I remember when the phone first came out people were split into two camps, the first being conventional knowledge that closing apps saves battery, and the other being that leaving them open in the background actually saves battery because the phone doesn't need to load it fresh when you go back to it. Has there been a consensus?

I have been a devout Samsung fan ever since I had my beautiful, beloved, Samsung Galaxy S4 in red. I always felt salty about the fact that my Note 8, S10+, S22U, and now S24U have had less than average SOT. I like to think I am smarter than the average tech consumer. I've built several computers since I was a teen, I open and tinker with electronics regularly, I self-repair when possible, I mod consoles, I spec check things constantly before buying, etc. But it turns out, I am a fraud.

Today, I learned that I am absolute IDIOT. Since my teenage years, I have COMPULSIVELY closed apps almost immediately after being finished using them. I just found that by doing so, I am removing apps from the phone's RAM and causing the phone to expend precious resources doing that and even more resources doing a clean launch of the app and adding it back to the RAM. I do this for every...single...app including ones I am checking several times an hour like Google Messages. I will now spend the foreseeable future unlearning a horrific habit that has been ingrained into my brain over the past 10 years and done irreparable damage to my phone batteries and ego.

I thought the community could use something to point and laugh at since some people are less than enthused with their S24U. I think I have won the display lottery because I haven't seen anything that grossed me out, but let's hope that everyone can be a winner after the impending update and we can all enjoy this undeniably beautiful and powerful device.

Everyone have a great day and spread some positivity :)

EDIT: There are sources throughout the comments I post giving some support to my claim. There are also others out there that support it. I cannot say definitively that the difference in closing out apps and never doing it is night and day or will increase your SOT by 3+ hours or anything crazy...but I do have definitive statements from credible sources that closing apps is unnecessary and does not benefit battery life in almost all circumstance. I have also left a comment with screenshots showing the difference from today and a prior day when I still compulsively closed my apps after being done with them.

EDIT 2: Sources to read up on for nonbelievers. Some sources only refer to iphones, others refer to both, but the processes and fundamentals at issue are just about the same for most modern phones.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/03/10/should-you-quit-ios-apps-answer/

https://www.slashgear.com/910451/why-you-need-to-stop-closing-apps-on-your-android-phone/ (best source I've found as far as a clear summarization goes)

https://www.makeuseof.com/why-you-shouldnt-close-apps-android/#:~:text=Closing%20Android%20Apps%20Doesn%27t,increase%20your%20phone%27s%20battery%20life

https://youtu.be/45KegoaG1ss?si=a0cFGi3Dzgslux4S (old source, but considering how much RAM phones have now, this makes even more sense)

https://fossbytes.com/closing-background-apps-save-battery/

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2015/10/09/why-force-quitting-apps-to-save-battery-life-is-a-terrible-idea/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMCo4GU0weQ (a low view short video, but it supports all the above sources and is concise)

https://www.digitechoppers.com/2023/06/does-closing-apps-save-battery.html (Part VII gives a summary of the takeaways)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2017/04/09/iphone-android-low-battery-running-out-of-battery/100231638/ (USA Today is you want a more credible source) ("Do you ever double-tap your home button and see all the apps your iPhone has suspended, waiting for you to go back to them? Whenever I do, I always close them out of instinct, thinking that they must be eating up battery life, right? Nope! In fact...closing apps from the multitasking menu can actually hurt the iPhone’s overall battery life, and for a totally logical reason...When you close it, the phone shuts it down, but when you inevitably open the app back up, it forces your phone to load all that data back up again, and that means it’s using valuable power and ticking down your reserves. Just leave the apps alone and you’ll be doing yourself and your battery a favor.")

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/03/11/closing-apps-to-save-on-your-iphone-battery-is-a-myth/ (WAPO for a more credible source) ("Many iPhone users painstakingly power up and shut down apps due to a widespread belief that it will help to prolong their iPhone, despite rumors that this kind of maintenance actually might do the opposite.")

https://www.thetechedvocate.org/why-you-shouldnt-always-close-apps-on-your-android-phone/