I should have added, that apart from occasional problems with the actual phone app (the Apple default app for making phone calls) I can't recall a problem. On some few occasions when the signal drops out the phone app appears to hang and I have resorted to rebooting the phone to clear it. Apart from this case I have not been required to close a background app down or reboot the phone.
C On 2011-05-14, at 13:22, cm wrote: > Hi Shayne, > > Yes, well picked up. There can always be defects / bugs in an operating > system (OS) design. Operating systems are the most complex pieces of software > there are. Some companies handle the complexity extremely well (Apple > building upon the Unix patrimony) and other companies make an utter mess > (Microsoft!). > > You may not have noticed by I deliberately took defects into account when I > used the weasel words, "in principle" ahead of the statement: > >>> So in principal at least, there is never any need to terminate an app >>> unless it has a limited form of background processing > > It is early days for iOS as yet, and I am sure this new style of memory > management will improve with each release. > > Cheers, > Carlo > > On 2011-05-14, at 12:37, S Beach wrote: > >> Thanks Carlo & Ronni >> >> I have heard the positive speak from apple before which is why I was a bit >> surprised to see the used memory going down as I closed apps. >> >> Having read the info below again would it be fair to assume that the memory >> I saw being freed up is simply the memory used to store the "suspended >> state" of those apps sitting in the background in inactive memory? >> I guess this would be the memory that would be freed up by the system as per >> Carlo's statement: >> >> "If memory becomes short, background processes are terminated to free up >> memory. The are closed down in reverse order of last access, so a program >> you haven't used for two days, say, will be closed first. The program is >> given a few event cycles to save user data and then its memory is released >> for reuse." >> >> Either way I am curious to know why Daniel's hint was necessary: >> >> "But generally, the easiest way to fix it is to turn the iPad off (Hold down >> the power button til the "Slide to Power Off" comes up. Then side to power >> it off, wait a few seconds and then power it back on again. >> That will "flush out" (or free up) the "memory". >> >> Clearly it had the desired effect as per John's reply: >> >> "Thanks Daniel. It solved the problem, also improved the performance as >> well. Is seems the ipad can become clogged with residual stuff and slow >> down" >> >> I guess we would be quick to blame the third party developers rather than >> iOS but shouldn't the system deal with this as per Carlo's comment? Should >> we from time to time need to follow Daniels advice? >> I guess there is always more to it than we realise. Having a fair bit of IT >> experience I realise that these are really incredibly complex devices no >> matter how simple the developers make them for us to use. >> >> I'm not being critical - just curious. >> >> >> Regards >> >> Shayne >> >> >> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 11:16 AM, Ronda Brown <ro...@mac.com> wrote: >> Just adding to Carlo’s informative response. >> >> How Mobile Multitasking Works >> The major new feature of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 4, is >> multitasking. >> >> How you use it: >> When you press the Home button twice, Apple’s iOS 4 displays a “drawer” >> allowing you to switch between apps. The drawer shows your most recently >> used apps. This is similar to the “alt-tab” functionality we’re accustomed >> to on traditional PCs. >> >> What’s going on: >> When you leave an app in iOS 4, it’s not actually closing (unlike previous >> versions of the OS). Instead, it’s going into frozen, suspended animation, >> sitting inertly in the background. So when you relaunch an app, it opens >> instantly to pick up from where it left off before you “closed” it. That >> behaviour allows you to switch between apps very quickly — a feature called >> Fast App Switching, which is the core functionality of Apple’s iOS >> multitasking. (TidBITS has an excellent in-depth explanation of Fast App >> Switching.) >> >> Fast App Switching isn’t all iOS 4 multitasking does, as there are a few >> exceptions for specific types of apps. Apple allows apps that play audio, >> connect with voice-over-IP or use location detection to run quietly in the >> background while one thread is still active. So that’s why, for example, you >> can leave the Pandora app, and the music will still be playing in the >> background while you check your e-mail. Likewise, you can leave Skype while >> on a VoIP call, and you won’t hang up on your buddy while you’re browsing >> Safari, for example. Third, you can leave a mapping app or a fitness tracker >> like RunKeeper and come back to it, and it’ll still have a lock on your >> location. >> >> It’s up to third-party app developers, of course, to tell their apps to >> behave this way with the new iOS 4 software development kit. >> >> Another sort of background activity iOS supports is push notifications, >> which keeps a specific internet port active while the iPhone is in >> hibernation, so you can receive e-mails, instant messages and alerts even >> when the screen is off. These alerts pop up on the screen in the same way as >> SMS on the iPhone. >> >> WIRED Fast App Switching is indeed fast and stylish, avoids draining >> battery. All apps are constantly running inertly, so you can quickly switch >> between them all. >> >> TIRED Only allows a single application thread to continue running; only >> certain kinds of activities are allowed to run in the background. Push >> notifications scream for your attention at the centre of the screen. >> >> Multitasking in iOS4 is not like multitasking in OS X. All applications are >> not running at the same time. Only the active application in use is running. >> Any other applications on the multitask list