RAM won’t clear on iPhone 8 Plus

What do you mean by clearing RAM? There is no way to clear RAM on an iOS device; iOS manages RAM entirely on its own. If you mean you want to clear STORAGE (not RAM) you need to go to Settings/General/Reset and tap Erase all content and settings.

If you mean something different please explain.

The articles that you saw about clearing RAM are nonsense. And, as I said, there is no reason to clear RAM; as soon as any app opens RAM will no longer be clear. Plus the fact that iOS uses about half the RAM on your phone. iOS has the Unix virtual memory manager, which was developed initially almost 50 years, ago, and has been continuously enhanced and perfected in that time. There is nothing you can do to improve it, and trying to just interferes with its proper operation.

As to reading it on the Internet, I just read on the internet that the Earth is flat. That must be true, because I read it on the internet?!

I think you’re here imagining trying to cause so-called backgrounded apps to be cleared, which is typically unnecessary.

This as iOS and iPadOS will quit and clear the fast memory (RAM) used by those now-inactive apps as needed.

If you really want to do this and quit your background apps—and again, this is not something typically necessary—then the correct sequence is as follows:

Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support

Close an app on your iPad - Apple Support

Rebooting will mostly clear and re-organize your device’s fast memory (RAM), too. Not that clearing your fast memory is any more or less effective than clearing out your Mac caches, which also gets recommended by some folks. Neither effort is particularly useful or particularly beneficial, that is. Arguably, not helpful, too.

Not helpful? Both do take up your time for negligible benefit. And the fast memory contents and the cache have to be re-built, if those are needed again. Such as switching back to an app you had been using.

But I’m sure the webpages showing these recommendations do obtain some revenues from the ads served to the folks viewing the articles, so it’s not all bad for the website owners.

Now clearing fast storage (RAM)? That’s... amusing. If the iPhone gets tangled or confused or wedged, sure. Restart it. Or if we get another batch of patches, too. But otherwise? I wouldn’t bother.

WRONG, TOTALLY.

What you are doing is called a “Forced Restart”. It does not clear RAM. There is no way to clear RAM. And there is no point in clearing RAM. RAM is allocated dynamically and continuously by iOS. If you could clear it that would simply interfere with the way iOS manages RAM; it would slow down your phone and use more energy. I don’t know where you found this nonsense, but it’s in the same category as Flat Earth and aliens abducting humans.

You got the passcode screen because you force restarted your phone. That's exactly what you should see.

WHY are you trying to do this?

Not only is it completely unnecessary, that's not what you would do by following those instructions.

PoesNaiEtterTollie wrote:

Please google: “Clear RAM iPhone”.

Please google "alien. abduction".

Just because you found it on the interwebtubes does NOT make it true.

You’re welcome! Stay well!