[android-developers] Android partially destroying an app?

In a low memory situation Android can shut down apps and has some
logic to prioritize which apps to shut down first. I have read some
comments that Android can also partially destroy an app by destroying
Activities that are not currently used. Since I haven't found any
documentation about this, I suspect that this could be a
misunderstanding and that what they are experiencing is in fact that
the whole app has been destroyed and then the app has been started
again by the user.

Example:
1. The app starts and creates ActivityA
2. ActivityA starts ActivityB
3. ActivityB starts another app, for instance Google Maps
4. Android destroys only ActivityA due to low memory

But what actually happened:
4. Android destroys the whole app due to low memory
5. The user presses the back-button
6. The app starts again and creates ActivityB
7. Developer thinks (based on stack-traces) that the app has been
running all the time but only ActivityA was destroyed

If Android can in fact destroy just a single Activity, how is the
decision made between destroying unused Activities in the least 5
prioritized apps vs. completely destroying the least 2 prioritized
apps?

Or is the partial destroying just a myth (like the destroying statics
myth)?

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