Articles on: iPadOS

Why did my files automatically close?

If your open files closed on their own, iPadOS or iOS closed them to free up memory while Scriptation was in the background — Scriptation didn't crash, and your annotations are already saved. Reopen the file and everything is exactly as you left it.

What's Actually Happening

Modern iPads juggle multiple apps by giving each one a slice of RAM. When the foreground app needs more memory than is available, iOS pulls memory away from background apps — closing their open documents to free things up. The apps themselves stay installed; their open files just get released.

Scriptation gets prioritized for this when:

The iPad is running low on free memory overall;
Several apps are open at the same time;
The foreground app is memory-hungry (heavy web pages, video, large games);
Scriptation has been in the background for a while.

How to Reduce Auto-Closes

Three things make a real difference:

Stay up to date on both Scriptation and iOS. Newer versions of iOS handle memory better, and Scriptation's memory footprint improves with each release. See Current Version and System Requirements;
Close apps you're not using. Background apps still hold memory until iOS evicts them — closing the ones you don't need leaves more headroom for Scriptation;
Keep only the tabs you need open. Each open document in Scriptation holds memory. If you're working on one script, close the other 12 tabs you opened last week. See Are there any Scriptation best practices? for more tab-management tips.

💡 TIP: If files keep closing even when you've done all of the above, your iPad may be at the edge of its memory comfort zone. The System Requirements page lists which iOS versions we support.

Scriptation reloads and loses my place after switching apps

If your script reloads — and you have to scroll back to your page — after you switch apps or lock your iPhone or iPad for a few minutes, it's the same memory behavior described above. Background App Refresh doesn't prevent it; that setting only lets apps fetch data in the background.

To make it less likely:

Close memory-heavy apps (camera, video, social media, games) before switching back to Scriptation;
Turn off Low Power Mode, which limits background activity;
Keep some free storage space on your device;
Restart your device if it happens often.

What's Next

How do I save my files?
Are there any Scriptation best practices?
Current Version and System Requirements
What hardware does Scriptation work best with?

Updated on: 08/10/2026

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