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Stop Closing Your IPhone's Background Apps

Apple users seem unanimously convinced that closing background apps is a good habit, but it's more likely a waste of time. For too long, I've watched friends and family orchestrate a frenzy of up-swipes from their iPhone's multitasking screen to cleanse themselves of countless open background apps.

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Perhaps this mythical ritual of iPhone maintenance will save battery, make your phone run faster, or stop social media companies from tracking you. While it's not crazy to think so, it's simply a lie we've all been living. Closing background apps does nothing because those apps aren't actually "running."

In 2016, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, confirmed that closing your background apps does nothing for your battery life, in response to a customer's email shared with 9to5Mac. On a technical level, most of your background apps are essentially frozen, and your system just displays a screenshot of them for consistency. The impact on your battery life is negligible.

The same can be said for Android as well. In fact, closing your background apps actually uses more battery than just leaving them open. That's because shutting down and initializing an app requires more energy than restoring it from its suspended state in your "background."

Federighi also notes that closing background apps does nothing to improve your phone's performance, for many of the same reasons it doesn't affect your battery. IOS manages your iPhone's RAM as efficiently as possible by default, and closing your background apps does not optimize anything.

In terms of privacy, force-closing apps do nothing to stop companies from tracking you, according to The Washington Post. Apps can still collect your data even if they're closed. Contrary to popular belief, apps can still track you even if you force quit them.

The key misunderstanding here is that force quitting an app is different from turning "Background App Refresh" off. Turning off "Background App Refresh" in your settings is the most surefire way to address all these problems.

Origins of the Myth

This myth seems to have originated on community forums in the days after the first iPhone's release. On July 5th, 2007, just a week after the iPhone's release, one user posted about their Safari application running in the background in Apple's community forum.

"When you click the home button after you have been using Safari, is it still running in the background and draining the battery?" said the user.

"I am pretty sure EVERYTHING is running in the background," replied another user.

There were many other community forum posts about this same confusion at the time, including one very popular post on Stack Overflow. However, it's clear this misconception has occurred for many users since the beginning.

Why It's Pervasive

This myth, like others, is pervasive because it feels like it should be true. On a computer, having too many tabs or applications open can make it run slower. That much is true, but an iPhone's operating system is fundamentally different. Apps on your iPhone are meant to permanently stay open, able to be called up in an instant at any time. This distinction was never made clear by Apple.

Apple has never claimed that closing background apps improves your phone's performance. The company has always quietly maintained you should only force quit an application if it's frozen.

But still, millions of people are wasting their days, and their batteries, closing their background apps. It's one of the most pervasive myths in technology, but we need to stop performing this iPhone cleansing ritual once and for all.

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10 Apps To Download For Your New IPhone X

10 Apps To Download For Your New iPhone XCRN

The X Factor

To get the most out of your sleek and powerful new iPhone X, you're going to want to download some apps beyond just the usual suspects. The iPhone X, after all, has the largest screen ever on an Apple smartphone along with cool new augmented-reality capabilities. Guided exercise apps (such as yoga and other workouts), AR-enabled experiences (such as virtual furniture placement), and entertainment (such as games and coloring books) are just a few areas where iPhone X apps excel. In the following slides, we've rounded up 10 great apps that are worth trying on your iPhone X.

8fit Workouts & Meal Planner

There are many reasons why one of the first apps you should download for your iPhone X is a workout app. For starters, apps with interactive videos like 8fit are going to be ideal for the big and vivid display on the iPhone X. And of course, it's the end of a year and the start of a new one—and time to try something new to keep in shape. 8fit is here to help by creating customized workouts and meal plans for you, based on your desired outcomes. The app comes up with 15 to 20 minute routines that target building muscle, burning fat, building endurance, and more. And in terms of meal planning, 8fit provides recommendations on foods for fat loss, carb control, and diets such as paleo and vegetarian.

YogaGlo

If yoga is more your thing, YogaGlo is a terrific choice for your iPhone X. The app offers a huge library of instructional yoga class videos that are great for viewing on the 5.8-inch OLED iPhone X screen. The classes are taught by leading teachers, and are tailored for levels from beginner to advanced. YogaGlo offers a selection of guided meditation videos, as well. Plus, users can download class videos for situations where there's no WiFi connection.

GasBuddy

Your iPhone X didn't come cheap, so why not use it to recover some of that money? The GasBuddy app locates nearby gas stations with the lowest prices, based on input from its community of 70 million users. The app lets you filter by price, location, and brand, and also shows if there are restaurants, restrooms, or car washes as part of the gas station. All in all, GasBuddy estimates that using the app can help you save up to $340 per year on gas.

Hopper

There are other ways to save with your iPhone X, too. Hopper specializes in offering money-saving airfare predictions, such as predictions on the cheapest times to fly and book tickets. Now, the app has expanded into offering predictions around hotel booking, as well. Hopper predicts when the best hotel prices will be available, along with a suggestion on whether to book right away or wait. Hopper Hotels is initially just available in New York but the company says 10 additional markets -- including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami -- will be available soon.

Adobe Photoshop Mix

You can go beyond typical photo editing on your iPhone X with Adobe Photoshop Mix, an app for quickly creating multi-layered images and designs. Capabilities include combining multiple images or layers into one image, simple removal and replacement of objects (including people), and a variety of modes for blending and adjustment of colors and contrast. Adobe Photoshop Mix also allows for easy sharing to Instagram and other social media.

HBO Now

It used to be near impossible get access to HBO on mobile devices, but no more: the HBO Now app can have you up and running with watching HBO content on your iPhone X in minutes. The first month is free ($14.99/month after that)--but if you're committed, you can watch all of "Game of Thrones" in that free month and probably fit in "Westworld" too. Plus, your subscription covers viewing on your other devices too if you end up wanting to watch on a bigger screen.

Pigment

Pigment is a terrific adult coloring book for your iPhone X, offering a simple way to de-stress a bit while you're on the go or relaxing at home. Drawings that you can color include flowers, animals, landscapes, and mandalas. And Pigment's drawings can be colored either using your finger or the Apple Pencil, while the app offers a selection of 23 coloring tools such as markers, pencils, and brushes.

IKEA Place

With the iPhone X, Apple has specially calibrated the camera system to work better with augmented-reality apps. And one of the best efforts to seize on those capabilities so far is IKEA Place, an app for seeing how furniture might look inside your actual room. The app first takes a scan of the room, and then lets you browse for IKEA furniture and furnishings. After that, you're prompted to place the virtual furniture wherever you'd like it to go in your room -- ultimately helping you make a better decision about whether the item is a fit.

Night Sky

Another cool app taking advantage of the iPhone X's augmented-reality capabilities is Night Sky, which lets you identify what you're seeing in the sky at nighttime with your phone. By holding your iPhone X up to the sky, the Night Sky app will identify which stars, planets, constellations, and satellites you're seeing by layering the details over the real-world sky. Unique features include Live Night Sky Tours, which offers a guided tour of visible constellations (you pick the duration).

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

Here's a game that will look great on your iPhone X. This Star Wars RPG from Electronic Arts is packed with goodies for fans, with capabilities such as creating teams of characters from across multiple Star Wars eras. Those include characters from "The Force Awakens," "Rogue One," and even "The Last Jedi." Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes offers the ability to play for either the light side and the dark side, along with battle options such as cantina battles, player vs. Player arena battles, and ship battles.

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