How do I get to the screen which shows running but dormant apps?

[AC Question]

I am new to smart phones and android but by no means new to computers in general. I have just bought a Cubot P9.

While trying to find my way around I stumbled over a screen which looked as if it was showing large thumbnails of apps that I had been running but had simply backed out of when finished. The screen seamed to disappear as spontaneously as it as appeared.

I now want to get back to it so that I can a) retrieve some of these running apps and b) close the others properly

 

[SpookDroid]

It should be on your Settings, Application Manager.

 

[anon8380037]

.... or (pardon me ) it could be you hit the recent apps softkey. If not a softkey it could be by holding the Home key. You can swipe them away, but it's not necessary to clear Ram. More useful to switch between active apps as you say. Icon on the key is usually like one page on another.

 

[Crashdamage]

You are not supposed to need to manually close apps, use task killers or worry about RAM, running processes, etc.

And I don't. I let Android handle everything automatically as intended. All of our devices run smoothly, reliably and battery drain is fine. We just use them.

Now, if an app is poorly coded, you're running an old, outdated version of Android or a low-spec device all may not be so nice. But on reasonably capable hardware and Android 4 or above, trying to micromanage operation is often counterproductive or worse. Task killers are particularly evil.

So quit worrying, let Android take care of business and enjoy your device.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.