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> Who cares why it happens? People who are curious about system internals. Probably some of the people who read a site like HN. Even my dad likes to understand

> Who cares why it happens? People who are curious about system internals. Probably some of the people who read a site like HN. Even my dad likes to understand where these limitations originate and he's not a 'computer person' (though he is an engineer in another field).

EpicEng 12y ago
I think you missed the point. I like understanding the why as well, but it doesn't actually matter. No one is going to do a 180 and say "oh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that. I guess it doesn't bother me anymore." It's still a PITA and there's no good reason for it anymore. I get great battery life on my M8 and don't have to deal with this stupid quirk.
- enraged_camel 12y ago
  >>I think you missed the point. I like understanding the why as well, but it doesn't actually matter. Of course it matters. If you understand why, you can take steps to mitigate it or work around it. In this particular case, one workaround is to close unused programs and browser tabs every now and then to clear up memory so that the active tabs don't go through a forced-refresh. This is what I do on my 4S, and I haven't had to deal with the problem the OP describes in a long time despite being a "heavy" user.
  - EpicEng 12y ago
    Right... or I could just use a phone which doesn't force me to micro-manage my memory usage. That's a workaround at best, not a solution. iOS has always been subpar in regards to multi-tasking.
    - mwfunk 12y ago
      Good luck with that.
      - EpicEng 12y ago
        My M8 fits that bill nicely, but thank you for your concern.
    - v13inc 12y ago
      It's far worse on low-memory Android, in my opinion. iOS apps have to support being suspended and resumed (although bad apps still do it badly). This forces apps to deal with this eventuality on day 1. Android, on the other hand, doesn't force this. All apps assume they can do whatever they want in the background, without being shut down. This means, on my low-memory Android, that opening an intense browsing session followed by Google Maps kills all of my background chat apps, making me unavailable. This is far more unacceptable in my opinion then having to wait for an app to reload. (I would agree that iOS is too aggressive when it comes to memory management, though) Edit: Formatting
      - EpicEng 12y ago
        I agree with you there, I was only thinking of flagship android devices because they are in the same class add the iPhone. I've never owned a lower end android phone, but I imagine that they don't scale downward as well as iOS would.
- alsetmusic 12y ago
  I'm happy for you. It's great that you can buy the device that works best for you and I can buy the device that works best for me.
- pohl 12y ago
  No one is going to do a 180 and say "oh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that. I guess it doesn't bother me anymore." I think you're underestimating one's capacity to accept a tradeoff. Once a person learns that RAM is constantly consuming power as it's being refreshed – and that a device with more RAM is going to have less standby time – they might appreciate the decision to try to do more with less.

EpicEng 12y ago

I think you missed the point. I like understanding the why as well, but it doesn't actually matter. No one is going to do a 180 and say "oh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that. I guess it doesn't bother me anymore." It's still a PITA and there's no good reason for it anymore. I get great battery life on my M8 and don't have to deal with this stupid quirk.

enraged_camel 12y ago
>>I think you missed the point. I like understanding the why as well, but it doesn't actually matter. Of course it matters. If you understand why, you can take steps to mitigate it or work around it. In this particular case, one workaround is to close unused programs and browser tabs every now and then to clear up memory so that the active tabs don't go through a forced-refresh. This is what I do on my 4S, and I haven't had to deal with the problem the OP describes in a long time despite being a "heavy" user.
- EpicEng 12y ago
  Right... or I could just use a phone which doesn't force me to micro-manage my memory usage. That's a workaround at best, not a solution. iOS has always been subpar in regards to multi-tasking.
  - mwfunk 12y ago
    Good luck with that.
    - EpicEng 12y ago
      My M8 fits that bill nicely, but thank you for your concern.
  - v13inc 12y ago
    It's far worse on low-memory Android, in my opinion. iOS apps have to support being suspended and resumed (although bad apps still do it badly). This forces apps to deal with this eventuality on day 1. Android, on the other hand, doesn't force this. All apps assume they can do whatever they want in the background, without being shut down. This means, on my low-memory Android, that opening an intense browsing session followed by Google Maps kills all of my background chat apps, making me unavailable. This is far more unacceptable in my opinion then having to wait for an app to reload. (I would agree that iOS is too aggressive when it comes to memory management, though) Edit: Formatting
    - EpicEng 12y ago
      I agree with you there, I was only thinking of flagship android devices because they are in the same class add the iPhone. I've never owned a lower end android phone, but I imagine that they don't scale downward as well as iOS would.
alsetmusic 12y ago
I'm happy for you. It's great that you can buy the device that works best for you and I can buy the device that works best for me.
pohl 12y ago
No one is going to do a 180 and say "oh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that. I guess it doesn't bother me anymore." I think you're underestimating one's capacity to accept a tradeoff. Once a person learns that RAM is constantly consuming power as it's being refreshed – and that a device with more RAM is going to have less standby time – they might appreciate the decision to try to do more with less.