There are two ways to exit an iOS application. It is useful to understand the difference and when each technique should be used.
Exiting to the Home Screen
Exiting an application is the normal way of leaving an application and is the method that should be used in almost all scenarios. When exiting an application you will return directly to the iOS home screen where the grid of application icons is located. This is the only way you ever need to use with eKeypad.
- For devices with a physical button on the front. Exiting an application is done by pressing the button on the front one time.
- For devices without a physical button on the front. Exiting an application is done by swiping up from the bottom of the screen in a single steady swipe.
If you end up in the App Switcher by mistake (it has a blurry background with small application images), tap on any part of the blurred background to close the App Switcher and return to the iOS Home screen.
Force Quitting an Application
Force quitting an application is a way to exit applications that are no longer responding, are operating erratically or not responding. It is never necessary to force quit eKeypad.
The process for force quitting an application involves two steps. The first step involves entering a special mode in iOS called the “App Switcher”.
- For devices with a physical button on the front. Entering the App Switcher is done by double tapping the button on the front.
- For devices without a physical button on the front. Entering the App Switcher is done by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to the middle of the screen and holding there until the App Switcher appears.
At this point you the App Switcher screen will be visible. It can be identified by the blurred background and spread of small screenshots of the most recent used applications. This is not, as is common believed, a list of running applications. While some applications may still be loaded and paused in the background, it is only a visual list of what was launched.
To ensure an application has been closed and completely removed from memory, a force quit can be performed on an application. Touching and swiping up on any of the small application windows will force quit the application if it is still loaded into memory.
The important fact to know about force quitting is that when this action is performed, the application will get no notice of this action and no opportunity to complete unfinished work. For a locked up application, this is not a concern, but for applications that are operating correctly this can potentially cause unexpected results such as lost configuration changes or in rare scenarios corrupted data files.
It is never necessary to force quit eKeypad. eKeypad will automatically take the necessary steps to security access to your system and remove itself from memory when necessary.