Clear iOS App Switcher Tray With A Single Swipe Using SwipeAway
Judging by the number of Cydia tweaks that allow iOS users to keep their iPhone’s App Switcher tray tidy, we can safely say that a lot of people think keeping too many apps in the multitasking area affects the performance of their device. However, you might be surprised to know that this is nothing but a misconception. Ever since the release of iOS 4, the App Switcher has become little more than a list of shortcuts for apps that have been used recently. Very few of the apps present in the tray are actually active, and reside there dormant, thereby keeping your iPhone efficient. Having made such a strong case against App Switcher cleaners, we have to say that it’s not like such tweaks don’t have any purpose whatsoever (why else would Apple let you kill apps manually?). If the App Switcher tray is too cluttered, it loses its main purpose, as you will have to spend considerable time blundering through it to look for the right app. That’s why we found SwipeAway to be a handy addition to the Cydia store. It is one of the simplest App Switcher tweaks out there, as instead of adding additional buttons, like most others, it lets you kill all apps in the App Switcher tray by swiping up or down over the icons.
SwipeAway won’t change the appearance of the tray in any way, and doesn’t add any extra buttons to the mix. You just have to perform a gesture while in App Switcher to remove all apps from it! No more repeatedly hitting the small red ‘-‘ button over individual app icons, unless you want to retain a few of the apps in the tray.
Right after installing the tweak, you have to choose the swipe gesture for it from the SwipeAway menu added to the Settings app. There are just two gestures available; Swipe up and Swipe down. As advised by the developers, the Swipe up gesture will fare better on the iPhone and iPod touch, while swiping down is good for the iPad’s larger display.
You don’t even need to be in jiggle mode for the gestures to work, though note that the swipe only works when you perform it over the app icons, and not on the empty space in the tray. SwipeAway doesn’t come with any bells and whistles; you won’t even see an animation when the App Switcher is emptied. This makes it very light, ensuring it doesn’t affect performance. The tweak is free and available in the ModMyi repo.
