Apple devices are typically quite stable and have good battery life. From time to time, though, apps may become sluggish or unresponsive. When you run into issues like this, the best option is to close an app and re-open it. Here's how to do that on an iPhone or iPad.

How to Close Apps on an iPhone

Closing apps on an iPhone is quick and easy and can be done by following a few short steps:

  1. Double-click the Home button on your iPhone, or swipe up from the bottom if your iPhone doesn't have a Home button.
  2. Swipe left to right to find the app that you wish to close.
  3. Push the chosen app up until it closes.

You can use one or two fingers to do this, so long as it's the swiping motion. You can also swipe up multiple apps at the same time using multiple fingers. Though you shouldn't constantly close iPhone apps, so try to stick to only closing them when they become unresponsive or consistently sluggish.

How to Close Apps on an iPad

Closing apps on an iPad is pretty much the same way as the iPhone method, but it depends on your iPad model:

  1. Double-click the Home button to pull up all your open apps. Alternatively, swipe up from the bottom of the screen if your iPad device doesn't have a Home button.
  2. Swipe from left to right to find the app that you wish to close.
  3. Push the chosen app up until it closes.
Screenshot from iPad of force closing an app.

You can swipe up from the bottom of the screen even if you have a Home button.

Just like on iPhone, you can use one or multiple fingers to swipe up, and you can also swipe up multiple apps at the same time using multiple fingers. You shouldn't always force quit apps though, try to make sure you only do it when an app becomes unresponsive.

Closing Apps on iPhone and iPad

By following the simple steps outlined in this article, you should have been able to close the apps on your iPad or iPhone. Despite popular belief, closing apps doesn't improve performance or save battery life because of how well optimized iOS and iPadOS are already.