Many people believe that closing background apps saves battery which is but simply a myth. If you are one of the persons who kill background apps instantly after using them, then we must tell you that it is not doing any good for your battery life. Instead, it is hampering the performance of your smartphone’s battery negatively.
The myth that closing background apps saves battery has been religiously worshipped over the years by iPhone and Android users alike. In fact, many online portals are flooded with questions such as “Do background apps drain the battery?”, “Do background apps save the battery?”, “Should you force close apps to save battery?” and many other questions.
It’s time that we step in as Mythbusters.
Does Closing Background Apps Save Battery?
No, closing background apps does not save your battery.
The main reason behind this myth with closing background apps is that people confuse ‘open in background’ with ‘running.’ When your apps are open in the background, they are in a state where it is easy to re-launch them. This does not mean that the apps in the background are using much of your resources.
Resources are accessed by the apps open in the background only when a background process is involved in such as uploading a file, location tracking, playing audio. This stands true for Android as well as iOS devices.
In fact, closing background apps uses more battery. When you force quit an app, you are using a portion of your resources and battery for closing it and clearing it from RAM. Moreover, resources will be used when you open it again leading to increased usage of battery.
Hiroshi Lockheimer, Vice President of Engineering for Android once tweeted “(closing apps in the background) could very slightly worsen unless you and algorithm are ONE (you kill something, system wants it back etc).”
@pierce @mcwm @MarcusDPK @qz could very slightly worsen unless you and algorithm are ONE (you kill something, system wants it back etc)
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) March 14, 2016
Does Closing Apps Saves Data?
Closing background apps would not save much of your data unless you restrict background data by tinkering the settings in your Android or iOS device. Some apps use data even when you don’t open them. Background data refers to the data used up by apps to check notifications.
Therefore, if you turn off background data, notifications will be stopped until you open the app. By restricting background data, you will definitely save money on your monthly mobile data bill.
What Can be Done to Optimize Battery Life?
If you want to improve battery life of your smartphone, you can make use of following tips instead of closing background apps:
Turn off Notifications for Frequently Used Apps
Reducing notifications is one of the efficient means to optimize battery life. Turning off notifications for some apps could be helpful. If you don’t want to miss notifications, you can alternatively increase the time taken by apps to sync. However, very few apps allow you to increase the time interval for synchronizing notifications.
Minimize Data Usage
You can restrict background data of applications that are rarely used. This can be done by revoking the permission granted to apps to use background data.
Turn Off Vibration for Notifications and Calls
Vibration on receiving notifications and calls is undoubtedly a handy feature. However, every time your phone vibrates, a small vibration motor installed on your device runs and consumes battery. You can turn off vibration if you want to optimize battery life.
Use Adaptive Brightness
Most of the smartphones have the option of tracking the services that are hogging your battery. You will be surprised to see that ‘Screen’ will top the list of the services. You can extend the battery life of your mobile phone by using adaptive brightness or by keeping it to the minimum when indoors.
Conclusion
The myth revolving around the relation of closing background apps and battery performance has been busted. You are not saving your battery by frequently quitting background apps, but this habit of yours is worsening the performance of your smartphone’s battery. You can adopt the tips mentioned above to improve battery life in Android and iPhones.
