This quick guide will explain how to close or clear running apps on Google’s awesome Nexus 6P smartphone. It has a big, beautiful 5.7-inch screen, fantastic dual-facing speakers, and plenty of power, but it’s only good at closing running apps sometimes. It’s still a fast phone, but for those who want better performance and longer battery life, try the steps below.
Doing things as simple as closing any running application may seem universal and simple to average users, but it’s not easy for everyone. Users moving to Android from an iPhone, or trying out the Nexus 6P and stocking Android on an older Samsung device with a different software interface, may need to learn a few things.
Many Nexus 6P owners are first-time Android users, or have always used something from other Android manufacturers that don’t offer stock Android. They ask us a lot and this is one of them. Closing or clearing all running apps is easier than most people think, and in many cases it can have positive results. Read on for quick instructions, which apps to close and when.
With a powerful 8-core processor and 3GB of RAM, the Nexus 6P performs well and has a great battery. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t improve things, so that’s what we’re going to do here today.
The general “rule of thumb” in Android is to let the operating system manage your memory, rather than users closing apps themselves. The Nexus 6P is pretty fast, but let’s make it even better. Not to mention, there are actually some cases where clearing apps can improve performance and battery life.
Android does a great job of managing apps unlike any other operating system by putting apps in a low-power state in the recent apps menu, ready to open when needed and save of battery power the remaining time. In Android 6.0 it’s more aggressive with something called “Doze” that puts apps to sleep but keeps them ready to open when needed. That said, it’s worth shutting down or killing a few.
Instructions
Closing running apps or clearing them from the memory and recent apps menu on the Nexus 6P is very easy and only takes a few taps. All the buttons are on the screen, and all it takes is a tap and a swipe. To the right of the center (round) home icon is a square button that shows recent apps. This is where we should be.
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This is the multitasking menu key that shows all currently open or running applications. For those who don’t know, switching from YouTube to the browser, then to Gmail, and back to YouTube is quick and easy with this button. Many Android users never use it, but it is waiting. This same place is where all your open and running apps (even in the background) are located. Just swipe to remove them.
The image above shows a bottom-right button that opens a rolodex-style card view of all currently running apps. There is no erase all button like some Samsung or others, so slide one or two, or all at once.
A quick swipe of your finger on each app will instantly close that app. Any saved progress or website you may be on will need to be reloaded the next time you use that particular app, or it will be lost entirely. The image above shows the menu and I swiped to delete YouTube (right side). That’s it, you’re done. It’s that easy to close apps on the Nexus 6P and most Android phones or tablets.
Once you have cleared all apps, the above screen will be displayed, confirming that all apps are closed. Clearing the SMS text app or phone dialer just means you’ll have to restart with your next incoming message or call, wasting battery and processing power. So just delete the things you won’t use. Big intensive apps like Maps, Navigation or games you can close, but we recommend keeping others open and letting Android do the rest.
Again, only close what’s necessary, so we recommend users just kill individual apps one at a time that they no longer need, and leave everything else running in the background. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is super fast and efficient, and it puts apps into a deeper sleep state than before, so closing apps isn’t a big deal these days. The only time we recommend removing all apps is at work, at night before bed, or if you’re not going to use your phone for a few hours.