Press and Hold Home: Currently running apps or just recently used?

[jamesino]

When I press and hold the Home button and the vertical list of apps pop up, are those apps that are currently running/active, or are those just apps that I recently use. Is swiping them off a good enough way to kill them so that they're not using any battery/CPU?

 

[funkylogik]

tbh im not sure. it seems to kill some but not others..
maybe it only kills the apps that have a quit/exit option?

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[jeffreii]

Here's my understanding of how it works:

-Unless an app is actively working (streaming, downloading, etc.) and using a process actively, Android does not just keep it running like it would on a PC. It "saves the state" of the app in the cache/memory so that you can resume it later as if it had never been closed.
-When you long press the home button you get a list of "recent apps" and you can reopen those with the saved state.
-Apps that are currently running and using processes actively should be listed under task manager (bottom left button when you long press home).
-Clearing apps from the recent apps list removes their saved state from the cache. I've read that this is not actually necessary as Android will automatically start removing them on its own should it run low on memory and need to do a little housekeeping.

 

[mssca]

I have the same question. Really confused about if it is really closing apps to save battery and processor power. I asked the same question here and got one reply; http://forums.androidcentral.com/an...-vs-application-monitor-ram-clear-memory.html

If you want to reduce the use of home screen button (to prevent wear out, etc), there is a widget that download from Samsung Apps called "Application Monitor" which will give a shortcut to running applications along with a visual indicator on how many apps running on the screen.

 

[Rev2010]

I think it's just a history. It's easy to check though, look at two of the recent apps, go into the Application Manager and force close one and go back and see if it's still listed. Also, close the second one from the "press hold home" popup and then see if it still appears to be running in the application manager - force close will still be selectable.

Don't have my phone on at the moment to test this.


Rev.

 

[mssca]

I think it's just a history. It's easy to check though, look at two of the recent apps, go into the Application Manager and force close one and go back and see if it's still listed. Also, close the second one from the "press hold home" popup and then see if it still appears to be running in the application manager - force close will still be selectable.
Rev.

Yes, even after App Manager forced close apps it will be listed under the task manager. Since most apps that show up in Task Manager won't show up App Manager, I think it is safe to say that App Manager is the real list of apps that actually runs in the background while Task Manager is just the recent history data.

 

[funkylogik]

thats actualy the 1st time ive checked the "active apps" tab in task manager.
thanks guys

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[jeffreii]

If you really want to read more about this type of behavior, straight from the horse's mouth, read this Android blog:

Android Developers Blog: Multitasking the Android Way