How to Close Apps on the iPhone 12

Restart unresponsive apps—but don't do this to save battery

By
Sam Costello
Sam Costello
Sam Costello
Writer
  • Ithaca College
Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others.
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Updated on September 8, 2021
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
Ryan Perian headshot
Reviewed by Ryan Perian
  • Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

What to Know

  • Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, swipe left to find the app you want to close, then swipe it up and off the top of the screen.
  • You can quit two or three apps at a time by swiping them at the same time using more than one more finger.
  • There is no built-in way to clear all apps at once.

This article explains how to close apps on the iPhone 12. It also dispels the misconception that quitting apps will save battery life.

Close Apps on the iPhone 12

Closing apps is sometimes also called quitting apps, force quitting apps, or force closing apps.

To close apps on the iPhone 12 follow these steps:

  1. From any screen on the iPhone 12 (the home screen or within an app), swipe up from the bottom of the screen. You can swipe as far as you want, but about 25% of the way up is enough.

  2. This reveals all of the apps that are running on your iPhone 12.

  3. Swipe back and forth to see all of the apps.

  4. When you find the one you want to quit, swipe it up and off the top of the screen. When they disappear from the screen, the app is closed.

    How to swipe to close apps on an iPhone 12.

    You can quit two or three apps at a time. Just swipe them all at once using more than one more finger.

  5. Three is the maximum number of apps that you can close at the same time on the iPhone 12. There is no built-in way to clear all apps at once.

When You Should Quit iPhone Apps

When you're not using an iPhone app, it goes into the background and is frozen. That means that the app uses relatively little battery life and likely does not use any data. In most ways, a frozen app is the same as one that's been closed. The major difference is that a frozen app restarts faster than an app that's closed when you launch it.

Close Apps That Aren't Working

Because of this, the only time you need to close or quit iPhone apps is when the app isn't working. In that case, quitting and restarting the app can often solve a temporary bug, in the same way restarting your iPhone can.

Some apps might ask the system to allow it a certain amount of time to finish a task or to continue operating because that's the whole purpose of the app (think music, mapping, and communications apps).

What About Quitting Apps To Save Battery Life? 

Many people believe that apps that are in the background use battery life. That's not true. In fact, quitting apps that are frozen in the background not only doesn't help save battery, it can reduce your battery life.

So, unless an app isn't working, it's fine to leave it frozen in the background until you need to use it again.

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