[drmjrahman]

when we exit an app or any settings page in windows 10 mobile we see that every app is running in background and only be exited by long pressing the back button and then clicking the cross key in the app. Is this is the app history we are seeing or are the background apps running, after long pressing the back button. In windows 8.1 there are few apps like this but in windows 10 mobile every app behaves like this.

please forgive my English if any mistake I've done and let me know if possible. thanks

[hprvez]

They are not running but suspended in ram, they don't use cpu cycles. If the os needs ram it tombstones them. Killing them will only take more time to make them start and consume more energy. And yes it is the default behaviour

[emjey]

when we exit an app or any settings page in windows 10 mobile we see that every app is running in background and only be exited by long pressing the back button and then clicking the cross key in the app. Is this is the app history we are seeing or are the background apps running, after long pressing the back button. In windows 8.1 there are few apps like this but in windows 10 mobile every app behaves like this.

please forgive my English if any mistake I've done and let me know if possible. thanks

Because windows is an intelligent OS and it actually knows that keeping RAM empty would actually consume and suck more battery life. The apps that you are finding is not running in the background like android, they are suspended and not killed.

[luvkv]

They are not running but suspended in ram, they don't use cpu cycles. If the os needs ram it tombstones them. Killing them will only take more time to make them start and consume more energy. And yes it is the default behaviour

Meaning they are using RAM space.. ? Which may cause phone to work a slower..

[telomoyo]

This is good to know. I keep killing them after I exit every app by long pressing the back button and X-ing out.

[Bagzton]

This is actually the way it was supposed to work on WP8.1 but for some unknown reasons, it didn't. They finally got it right on W10M. Like those before me have correctly stated, the apps are "suspended" and doesn't affect your device's resources.

If you've also noticed, you'd realize that the apps that get suspended are W10 apps and apps that have been built for W10.
WP8.1 apps close when you exit them.

[Steve Thackery]

Meaning they are using RAM space.. ? Which may cause phone to work a slower..

Nope, faster. As soon as memory is short enough to cause delays, it gets released. The reason for keeping stuff in memory is because it is MUCH faster to resume if the user switches back to it. This kind of behaviour is very old hat - operating systems have been managing memory in ways broadly similar to this for decades.

You want your RAM as full as possible: empty RAM is wasted RAM. Remember, as soon as more is needed, the OS can release it in an instant.

[Zachary Boddy]

Meaning they are using RAM space.. ? Which may cause phone to work a slower..

Wrong. It'll actually improve speed, theoretically, because the open applications are suspended and don't need to start again. The operating system reserves RAM for the system so that you never cut into the RAM that stores information for the Start Menu and such.

[anon(5383410)]

8.1 had the same functionality.

[kristalsoldier]

This is interesting. Thanks for the insights. But I have a question about Edge. If I have a few tabs of Edge open and then relegate them to the background, why does it adversely impact battery on my 640XL (running the latest (.36) version of Insiders Build, W10M)?

[Giddora]

There is a major misconception from the Windows XP-time that free RAM is good... But it really isn't. Any modern OS (except Android) works better if your RAM is always allocated and it is meant to be used. Free RAM only means your OS isn't doing a very good job at tracking your usage and keeping commonly used files in memory.

Things in the background doesn't pull additional battery on Windows 10 Mobile if they don't have any task running (which most apps don't) which means you lose nothing from keeping them there. Quitting apps from the task manager actually makes your OS slower since the OS thinks you will not be using that data again and clears it which means you will do a "Cold reboot" of the app the next time you start it.

[luvkv]

Ohh.. 😱 Thanks every one..
I always use to clean my tasks.. Now i wont..
I always hv this misconception that free ram is gud. Now i modern OS.. work differently..

[drmjrahman]

i like that part-"Any modern OS (except Android)"...using windows phone (to windows mobile) from 2012 proudly.

[drmjrahman]

me too. actually I always use to clean also. now I have to behave in a modern way,,,

[kristalsoldier]

...and I like the "I have to behave in a modern way part"...LOL!!!!

[Bagzton]

There is a major misconception from the Windows XP-time that free RAM is good... But it really isn't. Any modern OS (except Android) works better if your RAM is always allocated and it is meant to be used. Free RAM only means your OS isn't doing a very good job at tracking your usage and keeping commonly used files in memory.

Things in the background doesn't pull additional battery on Windows 10 Mobile if they don't have any task running (which most apps don't) which means you lose nothing from keeping them there. Quitting apps from the task manager actually makes your OS slower since the OS thinks you will not be using that data again and clears it which means you will do a "Cold reboot" of the app the next time you start it.

Got more insight from this. Thanks. I usually use Task manager alot. Now I know better.

