How do I block an app on my iPhone without deleting it?

Some apps can cause your iPhone to run out of memory and slow down when used.

Some of the top app killers on Apple's list are games that use lots of memory (and battery). I've been meaning to figure out how to block an app so it won't use up all my memory, but haven't gotten around to it.

The first thing to know is that you don't have to "kill" an app before it uses up all the RAM in your iPhone. That would cause the app to get shut down from multitasking (basically, being removed from the screen by the app switcher). Instead, you can just switch to the app's settings and disable background refresh -- something the Settings app doesn't explain anywhere.

You can access the app's settings in two ways: through the app itself, or in the iPhone's Settings app. Let's walk through how you do both.

Open the app, tap the top right "Share" button, and tap "Edit". In the lower-left corner, tap "Background Refresh", and then tap either the OFF or ON position.

Tap the Share button, then tap "Change" and tap the "None" option. You'll be able to choose "None" again if this fixes your problem.

Go to the iPhone's Settings app, and tap the Settings icon on the bottom left of the iPhone home screen. Select General > Background App Refresh.

Select "Enable." Close any apps you no longer need to run in the background, as described in "How do I close apps on my iPhone?" here. For more information about how your phone is running out of memory, see the article "Top three app killers on iPhone" here. The best thing to do with apps that you think can be a resource hog is to delete them (or "uninstall" them). But, in fact, that's not always possible -- you may want to leave an app installed. When I want to block an app on my iPhone from using memory, this is the next best thing, which has to do with accessing settings for apps rather than deleting them.

The way to do it depends on the app, but basically you can go into the app itself, disable the auto-refresh part, and leave it there. I generally don't find this necessary, but you might. Again, read on!

Can you temporarily block an app?

I just recently got my first smartphone, an iPhone 5S.

I had been using the Google Play Store because it worked on more devices, so I downloaded the Play Store app and put it on my phone. However, for some reason it doesn't work on my phone. Whenever I try to open it, it says "An unexpected error has occurred." I am wondering if there is a way I can temporarily block the app or something so I can get back to using Google Play? Thanks!

I'm sorry that you have encountered this problem. This issue will likely be fixed with iOS 8.0 and Android 6. The version of iOS you have will determine how easy it is to update your device, however, most newer iPhones will be able to update through iTunes. We hope this helps!

Answer:? I tried uninstalling the Play Store app and reinstalling it, but that didn't work. How do I get around this so I can use Google Play? I don't want to have to wait until iOS 8.0 comes out for my iPhone to fix this. I don't have access to a computer to update it.

Hi,I was trying to install a new app and the play store said that it couldn't download the app. Is there any way to block it so I can install the app? Hello jayhoo. It sounds like you are unable to download or install the Play Store app. Do you have cellular data service or Wi-Fi? If so, you will need to download the Play Store app from the App Store to your iPhone. If you don't have Wi-Fi or cellular data service, you can download the Play Store app directly to your iPhone and set it up manually using iTunes.

You could also try the steps here to manually delete the apps: I am trying to update my HTC phone (4S) to iOS 7.1.2. The screen just goes black with a spinning circle. My carrier says they don't know what happened and won't provide me with a new phone until I sign off of my data plan.