More importantly, how does a phone remember it for so long and not forget?
In: Technology
Phones have a place that can save data, like what you copied, for basically as long as you need it.
Think of it like a chalkboard, once you write something on the chalkboard it stays there until you erase it.
For a slightly more advanced explanation, your phone converts the text into a very long series of numbers and writes those numbers into storage.
Smartphones, like computers, have a short term memory program. In Windows it’s called the “clipboard”. It’s basically a note page that holds whatever you’ve copied and it’s saved like any note you would ordinarily create. On phones there may be a set time until the file deletes, 10 minutes, 1 hour, etc. Traditional computers will hold that info until you copy another piece of info.
When you copy something it is stored temporarily in RAM. Generally this is called the clipboard and it is managed by the operating system, so as long as the operating system is running (ie. the device isn’t rebooted) the clipboard contents will be retained, unless it is programmed to do otherwise. OS’s usually provide APIs to allow programs to interact with this clipboard.
An individual application might also have its own implementation for copying/pasting data, and could essentially do whatever it wants with the copied data; keep a history, save it to file, send it over the internet etc.
Latest Answers