Greenify developer says constantly swiping away recent apps in Android is a bad practice

[zamielverb]

The developer of Greenify recently said that constantly closing apps from recents in Android is bad practice. The reason why this is true is that when the apps are displayed in recents they are in cache memory and by swiping away the app you are freeing away that particular app from the ram, thus freeing available space at the ram but having and impact in battery and cpu usage when you have to reopen the app. If you have a device with 2 gb of ram you won't see a performance boost with swipping apps inmediatly after using them because FREE RAM IS WASTED RAM. Since Android 4.4.x the behavior of how Android manages ram has changed, before when you swyped apps from recents they kept working like you had never swyped them, but since Android 4.4.x when you swype an app, you are killing that app.

 

I am an addict, an addict to relegiously clear all recent apps after I use them, even if I am gonna open them after a minute, so it is going to be difficult to adapt to this new concept that I previously wasn't aware of.

 

I recommend reading that reddit post, in there there is a compilation of all his (oasisfeng) comments. It also has some great comments from some members of reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2gif4g/greenify_developer_says_constantly_swiping_away/

 

Also if you don't know what Greenify is I recommend you watch it out, it is really cool to squeaze some battery and keep unnecesary apps from running all the time. It can work with or without root.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify&hl=en

 

EDIT:

 

1. If you are going to use the app only once a day (as suggested by AlwaysFSX) or not so often in a day, it is completely correct to swype that app from recents. This is recommended only for apps that you use mutiple times a day or most of the time like a messaging app. In my case I swyped all apps all the time.

 

2. Android is a truly multitasking OS so more ram does not mean that certain apps will go faster, if an X app needs 40mb of ram and you have 900mb available, it is going to still use only 40mb. More ram means more multitasking, if that ram is not getting any usage, it is technically "wasted" memory.

 

3. Sometimes there are badly coded apps that can use resources while in the background, thus affecting battery life. In this case is better to completely close the app. (As appointed by Captain Chaos)

[AlwaysFSX]

I disagree. This is only a bad practice if you're constantly opening it. If I used it like once during the day and close it, it won't hurt my battery.

[JAKEBAB]

This sucks i just got a g3 2 days ago and all i do is wipe the app as soon as i close it.

[evinta]

Thats his theory, do others agree? what does Google say? 

[zamielverb]

I disagree. This is only a bad practice if you're constantly opening it. If I used it like once during the day and close it, it won't hurt my battery.

You are right, in that case scenario it is correct to swype that app because you are not going to use it. But if for example you are using a messaging app most of the day it is better to leave it in recents.

[Heisenbleurgh]

Makes sense. I like sensible things.

[zamielverb]

This sucks i just got a g3 2 days ago and all i do is wipe the app as soon as i close it.

I have been doing the same for a year and a half in my Nexus 4

 

 

Thats his theory, do others agree? what does Google say? 

 

If you read the reddit posts you could see that most of the Android community agrees, and it makes sense. Android is a truly multitasking OS so more ram does not mean that certain apps will go faster, if an X app needs 40mb of ram and you have 900mb available, it is going to still use only 40mb. More ram means more multitasking.

[evinta]

Ah cause on my phone (JB based) if i do kill the apps then it stops it from lagging. So hmmm... 

[murratri]

I do it only because I get claustrophobia by having to much for me to rapidly know everything that is going on.

[zamielverb]

Ah cause on my phone (JB based) if i do kill the apps then it stops it from lagging. So hmmm... 

But you kill them with a task killer or you just swipe recents? Also, have you tried Greenify? It really helps a lot.

 

 

I do it only because I get claustrophobia by having to much for me to rapidly know everything that is going on.

You could swype the apps you use less and leave a few apps that you commonly use.

[murratri]

You could swype the apps you use less and leave a few apps that you commonly use.

That would make to much sense for my wee brain to understand, I have weird feelings for lots of things in one area no matter what they are.

[evinta]

But you kill them with a task killer or you just swipe recents? Also, have you tried Greenify? It really helps a lot.

 

 

You could swype the apps you use less and leave a few apps that you commonly use.

 

Swipe them out. Only the ones i don't really need going. 

[AlwaysFSX]

You are right, in that case scenario it is correct to swype that app because you are not going to use it. But if for example you are using a messaging app most of the day it is better to leave it in recents.

Of course, I'd be too lazy to constantly remove it.. :lol:

[Hotstone]

I never swipe anything but I kill apps like Steam that stay hanging aroud, keep active notification etc. I don't feel any need to swipe normal apps on my nexus 5.

[rentaspoon]

That's not entirely true, YouTube in the background drains my battery if left open and there are some really poorly optimised programs.

I only keep Tapatalk open anyway

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

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[PhantomChevron]

Yea, tell that to battery life, background apps eat battery, I don't care if ram is wasted, I rather have battery

[canadianultra]

I clear them because if there open they use up my data

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Yea, tell that to battery life, background apps eat battery, I don't care if ram is wasted, I rather have battery

Only the badly coded apps use resources while in the background, or the ones that have permissions for that (like Skype for instance, which of course needs to have constant internet access).

 

If you have apps that do eat battery life while in the background, just get rid of them and find a better alternative.

[zamielverb]

I clear them because if there open they use up my data

It depends of the app, if there are apps that consume your data is better to close them.