Many apps don't fully close on WP8.1 DP

[dsba]

I found quite annoying that many apps don't quit until you go to app changer and close then. The list I got until now is:
-. Facebook
-. Calendar
-. Battery saver
-. Remote desktop

There might be others, does anyone experience the same?

Cheers,
DS.

Sent from my Lumia 1020 using Tapatalk

 

[mparker]

I found quite annoying that many apps don't quit until you go to app changer and close then. The list I got until now is:
-. Facebook
-. Calendar
-. Battery saver
-. Remote desktop

There might be others, does anyone experience the same?

Sure. They're not supposed to close all the way. They're not really "running" though, they're suspended in a way that WP can quickly wake them back up. The ones that are really running are the background tasks, and those don't show up in the app changer.

 

[a5cent]

^ What mparker said

What you see in the task switcher are apps that lie in memory, but they aren't running. Ignore them, and WP will manage it for you. The urge to mange this sort of thing manually is a relic from desktop computing.

 

[Blacklac]

Is there any benefit to keeping them in the task switcher? Facebook for instance? Besides quick resume.

 

[a5cent]

Is there any benefit to keeping them in the task switcher? Facebook for instance? Besides quick resume.

Besides fast resume? No. But there is no disadvantage either. If you take fast resume out of the equation, it's kind of irrelevant.

 

[Wam1q]

Add the new Files app from Microsoft to that list too. I don't understand why it needs to stay in the app switcher... It opens up fast enough already.

 

[etphoto]

Of all the things to complain about. . . Lol

Sent from my Surface 2 using Tapatalk

 

[quantum tao]

Of all the things to complain about. . . Lol

Sent from my Surface 2 using Tapatalk

These things bother some people. They bother me. I'm not complaining, but I need to manually close them. I must close them. I cannot, I will not have them sit there hidden behind the curtain, doing nothing.

 

[Willy Soughers]

Actually apps designed for 8.1 ARE running in the background when they stay in the task switcher. 8.1 brought a "truer" form of background multitasking. Youll see more apps follow suit as they get updated to take advantage of 8.1. For now only some apps like facebook WILL actually run in the background, for example if you go back to it after a couple minutes, youll notice the app refreshed the news feed when you weren't using it. The task switcher now is more than just that, its designed to manage apps running tasks in the background and you can see this when you press back and apps still appear in the switcher. Before, pressing back would "close" them.

 

[Neo Nuke]

The Facebook one is actually annoying, even though in theory it should be great. Why? Because of that ugly red triangle that appears when "we had trouble getting data" shows up and stays there because the app is still tombstoned in that position. Ruins the experience. I wish Microsoft fixed this. Or Facebook would make the native "blue" app we've been waiting so long for. Thanks to the people hub being extensible, even looking a picture is a chore.

 

[a5cent]

I'm not complaining, but I need to manually close them. I must close them.

IMHO there is at least one valid reason for having this bother someone: Switching from one app to another is less pleasant if you've got a large list of open apps. Otherwise there is no rational reason to care.

 

[a5cent]

Actually apps designed for 8.1 ARE running in the background when they stay in the task switcher. 8.1 brought a "truer" form of background multitasking.

Have you got a source for that. I haven't looked through all the developer documentation, but I haven't yet seen anything suggesting that is actually the case. The app lifecycle is the same as it has always been, and the fact that the back button doesn't work the same way as it once did doesn't change anything about the app lifecycle itself.

Background tasks are definitely much different than they were, but that isn't what you see in the task switcher. If a WP8.0 background task runs while an app is suspended, you'd see whatever updates occurred upon resuming the app too, so no difference. Those updates to the UI are simply made when the app is reactivated, not while it is suspended.

 

[Wam1q]

IMHO there is at least one valid reason for having this bother someone: Switching from one app to another is less pleasant if you've got a large list of open apps. Otherwise there is no rational reason to care.

Exactly... I hate that the Files app stays in the app switcher. When I want to quickly switch apps, it adds an extra card to the view and serves no purpose.

