Virtual Memory On iDevices

Today, out of frustration with apps closing and tabs in Safari having to be refreshed everytime I switched, I did some research on virtual memory for my iPod.

Virtual memory works as its name, basically it uses a file on a storage device to store low priority programs when the RAM gets low. Unfortunately iDevices don’t have such a feature, and my iPod Touch 4G only has 256 MB RAM if I remember correctly.

When I clear the RAM using SBSettings, on the good days I have 100-115 MB free, which is quickly eaten up by Safari and other apps. “Close some apps!!” you say. Well, just with Safari open with two tabs ( the norm) I’ve got 20-40 MB free, which isn’t much.

So, I went on a quest for a swap file solution for the iOS. And I found it on some remote forum, this time with the text files content posted instead of the file itself on a filehost, which I had been trying to hunt down. I followed the brief instructions, namely create these two files, pop them in the proper directories, and reboot.

On reboot I opened about 12+ apps, including Safari, and my memory reached 20 MB free. Now that’s what I call an improvement. Right now I’m sitting here idling with 100 MB free, and it’s awesome.

Now there are some risks involved with this, and I am aware of them and the consequences. There’s a risk of the flash memory being written to too many times from this and then failing, but I read from multiple sources that this would take about 5 years to happen, which by that time I should have a new device.

Besides, I don’t use it often enough for that. Really thrilled with the results, and will be tinkering with some options in the text files today.