How To Close Open Apps On Your IPad, IPhone Or IPod Touch

This brief tutorial will show you how to close (quit) any currently running Apps on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch (with instructions for iOS 9 and earlier versions). If your iDevice is using a version of iOS lower than iOS7, click here for the instructions. Double-click the Home button on your iDevice (the physical button on the front of your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch). As illustrated in the screenshot below, the “App bar” will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Note: as of iOS 9, the “App bar” has a new look (see screenshot below). The procedure to quit open/running Apps is exactly the same, it just looks a tiny bit different. Swipe from right to left (sideways) to locate the App you wish to close. When you’ve located the App you wish to close, swipe it “up” towards the top of your screen. The window will “scroll off” the screen - the App is now closed.

You can continue to swipe back and forth horizontally to switch between and/or close other Apps. Start out by “double-clicking” the Home button on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. The Home button is the one at the bottom of your iDevice, as illustrated in the image below. This will bring up the ‘list’ of currently running Apps - by way of an “App bar” at the bottom of your screen. Tap and hold down on any one of the currently running Apps (even if it’s not the one you want to close). You’ll notice that each App will start to “wiggle” and now has a small “minus sign” circle in the upper left corner. Tap the “minus sign” of the App you want to close/quit. That App will now close. NOTE: This will close the App, not delete it. For instructions on how to delete an App from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, see this tutorial. You can continue tapping the “minus signs” to close all open Apps, if needed.

Nothing is worse than having an app that crashes on you every time you launch it. It can be more frustrating when that app dipped into your wallet before introducing you to the world of app irritation. To help you use your app(s) without throwing your fancy Apple device across the room, follow the steps below. Be sure to check your app after each solution presented below. If your app starts behaving, you can stop and enjoy. If your app is still going all wonky, continue to the next step until it begins working. It sounds like a cliche, but just a simple restart can really solve some of your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch app issues. Those IT folks have been right all along. To restart your iDevice hold down the Lock Button at the top of the device until you see the red arrow with the "slide to power off" prompt. Do what it says.

To turn your iDevice back on, just hold down the same Lock Button at the top until you see the fancy Apple logo. If the regular soft restart didn't work, it's time to get hardcore with the hard restart. Hold down the top Lock Button and the Home button until you see the Apple logo. This will take a few seconds. In the meantime, ignore the "slide to power off" prompt--just keep holding those buttons down until you see the Apple logo. This method involves a substantially longer restart than the soft restart mentioned in Solution One. We've seen an iPhone take up to 15 minutes to go from the Apple start up logo to being usable. Your app still isn't working, Okay, onward and upward. Tap and hold on the app icon until it gets all wobbly. Click on the X to delete the app. You can rate it if you want. Tap the home button to stop the wobbly apps. Plug your iDevice into iTunes and make sure the app is checked to be installed on your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch. After the sync has finished, unplug your iPhone and soft restart it using Solution One.