The Matter of App Closing Superstition
All open apps have been swiped away. The phone is empty now. The phone does not feel different but it feels cleaner.
All the apps were open.
The number was eighteen. This is visible when you bring up the app switcher: a row of cards representing all the things the phone has been doing, some recently, some weeks ago. They are arranged chronologically, which means the oldest ones have drifted to the far right and have not been visited in days.
The decision was made: swipe them all away.
The Action
The swiping takes three minutes for eighteen apps. Each swipe sends a card flying upward. The phone confirms the closure with a small animation. One by one, the cards disappear.
Halfway through, the phone already feels different. The app switcher is half-empty. The remaining apps are the recent ones, the actually-in-use ones. Clearing them feels more pointed.
The Final State
The app switcher is empty. The phone looks like it did when it was new. All the accumulated app history of the past week: gone. The phone is, in some sense, fresh.
What Has Actually Changed
The RAM freed by closing apps that were in the background has been partially reallocated. The apps themselves are ready to reopen at the same speed they would have been before. The battery savings are marginal and will be recaptured within an hour of normal use.
The phone's feeling has changed. The phone's performance has not.
The Return
Within twenty minutes, four apps are open again. Within an hour, the switcher is at seven. By tomorrow, it will be at twelve.
The clearing will happen again sometime next week. The phone will feel lighter for forty-five seconds. This is worth three minutes.