, then it actually closes the app, so it loses it's memory context. Equivalent to closing the app.

 

[sfhub]

I'm not referring to any specific app, I just notice when I open a native app I can't simply close out of it, and it ends up joining a list of other open apps, which in order to close, I have to select each one in it's minimized window, and select "remove from list" to close it. I would like to be able to open an app such as Google earth, and then close it with a swipe or something. Is that not possible?

Not sure if you realize it, but you can swipe away those apps from the recently used list instead of tap-and-hold, then choosing remove from list.

So here is the procedure to accomplish what you want.

Run your app. Press the recent app button to exit. Swipe the app off that screen. App is now closed and the memory is freed up.

 

[patruns]

I just notice when I open a native app I can't simply close out of it, and it ends up joining a list of other open apps

Let me try to be clearer. Some apps have an option to "exit". Tap the 3 dots that are usually in the upper right corner of the app.

Apps that do not have an exit option will either close when you back all the way out of them or remain running because that is in the nature of the app. Facebook and Flickr are prime examples. You have to physically force close them but that doesn't always work because sometimes they re-launch themselves. If you tap the soft button on the lower right of your main screen you will get a list of last used apps in smaller windows. It is just a list that you can either long press to remove or swipe away. Either removes the app from the list. Don't assume that just because you tap the app and it opens where it left off that it was always running. You can see a list of your currently running apps by going to settings/apps/running apps. It may or may not include some of the apps from the list.

 

[Rudee66]

Not sure if you realize it, but you can swipe away those apps from the recently used list instead of tap-and-hold, then choosing remove from list.

So here is the procedure to accomplish what you want.

Run your app. Press the recent app button to exit. Swipe the app off that screen. App is now closed and the memory is freed up.

Good tip. Thanks

 

[Diknak]

Yeah, it looks like that is new in 4.3 because that didn't use the be the case. Before, swiping away on the recently opened apps just removed it from the list and didn't actually close it. That's a good change imo.