Does closing apps save battery iPhone?

Answered by Stephen Mosley

Closing apps does not save battery on an iPhone. This is a common misconception that has been circulating for years, but it is simply not true. The idea behind this myth is that closing background apps will prevent them from using up battery power. However, the reality is quite different.

When you close an app on your iPhone, it is removed from the active memory but not completely terminated. The app is simply “frozen” in the background, ready to be quickly reopened when you need it again. This means that the app is not actively using any CPU or battery resources while in the background.

In fact, closing and reopening apps frequently can actually have a negative impact on your battery life. When you close an app and then reopen it, the iPhone has to reload the app from scratch, which requires more CPU power and can drain your battery faster than if the app had been left open in the background.

Moreover, iOS is designed to efficiently manage background app processes to optimize battery life. Apple has implemented various power-saving techniques, such as App Nap and Background App Refresh, to ensure that apps in the background consume minimal resources. These features intelligently prioritize and limit the activity of background apps to preserve battery life.

It’s worth noting that some apps may continue to run certain background processes, such as playing music or tracking your location, even when they are not actively in use. However, iOS provides mechanisms to manage and control these background activities, and you can easily adjust the settings to limit their impact on battery life.

In my personal experience, I have found that keeping frequently used apps in the background actually improves my overall battery life. For example, I often use messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram throughout the day. By leaving them in the background, they consume fewer resources when I receive new messages, and I don’t have to wait for them to fully reload every time I open them.

Closing apps on your iPhone does not save battery. In fact, it can have the opposite effect by requiring more CPU power and draining your battery faster when you reopen the apps. iOS is designed to efficiently manage background processes and optimize battery life, so it is generally best to let the operating system handle app management rather than manually closing apps.