 

[Willy Soughers]

Hmm couldn't find anything from my phone as im at work now but I do remember seeing changes to how multitasking works in 8.1 and why apps are allowed to run in background now. But try it for yourself, open facebook, back out, wait a few minutes, task switch back to it. Itll be updated without having to pull down to refresh, sort of in the way android handles multitasking but a bit cleaner in the sense that if its not in the switcher, its not really open. Othr apps that don't do this DO in fact stay tombstoned when you don't back out in the way you mentioned and that's because 8.1 is still backwards compatible with 8.0 coded apps.

 

[a5cent]

But try it for yourself, open facebook, back out, wait a few minutes, task switch back to it. Itll be updated without having to pull down to refresh, sort of in the way android handles multitasking but a bit cleaner in the sense that if its not in the switcher, its not really open.

I'm not willing to go out on a limb and say you are wrong. You could be right. However, I don't think that your observation necessarily leads to that particular conclusion.

Windows Phone has always supported the delegation of very specific background processes to the OS. Tracking your location, playing musing, transferring files, receiving push notifications and a few other things have always been able to run in the background, even when the app that controls them was fully suspended. WP8.1 made a lot of changes in this area. There are now many new types of app controlled processes which the OS can run in the background, some of which cater to very specific types of applications (like WhatsApp or Facebook). I suspect that what you are observing is one such capability specific background process. These are very resource limited and time controlled processes that are managed by the OS, which can run even when the owning app is fully suspended.

Like I said, I haven't read through all the docs yet, but WP's restrictions in regard to multitasking were put there for a reason. WP wouldn't be as fluid as it is, particularly not on low-end hardware like the 520, if MS removed those rules and introduced the free-for-all (do and break) whatever you want Android model. It's possible, but very unlikely.

 

[ebin5]

WP 8.1 natively does not close apps after pressing back button like in wp8. MS has designed WP 8.1 multitasking like Android(but no faster resume). All apps released for WP 8.1 like moviejax,moviemaker,clockhub, desktop remote and files does this. Though WP 8 apps work in wp8.1 if we press back button they closes completely and once wp8.1 gets officially released and these apps will be updated for 8.1 they will not be closed but suspended while pressing back key. As Facebook is updated for WP 8.1 it is suspended in background.
WP 8.1 has a new app format like .appx while WP had .xap

 

[Joshua Jackson]

These things bother some people. They bother me.

And me...
I, actually, thought that my phone was opening apps, on its own.
Every now and then, I would hold down the back button and something would be open.
I just, now, realized that the back button no longer closes the app.
Maybe it is a throw-back to desktop or low-memory days, but I want the app to be closed (I did "close" it, after all).
JJ

 

[anon(5344611)]

I think the reason behind this behavior, if I remember correctly, is for a less confusing experience for new users, who don't necessarily expect an app to close when tapping the back button. It's a little annoying at first, but at least for me, not too hard to get used to.

And yeah, this will be the default behavior on Windows Phone 8.1.

 

[byobg]

I think the reason behind this behavior, if I remember correctly, is for a less confusing experience for new users, who don't necessarily expect an app to close when tapping the back button. It's a little annoying at first, but at least for me, not too hard to get used to.

And yeah, this will be the default behavior on Windows Phone 8.1.

What might be confusing for both new AND old users is that not all apps behave this way. It seems to be up to the app developer, rather than the OS, whether pressing <back> closes or suspends an app.


Facebook, Podcasts, Calendar, File Explorer, many others: <back> suspends, doesn't close.
IE, Music, Mail, Games, Store, many others: <back> closes, doesn't suspend.


I'm not seeing how inconsistency reduces confusion.

 

[cbreze]

Wasn't sure how this worked. Thanks to this thread I feel more informed. Can't care less about Facebook, but Netflix always takes a bit to connect and load. Now I'll stop dumping it and others out of the app switcher and use my phone more as it was designed.
Thanks forum!