Difference between x-ing out and swiping off

[jkmail]

Is there a difference between closing (x-ing out) and swiping the app off of the screen in terms of memory usage?

If you have a lot of apps open (>12) does it effect performance?

What's the best way to see if there are programs running in the background. Are there any good apps that show you what's running or is an on-board program just as good?

Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Are you asking about x-ing out vs swiping off within the Task Manager/Recent Apps screen? If so, they should both work the same way.

The Android system should be smart enough to handle your RAM on its own -- it's designed to keep RAM relatively full, and to swap out apps as needed, depending on your usage patterns. If you use "task killer" apps to force close apps, that can actually be detrimental to your device's performance and battery life.