Forrest
Level 1 (13 points)
Apple Music

Q: Apps still function, after killing them off?

My expectation is that if I kill an App, that it's stopped.  But I've found that some continue to have activity afterward, unless I reboot the phone.

 

This applies to iOS 6.1. 

 

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so I wonder if someone can elaborate what's going on here - or whether there is some other way to handle it.

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.1.1, iOS 6

Posted on Feb 10, 2013 11:16 AM

by Llessur999,Solvedanswer
Llessur999 Llessur999
Level 4 (1,203 points)
A:

Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) notifications do not originate with the app itself. APNS notifications are submitted by the app developer's server infrastructure to Apple's APNS infrastructure. The APNS infrastructure then sends the notification to your iPhone. If your app is not active, iOS shows the notification message, not the app. If you respond affirmatively to the notification message, the app will then resume if suspended, start if terminated.

 

All apps that use APNS notifications work like this.

 

As several posters pointed out, you can control whether/how the notification message appears by twiddling the appropriate notification settings.

Posted on Feb 13, 2013 1:14 PM

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Forrest

Q: Apps still function, after killing them off?

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  • by Malignance,

    Malignance Malignance Feb 10, 2013 11:19 AM in response to Forrest
    Level 5 (4,471 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 10, 2013 11:19 AM in response to Forrest

    iOS: Understanding multitasking

  • by Forrest,

    Forrest Forrest Feb 10, 2013 11:31 AM in response to Malignance
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Apple Music
    Feb 10, 2013 11:31 AM in response to Malignance

    I know what multitasking is. 


    What I am referring to is when you kill off an App.   That is, you hold down the icon on the switcher until they "jiggle" and then you exit them.    One good reason for this is to preserve battery life.

     

    In my case, as I explained, it appears that this doesn't actually always exit the application -- unless you reboot.   This seems counter-intuititve, in the sense that the function itself is to exit (ie, stop) the App from running.

  • by Malignance,

    Malignance Malignance Feb 10, 2013 12:05 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 5 (4,471 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 10, 2013 12:05 PM in response to Forrest

    Forrest wrote:

     

    I know what multitasking is.

    Did you read the Support Page > iOS: Understanding multitasking

     

    Forrest wrote:

     

    One good reason for this is to preserve battery life.

    From that Support Page > These apps are not necessarily actively in use, open, or taking up system resources. They will instantly launch when you return to them.


    Forrest wrote:

     

    In my case, as I explained, it appears that this doesn't actually always exit the application -- unless you reboot.

    What applications? You explained nothing. You make no mention or explain why you think applications are still running...

     

    Forrest wrote:

     

    This seems counter-intuititve, in the sense that the function itself is to exit (ie, stop) the App from running.

    Read here > iOS: Understanding multitasking

  • by Llessur999,

    Llessur999 Llessur999 Feb 10, 2013 12:12 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 4 (1,203 points)
    Feb 10, 2013 12:12 PM in response to Forrest

    Can you provide an example, including what you observe that makes you think the app is still running?

     

    If you read through iOS App States and Multitasking, there are a few edge cases where iOS will restart a terminated app. For example, if an app has registered with the significant-change location service. "If the app starts this service and is then terminated, the system relaunches the app automatically when a new location becomes available."

  • by modular747,

    modular747 modular747 Feb 10, 2013 12:20 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 6 (19,343 points)
    iPad
    Feb 10, 2013 12:20 PM in response to Forrest

    What is your evidence that  "killed" apps are still running? 

     

    If you're basing this on an app that shows "active" processes, these are unreliable.  If your phone is jailbroken, all bets are off.

  • by Forrest,

    Forrest Forrest Feb 13, 2013 12:51 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Apple Music
    Feb 13, 2013 12:51 PM in response to Forrest

    My phone is not jailbroken.

     

    The apps I use, one of which is a social network app, sometimes sends me alerts that I have a message, long after I've killed off the application.  The only way I can prevent that is to kill the app and reboot the phone.   This seems to be either a bug, or a mis-behaving application.  That's the evidence I have, which is clear to me.

  • by Malignance,Helpful

    Malignance Malignance Feb 13, 2013 12:56 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 5 (4,471 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 13, 2013 12:56 PM in response to Forrest

    Forrest wrote:

     

    My phone is not jailbroken.

     

    The apps I use, one of which is a social network app, sometimes sends me alerts that I have a message, long after I've killed off the application.

    Settings > Notifications > <app> > Notification center > Off... or manage the settings

  • by Kcheno,Helpful

    Kcheno Kcheno Feb 13, 2013 1:00 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 13, 2013 1:00 PM in response to Forrest

    Sounds like you have push notifications enabled.

  • by Forrest,

    Forrest Forrest Feb 13, 2013 1:01 PM in response to Malignance
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Apple Music
    Feb 13, 2013 1:01 PM in response to Malignance

    I found those.  But I'm still puzzled -- should the app still be running if I kill it off?   Other apps I have don't seem to suffer this issue.

     

    Thanks!

  • by Kcheno,

    Kcheno Kcheno Feb 13, 2013 1:03 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 13, 2013 1:03 PM in response to Forrest

    Technically it's not running, but it can still send you notifications.  This can normally be turned off in the settings or from within the app itself.

  • by Forrest,

    Forrest Forrest Feb 13, 2013 1:09 PM in response to Kcheno
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Apple Music
    Feb 13, 2013 1:09 PM in response to Kcheno

    I checked the app, no settings for this.   I've had problems with this app in the past, other revisions, crashing the phone, too :-)   Alas....

  • by Llessur999,Solvedanswer

    Llessur999 Llessur999 Feb 13, 2013 1:14 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 4 (1,203 points)
    Feb 13, 2013 1:14 PM in response to Forrest

    Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) notifications do not originate with the app itself. APNS notifications are submitted by the app developer's server infrastructure to Apple's APNS infrastructure. The APNS infrastructure then sends the notification to your iPhone. If your app is not active, iOS shows the notification message, not the app. If you respond affirmatively to the notification message, the app will then resume if suspended, start if terminated.

     

    All apps that use APNS notifications work like this.

     

    As several posters pointed out, you can control whether/how the notification message appears by twiddling the appropriate notification settings.

  • by Llessur999,

    Llessur999 Llessur999 Feb 13, 2013 1:15 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 4 (1,203 points)
    Feb 13, 2013 1:15 PM in response to Forrest

    Did you carefully check the list of apps in Settings > Notifications > In Notification Center?

  • by Kcheno,

    Kcheno Kcheno Feb 13, 2013 1:17 PM in response to Forrest
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 13, 2013 1:17 PM in response to Forrest

    What app is it?

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