Comments on: How to: Quickly Kill Off or Switch to Recently Used Apps [Beginners' Guide]

By: brando56894

brando56894 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:36:00 +0000

I wish there was a way to limit the amount of apps in the list.

By: LionStone

LionStone — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:48:00 +0000

Restart

By: Tom Z

Tom Z — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:13:00 +0000

Thank you for the info. The only thing I ever used that button for was to switch to a previous app. I didn’t know about the swipe, etc.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:40:00 +0000

It doesn’t kill Words with Friends, that’s certain. Thankfully Carbon Rom gives me the option of a “Kill App” button in my navigation bar.

By: TheOiulkj

TheOiulkj — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:25:00 +0000

“6. If you continue to swipe apps away until they are gone, you’ll be left with the screen on the left.”

…your other left.

By: Simon Belmont

Simon Belmont — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:01:00 +0000

It actually does kill the foreground process. If you swipe away the Browser for example, it will completely reload it if you tap its icon again.

The background services that apps use are NOT killed though. So, you don’t have to worry about not receiving tweets, for example, if you swipe away your Twitter client.

By: Mack

Mack — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:59:00 +0000

Do you have a phone that can run a custom ROM? CM10.1 has a kill all button.

By: Simon Belmont

Simon Belmont — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:58:00 +0000

Yeah, CyanogenMod 10 and 10.1 have this. I like using that occasionally if I really want to start fresh.

Most of the time, though, I just leave my most used apps in the task switcher. I swipe away apps I only needed for a little bit.

By: Andril

Andril — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:56:00 +0000

it would be nice to have a kill all button

By: Simon Belmont

Simon Belmont — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:55:00 +0000

It kills the foreground process of the app. If there is an associated background service, it will not be killed.

For example, an email client’s foreground process can be killed (it’ll reload completely if you open the app again). However, the background service that monitors for new email, or what have you, continues to run unaffected. I like swiping away recently used apps if I know I won’t be needing them again for a while, and to just reduce clutter in the task switcher. My apps I KNOW I’ll be using again soon or that I multitask to often I keep in the task switcher, unless I REALLY want to start fresh and swipe everything away. It’s nice having the choice. Android really is about choice.

By: Mack

Mack — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:23:00 +0000

Yup, just like the clear all button in the notification pull-down. One of my favorite parts of CM.

By: Manthas

Manthas — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:59:00 +0000

“6. If you continue to swipe apps away until they are gone, you’ll be left with the screen on the left.”

I believe you mean, “… screen on the right.”

By: BSweetness

BSweetness — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:44:00 +0000

As others have mentioned, this is a little misleading. Removing an app from the recently used apps list doesn’t necessarily kill it. It will kill some, but not others. It’s not intended to be used as a task killer, just a way to quickly access recently used apps.

By: EdLessard

EdLessard — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:38:00 +0000

That’s because it doesn’t kill it. It simply removes it from the list.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:25:00 +0000

I have to be honest, I didn’t know that swiping them out of the way killed the app. Now if only Android would stop allowing apps to start up again on their own.