SKScene transition, memory deallocation - ios

Question

Ok, i've read the iOS Games book and i've searched for my question in a number of sites and although I do find that a number of people had this problem, I haven't found a solution as such.
I am building a game where I transition a few times from a SKScene to another SKScene. What happens is that even when I transition from a simple SKScene, as the example bellow, to an empty SKScene the memory does not get deallocated. I've heard that I need to remove any strong references to my SKScene, but I do not believe that my code bellow has any:
#import "LaunchScene.h"
#import "EmptyScene.h"
#implementation LaunchScene
{
float _scaleForDevice;
}
-(id)initWithSize:(CGSize)size {
if (self = [super initWithSize:size]) {
_scaleForDevice = 0.5;
if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone) {
_scaleForDevice = 0.208335;
}
SKSpriteNode *bg;
if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone && IS_WIDESCREEN) {
bg = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:#"launchBackground-568h"];
} else {
bg = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:#"launchBackground"];
}
bg.position = CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(self.frame),
CGRectGetMidY(self.frame));
bg.zPosition = 10;
bg.name = #"launchBackground";
[self addChild:bg];
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
SKSpriteNode *launch = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"launch%d",i]];
launch.position = CGPointMake(self.size.width, 0);
launch.anchorPoint = CGPointMake(0.5, 0.5);
launch.zPosition = 1000+i;
launch.name = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"launch%d",i];
[launch setScale:_scaleForDevice];
[self addChild:launch];
if (i == 0 || i == 2) {
SKAction* rotate = [SKAction rotateByAngle:-RadiansToDegrees(360) duration:10000*(i+1)];
[launch runAction:rotate];
} else if (i == 1) {
SKAction* rotate = [SKAction rotateByAngle:RadiansToDegrees(360) duration:10000*(i+1)];
[launch runAction:rotate];
}
}
SKSpriteNode *mainMenuBackground;
if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone && IS_WIDESCREEN) {
mainMenuBackground = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:#"mainMenuBackground-568h"];
} else {
mainMenuBackground = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:#"mainMenuBackground"];
}
mainMenuBackground.position = CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(self.frame),
CGRectGetMidY(self.frame));
mainMenuBackground.zPosition = 5;
mainMenuBackground.name = #"mainMenuBackground";
[self addChild:mainMenuBackground];
[SKActionEffects fadeOutAndRemove:bg duration:2];
SKSpriteNode *mainMenuGround;
if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone && IS_WIDESCREEN) {
mainMenuGround = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:#"mainMenuGround-568h"];
} else {
mainMenuGround = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:#"mainMenuGround"];
}
mainMenuGround.position = CGPointMake(self.size.width, 0);
mainMenuGround.zPosition = 500;
mainMenuGround.anchorPoint = CGPointMake(1, 1);
mainMenuGround.name = #"mainMenuGround";
[self addChild:mainMenuGround];
SKAction *waitMainMenuGround = [SKAction waitForDuration:1];
SKAction *moveMainMenuGround = [SKAction moveToY:(self.size.height)/3 duration:0.3];
moveMainMenuGround.timingMode = SKActionTimingEaseInEaseOut;
SKAction *shakeMainMenuGround = [SKAction runBlock:^{
[SKActionEffects shakeSprite:mainMenuGround toDirection:1];
}];
SKAction *shrinkLaunch = [SKAction runBlock:^{
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
SKSpriteNode *launch = (SKSpriteNode*)[self childNodeWithName:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"launch%d",i]];
[SKActionEffects disappearAndRemove:launch];
}
}];
SKAction *presentMainMenu = [SKAction runBlock:^{
//Create and configure the scene.
EmptyScene * scene = [[EmptyScene alloc] initWithSize:self.size];
scene.scaleMode = SKSceneScaleModeAspectFill;
// Present the scene.
[self.view presentScene:scene];
}];
SKAction *group = [SKAction sequence:#[waitMainMenuGround, moveMainMenuGround, shakeMainMenuGround, shrinkLaunch, waitMainMenuGround, presentMainMenu]];
[mainMenuGround runAction:group];
}
return self;
}
#end
I have created an EmptyScene that is just that. It doesn't have anything in its init.
#import "EmptyScene.h"
#implementation EmptyScene
-(id)initWithSize:(CGSize)size {
if (self = [super initWithSize:size]) {
}
return self;
}
#end
When I run just the EmptyScene from the start my memory is around 25mb. When I run the LaunchScene first, the memory goes to 95mb, and when it transitions to the EmptyScene, where one would expect the memory to go down to 25mb, it remains at 95mb. Any idea why and what I can do to solve this?