[nareshkumarcool]

Thanks for clearing doubt about opened app in background

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

[telomoyo]

Ok. I avoided closing all my apps today to follow this advice, but my battery drained extremely fast, from lasting about 20hrs with regular use on full charge, to only lasting about 8hrs today. That's the only change I did today. Use of phone and apps remained the same.

[Steve Thackery]

Ok. I avoided closing all my apps today to follow this advice, but my battery drained extremely fast, from lasting about 20hrs with regular use on full charge, to only lasting about 8hrs today. That's the only change I did today. Use of phone and apps remained the same.

Really, though, that's a separate issue. Having RAM occupied by background apps is a good thing, for the reasons stated above (i.e. empty RAM is wasted RAM, and keeping an app in RAM makes it much faster to resume). Your issue, though, is really about background apps using CPU time, and thus draining the battery.

This is very much due to bad coding in the app itself. Yes, you can get around it by manually terminating the app, but it's worth remembering that this isn't so much a criticism of W10M itself as of the app.

If you find that leaving your apps in the background drains the battery, it would be well worth finding out which one is causing the problem and seek an alternative (if there is one) or report it to the author. It seems a shame to lose all the benefits of suspended background apps by habitually closing them all, when really you could close just the troublesome one and enjoy the improved overall speed when resuming the others.

[chmun77]

Because windows is an intelligent OS and it actually knows that keeping RAM empty would actually consume and suck more battery life. The apps that you are finding is not running in the background like android, they are suspended and not killed.

Having so many unused ram space is NOT intelligent at all. RAM are meant to be consume not leaving them empty. I will rather Windows 10 be more intelligent to allow apps to have better background tasks like downloading of stuffs. Currently, I cannot move away from some apps just because I need to make sure that they are stayed active in the foreground by staring at them on the screen.

FYI, Android apps do get suspended as well if those apps are not having any background tasks running. That's what I called a smart OS, not windows 10 mobile.

[chmun77]

There is a major misconception from the Windows XP-time that free RAM is good... But it really isn't. Any modern OS (except Android) works better if your RAM is always allocated and it is meant to be used. Free RAM only means your OS isn't doing a very good job at tracking your usage and keeping commonly used files in memory.

Things in the background doesn't pull additional battery on Windows 10 Mobile if they don't have any task running (which most apps don't) which means you lose nothing from keeping them there. Quitting apps from the task manager actually makes your OS slower since the OS thinks you will not be using that data again and clears it which means you will do a "Cold reboot" of the app the next time you start it.

On the contrary, I find Android allows more suspended apps than on W10M. Look at both of the recent apps available on the app switcher. W10M only allows like 8 recent ones - regardless of how powerful the phone model is? Very often I find apps are just "lost" on the recent app list on W10M even though they are used only recently.

Video to support what I meant:

[Iain_S]

Got more insight from this. Thanks. I usually use Task manager alot. Now I know better.

this is why if you notice with android it starts to run very slow over time, this is because it is unable to manage ram and apps to keep it running smoothly.

[Iain_S]

On the contrary, I find Android allows more suspended apps than on W10M. Look at both of the recent apps available on the app switcher. W10M only allows like 8 recent ones - regardless of how powerful the phone model is? Very often I find apps are just "lost" on the recent app list on W10M even though they are used only recently.

Video to support what I meant:

you will notice with android as I have just mentioned above that over time the system gets very slow and yes buggy and apps run poorly, that is because android is simply bad at ram management and app management and background management.

[chmun77]

you will notice with android as I have just mentioned above that over time the system gets very slow and yes buggy and apps run poorly, that is because android is simply bad at ram management and app management and background management.

Well, I knew someone will disagree with this. But I have yet to experience any slowdowns or whatsoever on my Nexus 7 running Android 6.0. Neither on my a year old Note 4. I don't clear recent tasks like some do. I think the days of bad memory management of Android are already old stories. On the other hand, MS should make W10M more robust - at least to be on par with Android.

I know is not ideal for me to talk about Android in a W10M forum. But since we are on the topic, I guess is fine for me to express my experiences between Android and W10M. Android is not as bad as what others used to say. Windows phone came a long way, so does Android. Both platforms are improving over the years. But IMHO, W10M has a long way to go before it can goes head-to-head with Android.

[sheldon cohn]

The apps run in the background to make it easier for you to open them again, for example if you check the weather with Weather Bug and
later you want to check it again later, you can back arrow and open it. This is not new for Windows 10, I have a Windows 7 phone and they run in the background on that phone too. The only difference for Windows 7 I had to reboot the phone to get rid of the background apps Windows 8.1 the background apps can be closed by using the back arrow.