Comment by buff-a | Hacker News Reader

Comment by buff-a | Hacker News Reader

There is one iOS "tip" that I keep hearing and it is wrong.

I've never heard this "tip" from anyone. Ever. Any links or references to these "supposedly authoritative sources"?

I'm finding it hard to take this article seriously when it says:

"When you press the home button, iOS will tell the app to quit. In almost all cases, it quits..."

Then, a few paragraphs later:

"When you press the home button, the app moves from Active to Background. Most apps usually then go from Background to Suspended in a matter of seconds."

Wait, I thought you said it gets told to quit?

According to this [1], an app has to specifically request to be killed when the home button is pressed. "When the value of this key is YES, the application is terminated and purged from memory instead of moved to the background. If this key is not present, or is set to NO, the application moves to the background as usual."

The information in the article about states is useful, but why open with factually incorrect information?

[1] http://developer.apple.com/library/IOs/#documentation/Genera...

I have also heard that tip plenty of times, but it's difficult to give links and references to real life conversations :).

Anyway, the UIApplicationExitsOnSuspend key is for legacy apps, and has nothing to do with the article. If that key is set to YES, iOS treats your app as it did before 4.0 and restarts the app every time you switch away from it and back again. The article explains how it works on iOS 4.0 and later.

Really? Really?!

It’s correct. In almost all cases when you press the home button the app quits (i.e. gets suspended). End of story.

Yes, this definition of "quits" as "gets suspended" is what I have a problem with. "Quits" used to mean "terminates". I guess in the new apple world, especially given what happens on Lion, "quits" doesn't mean what I think it does.

We are not interested in meanings here, we are interested in consequences. When it comes to battery life and slowing the OS down, quitting and suspending have exactly the same consequences: both don’t do it.

You are making a distinction without a difference that’s not relevant for what the article is talking about.

"""I've never heard this "tip" from anyone. Ever."""

And you're the golden standard of iPhone-related tips awareness, because?

I have an android and an iPhone. I was recommended task killer for android by the guy in the verizon store. The next guy in the verizon store when I went back and mentioned battery life while I was buying a car charger. My friends with android phones. Teh Internet.

I have purchased 8 iOS devices and I know more people with iPhones than android. This was the first I've heard of it.

It was not my intention to suggest that I am the authority on iPhone tips. I was merely expressing my surprise that after hearing a similar suggestion practically every damn conversation I have about my Droid, that I had not heard such a thing about iPhone.

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