Kim Barloso

How to stop or close an app on your smartphone: top tips

2022-10-31

Content :

    Most tablet and smartphone manufacturers, when making their own products and equipping them with the Android operating system, trying to offer the user a maximum of usability, add to the shell a large number of their own applications.

    When buying a phone it is impossible to know how much these applications are needed, and their removal will require the owner to follow certain rules and to know how to use the root rights. So if the phone owner doesn't want to dive deep into the smartphone firmware, to reconfigure the device, it's easier to just close the running utility.

    There are step-by-step instructions on how to close or unload unnecessary applications from Android memory.

    How to close an application - unload from memory

    To close an application, the phone owner should follow the following algorithm:

    1. Step one. Launch the "Settings" application.

    2. Step two. Find the "Applications" section in "Settings" and click on it to navigate.

    3. Step three. In the "Applications" section you should find the "All" section and navigate to this section again.

    4. Step four. In the "All" section, select the application that the user plans to disable and click on it.
    5. Step five. Once the application has been deactivated, the cache should be cleared and the temporary data removed.

    6. Step six. When the cache clearing and the temporary data have been completed, you must click on "Stop".

    7. Press "Yes" to confirm.

    How to kill running applications at once?

    The issues related to the necessity to close applications running on the smartphone in background have always been the subject of rather heated discussion. This is due to the fact that not all owners of smartphones and tablets running on the Android operating system, know why, and most importantly how to close the open applications running on the device in the background. At the same time, applications running in the background can greatly reduce battery power, use Internet traffic and even send various information, which the user does not always want to share, to the servers or their creators. That's why it's very important to know how to kill running applications at once.

    There are several ways to close all running applications on your Android smartphone.

    Method #1: standard Android function

    The easiest way to do this is to use the capabilities of the device itself. In order to do this you must follow the following algorithm:

    1. Find the "Multitasking" button on the panel of your phone. Normally this button is present at the bottom of the smartphone near the "Back" button and the "Home" function of the device.

    2. Multitasking button must be selected.
    3. When the user clicks the "Multitasking" button, a window appears in front of the user with a list of programs running in the background on the device.
    4. The applications running can be completely closed by clicking on the trash or the cross symbol. Which icon will be present on the Smartphone for closing applications running in the background depends on the manufacturer.

    Important ! In the case where the smartphone does not have the "Multitasking" button, the window with the list of running applications may be accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen after a small delay.

    Method number 2: Using specific software

    The forced closing of all applications may be performed using specific utilities dedicated to the Android operating system. To do this, you will need to download and install on your smartphone or tablet one of the programs that we will discuss below:

    • Greenify. One of the most famous and popular utilities that allows you to optimize the battery performance of your smartphone by closing the utilities and applications running in the background. An important feature of this software is that once launched, it will automatically find all running applications and disable them. And first of all, the program will disable those processes that use the maximum amount of energy. Our readers looking for an answer to the question how to close open applications can also use Clean Master. It is worth mentioning that Clean Master is a software specifically designed to clean smartphones and tablets from unwanted /files and utilities. The program has a high level of functionality and even has its own antivirus, as well as a cloud service for image storage. This program is suitable for those who do not wish to waste time on shutting down programs. By using it, it is possible to disable all running applications by pressing a single button.

    How to know what applications are open

    In order to understand what applications are open and to perform their subsequent disabling, the phone owner will need to obtain the developer status, for which the following steps will be required:

    1. Go to "Settings" Android.
    2. When the application is open, the user will need to find the "About the Device" or "About the Phone" section. Usually this section is located at the bottom of the "Settings" menu.
    3. After the "About Phone", further "Software Information" or "About the Device" section has been found, the user must click on it to navigate to it.

    4. When the section opens, the user must reach the "Build Number" information located at the bottom of this section.
    5. Maybe this section must be clicked seven or more times. When the big amount of taps are done the message that the user has been granted the developer rights must be displayed.
    6. Having obtained the developer rights the user must go back by clicking on the dedicated button.
    7. Return to the Settings Menu where the developer options become available to the device owner.
    8. Go to the section "Developer options" and choose the section "Running services".

    9. After clicking on the "Running services" the user receives a window with the list of all the running programs, processes and applications. We recommend to use the developer features only to experienced and advanced users because otherwise serious damage may be done to your device. If you do not have this knowledge, it is better to use applications to disable programs that may be installed on your device.

      An answer to questions

      Do you need to unload all the applications from the Android RAM yourself?

      You should understand that most of the utilities on your phone continue operating in the background after being closed. While running in the background, some problematic applications waste battery power, slow down data processing, send data to different servers, and actively use internet traffic. In order to avoid all the above the owner of the device is recommended to close all the applications running on the phone in the background right after the active use of the smartphone.

      Are there any programs to close applications - task managers?

      Modern software developers offer owners of Android tablets and phones specialised utilities that allow not only to stop an application but also to obtain information on all the processes running on the device. Among such dispatchers, we would like to mention Advanced Task Manager, you can download it here.

      Will it speed up the operating system?

      There is no doubt that disabling resource-intensive applications running constantly on a smartphone or tablet contributes to speed up the operating system. This is due to the fact that switching off applications reduces the number of processes by the operating system, thus significantly increasing its performance.

      But if the system is working stably, constantly disabling ("unloading") the applications normally running would be a waste of time. Android has learned to offload unnecessary processes, and to conserve the resources of the phone.

      Can you harm your Android by closing the application you have open?

      If you are acutely aware of the application you are closing or unloading then you will not cause damage to your phone. It is dangerous to stop apps and uninstall apps with developer rights, as this can cause serious malfunctions on your device. So if you just learned how to disable an application and decided to test your knowledge in practice, disable only the applications you use, and don't try to disable or delete system programs or processes.

    “Hello. My name is Kim. I discovered that technology, when used with a purpose, can be pretty amazing. To share the wonder of tech, I’ve written for blogs like Appstorm.net and Time.com. With over three years of freelance writing experience in the technology and entertainment niche, I can write a storm about a software app, a cool browser extension, a new mobile device and other geek-centric stuf... “

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    Kim Barloso
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