For many iPhone users, swiping at the screen to get rid of open apps is a daily ritual.
But this common habit may actually be draining your device, according to an Apple employee.
TikTok user @fordylipsync said he had his ‘mind blown’ when he went to an Apple store and got little-known advice from a staff member.
In his viral new clip, he said: ‘Every time you close your apps, it uses data and battery to open them up again. How am I only just finding this out?’
@fordylipsync further recounted his experience at the Apple store, although it’s unclear exactly which one he visited.
He said: ‘I just went to an Apple store, had an issue with my phone. A kind man there fixed it – a technician guy, brilliant. I was closing all my apps down, he went “don’t close your apps”.’
The TikToker added that the Apple employee explained that closing the apps uses more battery, data, and time.
‘Just wipe away from them, leave them open. They [Apple] just freeze them,’ he said.
Flicking up your apps to close them feels like an inevitable part of owning a iPhone – but an Apple employee reveals that it’s not actually necessary
The Apple employee said users can leave ‘hundreds’ of iPhone apps open and it doesn’t make a difference, according to the TikToker.
‘People think they’re doing stuff in the background,’ @fordylipsync added.
‘They’re not, they’re just sitting there. They freeze. Don’t close them!’
The 50-second TikTok video has so far had more than 26,000 likes, 19,000 shares and 720 comments from other users.
@fordylipsync said in the caption: ‘Genuinely did not know this!!!! Just me?’
Someone replied: ‘I always leave my apps open and also have 410 tabs open on safari my phone works fine’, while another said ‘i think every single app in my phone is currently open.’
Yet another said their device ‘doesn’t feel clean’ if they have lots of apps open, while someone else said ‘if I don’t close them they can hear me’.
Although it may be surprising, official guidance from Apple backs up what the employee told the TikToker.
In his viral clip, he said: ‘Every time you close your apps, it uses data and battery to open them up again. ‘I was like, how am I only just finding this out?’
According to the tech giant’s support page, an iPhone user should only close an app when it’s unresponsive.
Open iPhone apps will be set to a ‘suspended state’ – meaning they’re not actively in use, open, or taking up system resources – but will be ‘in an efficient standby mode to help you’.
Additionally, Craig Federighi, senior vice president (SVP) of software engineering at Apple, previously said closing apps is not necessary.
And respected Apple Community member Lawrence Finch also weighed in on the issue in a post earlier this year.
He said: ‘It is a common belief that you should close apps running in background to improve performance and save battery life.’
Mr Finch added: ‘Unfortunately, this is a myth that is not true in almost all situations.
‘First and foremost, they are not “running” in background. They are suspended.
‘It does not make your phone faster (it actually makes it slower, because it takes longer to initialize an app from storage than to restart it from a suspended state).’
It is a common belief that you should close apps running in background to improve performance and save battery life – but this is a ‘myth’
To view all the open apps on an iPhone, it is just a case of swiping in an upwards motion from the bottom of the screen to the middle.
Then, swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close and finally swipe up on the app’s preview to close the app.
Alternatively, if you have an iPhone SE, iPhone 8 or earlier, you have to double-click the Home button at the bottom to bring up open apps.
As for Android, Google also confirmed that closing your apps does nothing to improve your battery life, WIRED previously reported.
Depending on what Android phone you have, you can browse open apps by swiping up from the bottom of the screen or tapping the display icon with three vertical lines.
THE TRILLION DOLLAR RISE OF APPLE
1976: Founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne created the company on April 1 1976 as they set about selling computer kits to hobbyists, each of which was built by Wozniak.
The first product was the Apple I.
1977: Apple released the Apple II in June, which was the first PC made for the mass market.
Steve Jobs unveils Apple Computer Corporation’s new Macintosh February 6, 1984 in California.
1981: Jobs became chairman.
1984: The Macintosh was introduced during an ad break for the Super Bowl and later officially unveiled during a launch event. It was discontinued a year later and Jobs left the firm.
1987: Apple released the Macintosh II, the first colour Mac.
1997: Apple announces it will acquire NeXT software in a $400 million deal that involves Jobs returning to Apple as interim CEO. He officially took the role in 2000.
The then Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Steve Jobs, with the iPhone
2001: Apple introduced iTunes, OS X and the first-generation iPod.
The first iPod MP3 music player was released on October 23, 2001, at an event in Cupertino and was able to hold up to 1,000 songs.
2007: Apple unveils the iPhone.
2010: The first iPad was unveiled.
2011: Jobs resigned in 2011 due to illness, handing the CEO title to Tim Cook. Jobs died in October from pancreatic cancer.
2014: Apple unveiled the Apple Watch. It also unveiled its first larger iPhones – the 6 and 6 Plus.
2015: After purchasing Beats from Dr Dre, Apple launched Apple Music to compete with Spotify and other music streaming services.
2016: Apple returned to its roots and announced the 4-inch iPhone SE. Meanwhile, the firm is embroiled in a legal battle with the FBI, involving the agency demanding access to the locked phone used by Syed Farook, who died in a shootout after carrying out a deadly December attack in San Bernardino, California with his wife. The court order was dropped on March 28 after the FBI said a third party was able to unlock the device.
2017: Apple introduces the iPhone X, which removes the home button to make way for a futuristic edge-to-edge screen design and a new FaceID system that uses advanced sensors and lasers to unlock phones with just the owner’s face.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks at an Apple event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
2018: In a first for the company, Apple introduces new features in its latest operating system, iOS 12, that encourage users to manage and spend less time on their devices. The move was spawned by a strongly worded letter from shareholders that urged the firm to address the growing problem of smartphone addiction among kids and teenagers.
2019: In January, Apple reports its first decline in revenues and profits in a decade. CEO Tim Cook partly blamed steep declines in revenue from China.
2020: In March, Apple closes all its bricks and mortar retail stores outside of China in response to coronavirus.
2021: In an online virtual event in April CEO Tim Cook declared Apple’s goal of becoming carbon neutral for Earth Day. Later in the year the iPhone 13 was announced.
2022: In September the iPhone 14 was announced. One of the new features included a new sensor to detect if a user had been in a car crash as well as an improved camera system.
2023: Apple brought back its ‘Home Pod’ after the first generation was discontinued. The ‘Home Pod’ can be seen as an alternative to Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home as it is powered by voice commands.
2024: Apple makes its first steps into artificial intelligence with the release of Apple Intelligence. The features are not all released at once with many delayed until the following year.
