Hi there! I'm Sarah, and I've been a tech enthusiast for as long as I can remember. I love exploring new gadgets and software, and I'm particularly passionate about all things Apple. I've been using iPhones since they first came out, and I've picked up a trick or two over the years.

So, you want to know how to turn off apps on your iPhone? That's a great question, and it's one I get asked a lot. Let's clear up a little misconception first: you're not actually "turning off" apps in the way you might think. When you close an app on your iPhone, you're not completely shutting it down. You're essentially putting it to sleep. It's still running in the background, but it's using minimal battery and resources.

Here's how you can close apps on your iPhone and why you might want to:

How to Close Apps on an iPhone


1. Open the App Switcher: To see all the apps you've recently used, double-click the Home button on iPhones with a physical Home button. If you have an iPhone without a Home button (like an iPhone X or later), swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle.

2. Navigate through the Apps: You'll see all your recently used apps displayed as large thumbnails. You can swipe left or right to browse through them.

3. Close an App: To close an app, simply swipe up on its preview card. It'll disappear from the App Switcher, indicating it's no longer running in the background.

Why Close Apps?

While closing apps doesn't magically save tons of battery life, here are a few reasons you might want to do it:

* An App is Unresponsive: If an app freezes or starts acting up, closing and reopening it is often the quickest way to fix the issue. It's like a mini-reset for the app.
* Free Up Memory (RAM): Although rare, if your iPhone feels sluggish, closing apps can potentially free up some RAM, which might improve performance.
* Privacy Concerns: In some cases, you might want to close apps for privacy reasons, especially if they were using your location or camera. Closing them prevents them from accessing those features in the background.

Important Considerations:

* Don't Force Close Apps Regularly: Constantly closing apps can actually drain your battery faster. When you reopen an app, your iPhone needs to load it fresh from its storage, which uses more power.
* Let Your iPhone Manage Apps: iOS is incredibly efficient at managing apps in the background. It automatically puts unused apps to sleep and limits their background activity.

The Bottom Line

Closing apps on your iPhone is a simple process, but it's not something you need to do obsessively. Do it if an app misbehaves or if you have specific privacy concerns. Otherwise, trust your iPhone to manage things for you!

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If you want to switch to another app, simply tap on the app's icon or thumbnail. To close an app, though, simply swipe upward on that app's thumbnail until you flick it off of the screen. You can close just one app, or close them all if you like. Once you're done, either tap on an open app or press the Home button.read more >>