New Clear All Recent Apps button

[rbess1965]

I have been searching all over for the answer to this question.

My Motorola Droid Turbo has a Clear All Recent Apps button that I have never noticed before.

I'd like to know when this happened because I've never seen it before and have always wanted it.

Samsung phone have been doing it from the beginning but to my knowledge not Motorola or Android in general.

But it's there now. All I did was tap on the recent apps button to see my cards and then swipped up to reveal the button. I was so happy.

But then found my self wondering if it's always been there and I never knew. If you've never swiped up while viewing your app cards, you'd never know it was there.

Has it always been there or did it get added in some update?

I'm dying to know the answer to this and where on the web I can find info on this subject because it bothers me that I didn't know about it before now.

See attached image.

Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Moved from the Android Central Lounge to the Turbo forum.

 

[PowrDroid]

Has it always been there or did it get added in some update?

I'm dying to know the answer to this and where on the web I can find info on this subject because it bothers me that I didn't know about it before now.

See attached image.

Thanks

I believe it was included in the Marshmallow operating system update. I, too, like this new feature.

 

[doogald]

No offense intended, but I think it's a dumb feature. The point of the recent apps list was to show your recent apps *AND* to give you a way to force close *AN APP* that may be causing issues. It was never meant to be a force close all, nor really should it have been (except maybe on Samsung phones with lower quality Touchwiz that kept dreaming battery or freezing up.)

It reminds me of an online coffee company that recently switched to 12 oz bags from full pound bags because too many people were unable to comprehend that selling a full pound costs more than a competitor's 12 ounce bag. So, now I have to buy 3/4 pound and ship it more often (and pay more because of it), or 1.5 pounds and deal with coffee going stale after a few weeks. All because people were too thick to realize that somebody selling something in a smaller bag for less wasn't necessarily a better deal. Because Samsung puts in this feature, Google is forced to so they stop getting questions about it.

 

[PowrDroid]

No offense intended, but I think it's a dumb feature. The point of the recent apps list was to show your recent apps *AND* to give you a way to force close *AN APP* that may be causing issues. It was never meant to be a force close all, nor really should it have been (except maybe on Samsung phones with lower quality Touchwiz that kept dreaming battery or freezing up.)

You can close a single app if you like, or two, or all apps. I appreciate having the choice. Exactly what is wrong with having this ability?

 

[B. Diddy]

Although there might be the occasional situation where this is desired, my concern is that it plants the seed in users' minds that it's somehow good to "kill all apps" on an Android device. It's the same mentality that makes people install apps like Clean Master and other useless (and usually counterproductive) "memory cleaner" apps.

 

[PowrDroid]

Although there might be the occasional situation where this is desired, my concern is that it plants the seed in users' minds that it's somehow good to "kill all apps" on an Android device.

What harm is done by closing all apps simultaneously?

 

[rbess1965]

No offense intended, but I think it's a dumb feature. The point of the recent apps list was to show your recent apps *AND* to give you a way to force close *AN APP* that may be causing issues. It was never meant to be a force close all, nor really should it have been (except maybe on Samsung phones with lower quality Touchwiz that kept dreaming battery or freezing up.)

It reminds me of an online coffee company that recently switched to 12 oz bags from full pound bags because too many people were unable to comprehend that selling a full pound costs more than a competitor's 12 ounce bag. So, now I have to buy 3/4 pound and ship it more often (and pay more because of it), or 1.5 pounds and deal with coffee going stale after a few weeks. All because people were too thick to realize that somebody selling something in a smaller bag for less wasn't necessarily a better deal. Because Samsung puts in this feature, Google is forced to so they stop getting questions about it.

Wow. I bet you've been waiting months to throw down that analogy haha. Think you may have had too much of that coffee, but thanks for the reply anyway.

 

[rbess1965]

Well thanks for all the input but I wasn't trying to spark a debate on why it's there or whether it even should be☺ obviously someone felt that it should be. Samsung does. I personally, right or wrong, like the feature and was just wondering when and how it was added. I haven't found any Marshmallow release notes on it but I'll keep looking. Thanks to all.

 

[B. Diddy]

What harm is done by closing all apps simultaneously?

The problem with habitually killing apps is that the system is designed to keep RAM relatively full of open apps. If the user or an app is frequently killing apps, the system will just open those apps (or possibly other apps) back into RAM. If apps are being killed on a regular basis, this can set up an endless cycle of open-close-open-close, which can affect performance as well as contribute to battery drain (since opening an app does take a certain amount of energy).

 

[doogald]

Apps in the background are almost always put in a suspended state - but ready to pick up where they left off when they are restarted. Apps like Gmail will just automatically restart themselves as soon as possible after they are force closed, so you've saved perhaps milliseconds of processing. However, it also must do all of the activities that apps do when they start themselves up again - they do not just pick up where they left off. Because there is extra processing being done on startup and because any app that does any sort of background processing will relaunch itself right after being force closed, you end up using more battery power rather than less.

Stop thinking of the recent apps list as anything but a way to quickly switch between a couple apps and as an occasional way to close an app that may be draining battery after you see the app listed in settings / battery. Android manages app usage much better than you can.

 

[kmf1]

I like having the option of closing all recent apps at once, whether I choose to use it or not. I bought this phone in October 2016. I can't imagine having a backlog of hundreds/thousands of cards in the Recent apps to this point, and what effect, if any, there might be to the phones' operation. From a house-cleaning point, it would drive me nuts. Ha!

 

[oneeyecarpenter]

Hi @rbess1965

Here are answers to your questions! I found tons of articles in a quick Google Search. See here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=android,+recent+apps,+clear+button+added&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#spf=1

And two good examples:
Android N Will Remove Unused Apps From Recents
https://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/05/android-n-add-clear-button-recent-apps-menu.html