Do apps run in the background?

[Shane]

I have a Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, which is slow. I often switch apps while waiting for something to load. Do apps continue to run while in the background? Is this a setting I can check?

Thanks,
Shane.

 

[B. Diddy]

A well-designed app should pause if it's in the background, and not take up any CPU cycles, assuming it's not intended to be doing anything in the background (like playing music, for example). Some poorly designed apps might cause issues, but this is less likely if you're installing mainstream apps that have been around for a long time.

If you have any antivirus apps, installed, uninstall them. They're notorious resource hogs, and are generally not needed on Android if you follow some basic security guidelines: [GUIDE] How To Avoid Malware - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

If you've installed shady apps (often from other sources besides the Play Store), there's always the risk of things like crypto miners hidden in the app, which will use a lot of resources to do that mining while you're trying to do other things.

It might also just be that the Tab A7 lite is not very powerful. I used to have one, and ultimately got rid of it because the lag/sluggishness became unacceptable. I replaced it with a Lenovo Tab M9, which has been much better over the past couple of years.