are made inactive until you >> switch to one of them. It’s called cooperative multitasking. This is not the >> same as pre-emptive multitasking that is used in OS X. In this form of >> multitasking open applications can switch between active and inactive status >> automatically as needed and applications can run in the background. >> >> Because the iPhone and iPod Touches hold everything in memory multitasking >> does not demand much more power. >> >> Cheers, >> Ronni >> >> On 12/05/2011, at 10:56 AM, cm wrote: >> >>> Hi Shayne, >>> >>> Thanks for drawing our attention to the Activity Monitor Touch app. I will >>> get myself a copy. I do wonder, however, how HandyPadSoft can get away with >>> copying the Apple icon for Activity Monitor. >>> >>> I did notice in a few emails what could be misconceptions about background >>> apps on the iPhone and the iPad. Apart from a few exceptions noted below, >>> there is no penalty at all for having an app in the background. The Apple >>> engineers, as often they are, were very clever when they introduced >>> background apps to iOS. They in fact created a new paradigm to ensure that >>> while an app is available for immediate switching it is rarely using >>> resources. This ensures that the battery life of the iOS device will not be >>> negatively impacted and that memory will be freed up when required. >>> >>> Here is how it works. When an app goes into the background when say the >>> user presses the Home button or switches to a different app, execution for >>> the app is suspended. The app is given a few event cycles to save any data >>> and record any user choices. There is a framework where the app can be >>> given limited, intermittent processing time but these are exceptions that >>> must be programmed using specific frameworks. The examples of apps that >>> continue with limited processing time in the background are those that >>> require location service - such as GPS turn-by-tun applications, those that >>> play music such as the iPod app, or those that say accept incoming phone >>> calls like Skype does. Of these, only the location service, if it is poorly >>> programmed, is a real problem. The newly introduced in iOS 3 (I think it >>> was) Push Notification, also means that a program can remain suspended >>> until there is work for it to do. >>> >>> If memory becomes short, background processes are terminated to free up >>> memory. The are closed down in reverse order of last access, so a program >>> you haven't used for two days, say, will be closed first. The program is >>> given a few event cycles to save user data and then its memory is released >>> for reuse. >>> >>> So in principal at least, there is never any need to terminate an app >>> unless it has a limited form of background processing. The types of >>> background processing allowed are limited to few special cases. For most >>> apps there is no penalty at all for running in the background. A few poorly >>> programmed location apps can be a problem, but bad reviews will often tell >>> you which ones these are. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Carlo >>> >>> >>> On 2011-05-12, at 10:19, S Beach wrote: >>> >>>> Now seems an appropriate time to mention this... >>>> >>>> I got this monitor app for my iphone a while back >>>> http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/activity-monitor-touch/id385619152?mt=8 >>>> at the time it was free on a promo but now $2.49 >>>> >>>> I ran it the other day and noticed that a lot of the memory was used up. I >>>> then double clicked the home button to see the apps running in the >>>> background - and there was quite a few. So I started closing them one by >>>> one and watching the memory usage bar go down. Interesting exercise. Once >>>> I had closed all the apps there was a lot more memory available >>>> (Surprise!). >>>> >>>> Of course there's no way of knowing how much resources the monitor app is >>>> using - so I closed that when I had finished too. >>>> (Note that this will not change the amount of storage memory used by all >>>> your songs, videos, photos etc; just the system memory.) >>>> >>>> So it is clear that it is well worth regularly checking what apps are >>>> running and closing any that are not needed. >>>> >>>> Doing this once or twice a day (for example - choose your own time period) >>>> would free up memory & help to keep things running smoothly and likely >>>> improve the battery life as well. >>>> >>>> Regards >>>> >>>> Shayne >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 7:32 AM, John Hatch <j...@iinet.net.au> wrote: >>>> >>>> Thanks Daniel. It solved the problem, also improved the performance as >>>> well. Is seems the ipad can become clogged with residual stuff and slow >>>> down >>>> >>>> Much appreciated >>>> For others the app was Autocadws - quite impressive app also "photo sort" >>>> app >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> >>>> John >>>> >>>> Sent from my iPad >>>> >>>> On 12/05/2011, at 2:16 AM, Daniel Kerr <wa...@macwizardry.com.au> wrote: >>>> >>>> > >>>> > Not really an easy way to "see" what memory is used or free. >>>> > But generally, the easiest way to fix it is to turn the iPad off (Hold >>>> > down >>>> > the power button til the "Slide to Power Off" comes up. >>>> > Then side to power it off, wait a few seconds and then power it back on >>>> > again. >>>> > That will "flush out" (or free up) the "memory". >>>> > >>>> > Kind regards >>>> > Daniel >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > On 12/5/11 2:13 AM, "John Hatch" <j...@iinet.net.au> wrote: >>>> > >>>> >> >>>> >> Does anybody know how much memory is on the ipad? Have an app that say >>>> >> not >>>> >> enough memory. How can you check to see what apps are running? >>>> >> >>>> >> John >>>> >> >>>> >> Sent from my iPad >> >> >> >> >> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >> Unsubscribe - <mailto:wamug-unsubscr...@wamug.org.au> >> > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:wamug-unsubscr...@wamug.org.au>
