Apps running in the background?

Question

Level 1

1 points

Apps running in the background?

Hi,

I am currently new to the world of iphones and I have recently encountered a situation. Without using my phone (which was put to the sleep mode), i realized a constant fast decrease in my battery life. (IE from 94% - 80%) within a few hours. Checking the usage status, it states that I have used the phone for 2hours, under 'usage'. This is weird as I have not been using my phone at all for the last 2 over hours.

All my settings are as usual, no 3g, location settings turned off, mail fretch data turned off etc. Even as I put my phone to the sleep mode and checking it 5 or 10 mins later, the 'usage' time keeps increasing rather than only on the 'standby time'.

In solving this issue (first time encountering it), I simply restarted my phone and it is now working normally.

My question is: How do I check if any of my apps are running in the background without my knowledge and has anyone encountered a similar situation as mine? I am very careful about my battery management as it is very important in my line of work. Therefore I always ensure that the regular settings (like 3g, wifi, etc) are kept off unless needed. I don't have that many apps as I streamline what I really need. My phone is un-jailbroken and I only purchase apps available in the App Store.

I also do understand that an iphone is very unlikely to be infacted by a computer virus? My old comp used to be infacted by it but it is now fully safe from it after reformatting 🙂

Thank you! 🙂

Vaio, Windows Vista

Posted on Aug 11, 2010 9:17 AM

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Answer 1

DaVBMan

Level 6

9,280 points

Aug 11, 2010 9:21 AM in response to Bercanees

Double tapping home button will show you apps that are recently used or running. Not many run in background but depending on what you have installed, you may of installed one that does.

Also note that when checking mail if the server is slow or bogged down or your signal isn't good, it will take more time and processor to check mail thus more battery.

There are many factors to power usage so hard to pinpoint. Could just be the phone cranking up the power to talk to cell tower if the signal is low (strength can change over time during the day even in same spot).

You could also just have an app that has a memory leak and is running and shouldn't be. It is like a computer after all and no app is perfect.

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Answer 2

Bercanees Author

Level 1

1 points

Aug 11, 2010 9:30 AM in response to DaVBMan

Great! Those certainly help!

You mentioned double tapping? Is that only applicable for iOS4? I am currently using the iOS 3.1.3 as I was advised by Apple not to install the new OS still the next version is out due to some issues that will affect battery life.

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Answer 3

DaVBMan

Level 6

9,280 points

Aug 11, 2010 9:35 AM in response to Bercanees

If not running iOS4 then you don't have any multi tasking so the only things that can effect quick battery drain when not using it is the signal stuff (pumping up power for low signal), mail checking that takes longer than normal for variety of reasons, or an memory leak in some app thus a bug.

None of which you can fix yourself really unless you can narrow down some app that seems to kill off your battery often after you used it after a clean reboot.

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Answer 4

rahul.l

Level 1

0 points

Aug 19, 2010 12:11 PM in response to Bercanees

Hi,

I'm facing this same problem. My usage time and standby time are both at 1 hour 10 minutes right now even though my phone was in sleep mode for the past 30 minutes. I've noticed this issue since upgrading to OS 4 but i'm using a 3G so there is no multi-tasking on my device. I know it isn't a low signal issue because I have a very strong cell signal at home. It isn't the mail app either since the last updated time was over 45 minutes ago when I last checked my mail. The only solution I've found for this is a hard reset (home button+sleep/wake button held down for 10 seconds). I don't believe that iPhone apps are "like a computer" because all apps from the AppStore are first approved by Apple and any apps that run in the background/leak memory are supposed to be rejected. I was hoping that iOS 4.1 would fix this issue but seeing that you're running ver 3 this clearly isn't only an iOS 4 problem. Hopefully somebody at Apple will catch this post and be able to provide an answer because I've had no luck trying to isolate the problem so far!!

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