Android Magazine UK - Issue No. 49

Add a Clear All

Recents button

Close all running

apps and windows

across your

Lollipop device

with just a

single tap

D

o you have a habit of leaving windows and

apps running in the background? This kind of

multitasking can affect the performance on

your dev ice and makes returning to a particular

screen more confusing, as you need to trawl through

multiple tasks running on your dev ice.

Lollipop does have an overview soft key that

displays all the apps, w indows and other tasks that

are running on your dev ice, but you can only dismiss

them one by one by swiping. This makes closing

multiple tasks a frustrating and drawn-out process.

The good news is that if you’re running Android

5.0.1, you can download a Clear A ll Recents button

that appears whenever you tap the over v iew soft key.

Then you can close all running tasks quickly and

easily by simply tapping this button.

To follow this tutorial you require a rooted dev ice,

a custom recover y and stock A ndroid 5.0.1.

Go to the Download folder, select the

‘ClearAllRecentsButton.zip’ file and then select

Yes-Install. Once the file has finished installing,

reboot your device. When you first boot your

device,youwon’tseetheClearAllRecents

button straight away.

4 Install & reboot

To see your new Clear All Recents

button in action, open a few apps and windows

on your device and leave them running in the

background. Then tap the square overview soft

key, which displays all the tasks that are

currently running on your Android device.

5 Launch some tasks

The Clear All Recents button is only

guaranteed to work on version 5.0.1 of stock

Android, although it may work on some 5.0.1

custom ROMs. To check what version of Android

you’re running, go to Settings>About Phone and

then take a look at Android version.

1 Check your version

If you’re not running 5.0.1, you’ll need to

flash the 5.0.1 factory image. Nexus users can

grab these fi les from the Google Developers

website, whereas other users should go to the

XDA Developers forum, navigate to their device’s

board and search for a 5.0.1 thread.

2 Flash Stock 5.0.1

Navigate to http://bit.ly/1B5RRia in your

device’s browser and download the Clear All

Recents button zip. Once this complete, boot

your device into custom recovery mode. Then

use the volume and select buttons to select

Install Zip, followed by ‘Choose zip from /sdcard’.

3 Clear All Recents zip

You’ll see a new, tripled-line icon above

your currently running tasks. Give this Clear All

Recents button a tap and all your tasks will

disappear. To check this button is working

correctly, tap the overview soft key again and

your device should have nothing to display.

6 Clear all recents

Hacker Zøne

Works with » Android 5.0.1 Diffi culty Level » Easy