There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation when it comes to closing apps on your phone. Some users believe the simple act of swiping right or left to close the app restores any RAM it takes up and keeps that app from killing your battery. But that’s not the entire story.
According to tech expert Kevin Downey at Komando, there is only one instance when it’s a good idea to close an app: if that app is being unresponsive. An unresponsive app can slow down your phone and affect its performance and battery. One telltale sign of an unresponsive app is an app that is frozen.
Here’s how to handle an unresponsive app, according to engadget: “To force quit an unresponsive app all you have to do is press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until you see the red slider. Normally, this is what you would do to power down your iPhone or iPod touch. In this case however, when the slider appears, release the sleep/wake button and then press and hold the Home button. If it works correctly, your iPhone will forcefully quit the unresponsive app and return you to your home screen.”
And while you’re quitting unresponsive apps, don’t forget to consider outright deleting those that are really doing a number on your iPhone battery (like Facebook and Facebook Messenger!).