Phone opening apps/files by itself?

[Android Central Question]

I recently got a Samsung Galaxy J7 Perx (my more expensive smartphone died vs the Pacific Ocean), and it's been fine, until this week. Apps and other random things in the phone will be open when I hit the bottom left 'show me everything that's running' menu button (whatever that thing's called), including apps like Boomerang I've installed from elsewhere, but also default stuff like Files, the Help menu, Samsung Internet, and worryingly, Hotspot controls. I don't like a lot of clutter on my phone and NOTHING besides texts and calls has permission to show me alerts. This is NOT at start-up, this is at random times throughout the day. No one else has access to my phone, and I don't know how these things are opening, and Googling hasn't helped. Do I have a virus? Is someone accessing my phone? I'm currently visiting family for the holidays, and I'm on wifi most of the time, but it's password protected wifi, and this has never happened to me elsewhere.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! This is normal. Android prefers to have RAM mostly full, so even if you're not actively using an app, the system will automatically open certain apps into RAM, paused in the background (and therefore not using battery), but ready to open into the foreground if you switch to them. The apps that open depend on various factors like usage patterns and how the apps are coded.

Force closing apps won't help you save battery; in fact, "cleaner" apps that automatically close apps out of RAM can actually contribute to battery drain (and poor performance) because after the cleaner closes an app, the system may very well open it back up again. If this loop persists, that takes energy.