[James8561]

I was wondering about this since I've been constantly doing this ever since I got WP and it has pretty much grown to be a habit now, an annoying and inefficient one. Does apps have to be shut off like this or can I just use WP like iOS and press home constantly

[absonj]

You would have to keep hitting the back key to close. However, I rarely do that, and don't notice any difference between leaving apps open or closing them.
Sent from my wicked sexy HTC 8X windows phone using Board Express

[rockstarzzz]

I was wondering about this since I've been constantly doing this ever since I got WP and it has pretty much grown to be a habit now, an annoying and inefficient one. Does apps have to be shut off like this or can I just use WP like iOS and press home constantly

Press Windows button.

[Blkacesvf41]

Pressing the windows button and leaving those apps"open", doesn't drain battery or any resources. So it's fine to do it that way. This just gives you faster access to those apps by long pressing the back button.

[MacDaMachine]

Only apps I back out of are system ones, only because each screen takes up a multitasking card.

[gapost]

Pressing the windows button and leaving those apps"open", doesn't drain battery or any resources. So it's fine to do it that way. This just gives you faster access to those apps by long pressing the back button.

Yes, the apps are really only "frozen" in where you left them. It only keeps seven of them available for quick return and then it "closes" them. They don't use any resources while frozen. I would say that the navigation apps probably should be closed by backing out, but otherwise, just use the windows button.

[Sanjay Chandra]

I've been constantly doing this ever since I got WP and it has pretty much grown to be a habit now, an annoying and inefficient one. Does apps have to be shut off like this or can I just use WP like iOS and press home constantly

There is no need to kill apps in iOS or WP.I never did in both.

Just press start button if u want to launch another app or "Back" button if u want to switch to another app.
I only use back button to switch to another app.

[ninjaap]

I don't close apps, but I do close IE tabs. I've noticed, if I have too many tabs open, after some time, my IE browsing starts to slow down or lag.

[Rikev]

So no need to close? I keep pressing back out of habit from Android where runaway apps would cripple battery.

[ninjaap]

Nope

[Paulsalame]

Some apps give me problems when not closed using the back button, like whatsapp takes a really longer load time if its not closed using the back button. It makes no sense but opening whatsapp when its closed is faster then trying to resume it. Also almost everytime i try to resume it it lags like crazy :P

[mjrtoo]

pressing back closes the data and does not tombstone the program. If you press start the current app is tombstoned and when you select it again that app data is recalled. If you back out, it will not be available to the app manager (back hold)

[a5cent]

From the OS' point if view, you can use either win-key or back-key. You aren't loosing anything either way. A core principle of WP is that you shouldn't need to worry about such things, but buggy apps that don't resume correctly can screw that up. Ignoring buggy apps, whatever you do is fine.

That a background app doesn't use any resources isn't correct. In most cases it uses RAM (I won't go onto details), but that isn't a bad thing... that is what RAM is there for... leaving apps open doesn't mean that other apps have less RAM either.

[oldpueblo]

I think IE might be the exception because it will continue to load a webpage if you switch away from it and come back. I've always wondered if you have an animated gif running if it will continue to run in the background.

[a5cent]

I've always wondered if you have an animated gif running if it will continue to run in the background.

No, it doesn't. A web page is a collection of files. Just like playing music, file downloads can continue in the background, but once completed, IE is frozen just like any other app.

[Hupsakee]

Only close the apps that use GPS, if you don't it will continue tracking and put a substantial drain on the battery.

Unless you decide not to run them as a background process.

[x I'm tc]

I was wondering about this since I've been constantly doing this ever since I got WP and it has pretty much grown to be a habit now, an annoying and inefficient one. Does apps have to be shut off like this or can I just use WP like iOS and press home constantly

Some apps that use GPS seem to keep the GPS running in the background which, if that's not what you are looking to do, can be a major and unnecessary battery drain. Those should be closed out of completely. Most of the time, though, it really doesn't matter.

[OzRob]

If you go to settings and swipe sideways to Applications, you can open the Background Apps screen that lets you choose which apps can remain active in the background. For things like navigation apps (HERE Drive being a prime example), you can uncheck them and stop them from running in the background.

[longnd]

now I know I don't need to close app anymore :D thank you guys !

[Guzzler3]

I just need to break my habit of backing out of all apps... OCD really sucks