Hi everyone. I just thought I'd pass along some info that helped me a lot. I was having some issues with sluggishness with my iPod Touch 4th generation, and my 1st generation iPad, ever since the iOS 5 update. When I would power it up, it would take sometimes up to 8 seconds before I could use the device. When I would type something, the response was incredibly slow. I found out through this site that, and I wasn't aware of this, but whenever you use an app and even after you close it by hitting the "Home" button, the app remains open in the background. I understood this would happen when multi-tasking, but after I received the advice from Rich on this site, I used that advice and solved the problem. If you hit the home button twice as though you are going to multi-task, all of the apps you have opened in the past will show up at the bottom of the screen. Put your finger on one of the apps and hold until the apps wiggle, then one by one hit the "X" on each app at the bottom of the screen. This officially closes the app. When I did this I couldn't believe how much faster both of my devices worked. I must have had 25 or so apps open. I guess it's not such a problem on the iPhone 4S or the iPad 2 because of their faster processor. But now I guess my question to anyone who is more in the know than I am is, is there an app or a way to not leave the apps open all the time until you physically close them? I don't understand the purpose of apps remaining open. For example I may check the weather forecast, then send an e-mail, then I might listen to music while reading something from the Engadget app. When I double click the home button, every app including the weather one is still open. And my devices slows down over time. I know it's not a huge deal to physically close each app but it'd be easier if we didn't have to. Thanks for the tip, Rich and everyone at iPad Forums.
Paul Schram