It it better to press the back or home button?

[Snareman]

Does it matter when I'm trying to get out of/close an app which button I press? I don't know if there is an official way to close an app or if it really even matters with the available RAM and I can just hit the home button once instead of the back button ~4 times. I had thought that swiping apps out of the recent apps button menu closed them but apparently not.

 

[BSG75]

It's irrelevant. The only issue is that if you are a few sceens into an app, then you will probably only be backtracking through the screens until you get out. The app controls what the back button does, so it's not guaranteed to do what you expect. The only exception is some apps that can run in the background will give you an option to close the app when you hit the final "back."

Home will always bring you home.

For the most part, it doesn't matter.

 

[Snareman]

It's irrelevant. The only issue is that if you are a few sceens into an app, then you will probably only be backtracking through the screens until you get out. The app controls what the back button does, so it's not guaranteed to do what you expect. The only exception is some apps that can run in the background will give you an option to close the app when you hit the final "back."

Home will always bring you home.

For the most part, it doesn't matter.

Right. That's why I always press the back button about 4-5 times figuring that that's enough to get me back to the home screen.

 

[Revolutionary]

Some apps only suspend when you hit the home key while in the app, and only "close" when you hit back.

But it doesn't really matter. The OS manages suspended processes, and there is no negative memory or battery impact from simply hitting home as opposed to back. This ain't Windows. Hitting home will preserve the app state for you, whereas backing out means you have to launch it all over again to get where you were.

 

[yosteve]

Some apps seem to such better when you use the recent apps button, where home and back seem to increase your chance of refresh.

 

[TabGuy]

It's almost always better to press the home button or, as pointed out the recent apps button. Why? So that the next time you get into the app it's exactly where you left off. This is especially true in the browser.

 

[greyhd]

Thanks everyone for the response, I too was wondering the same thing as the OP.