Posts tagged multitasking
iPhone OS 4.0 event: Multitasking
Apr 8th
The biggest feature Apple announced in their iPhone OS 4.0 event today is multitasking. As an iPhone owner I was constantly teased by Android owners for having no ability to multitask. Not any more! Now Apple has implemented a nifty multitasking system in iPhone OS 4.0, and it looks like they’ve got it right! Whenever Apple implements a major feature, they always do it right. Unfortunately for iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd generation users, there will be no multitasking support added.
Multitasking on the iPhone involves double-clicking the home button on your iPhone, which pops up a four icon dock on the bottom and shows your background apps. You can tap on any app to switch to it, it’s that easy! For the tech junkies out there, Apple has added seven new API’s:
- Background audio
- VOIP
- Background location
- Push notifications
- Local notifications
- Task completion
- Fast app switching
Related Posts
iPhone 4.0: Multitasking Exposé, Universal Inbox, Contacts on Home Screen
Mar 31st
I
AppleInsider is adding to the multitasking rumors we’ve been hearing for a while now, saying iPhone 4.0 will finally extend the same benefits to 3rd party apps that Apple’s own Mail, Phone, and iPod apps (among others) enjoy.
Using a key combination, such as the double Home click that now triggers Spotlight or Camera (or whatever you choose in Settings), the current app would zoom out and you’d get a grid view of all running apps, similar to Mac OS X’s Exposé feature. Tap an app, it zooms in, and you’re good to go. How many apps will be allowed to run at once, and whether or not multitasking will work on older, RAM-starved iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G devices is unknown. (iPhone 3GS has double their RAM, and we’re hoping the 4th gen iPhone doubles that again for buttery smooth multitasking).
Whatever the implementation, Apple has a to make sure the new functionality is enough for power users but not too confusing for the mainstream. Apple’s success to date has largely been based on their ease of use as much as their ecosystem so keeping that is key.
Also mentioned again is the Universal Inbox Steve Jobs “confirmed” previously, where you can see all new email messages in one view and not have to tap into and out of each account (if you have work, home, school, or any combination of multiple emails).
Lastly, they claim Apple will allow you to pin contacts to the Home Page for speed dialing, much as you could previously pin web page icons for speed browsing. Just tap the husband, wife, friend, or partner’s picture and you’re off an dialing.
We still have no idea when we’ll see iPhone 4.0, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a post-iPad beta launch and a typical summertime release. Right, Apple?
iPhone 4.0: Multitasking Exposé, Universal Inbox, Contacts on Home Screen is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Multitasking Support to be Included in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 Software
Mar 11th
AppleInsider is reporting that they are hearing from reliable sources to expect multitasking in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 software. This is not the first time we’ve heard about multitasking being included in 4.0 but if it does hold up to be true it should silence many of the iPhone haters out there while making all iPhone owners jump for joy.
The iPhone currently does do some very minimal multitasking with apps such as email and iPod, but those of you with jailbroken devices are well aware that the iPhone can handle full blown multitasking with ease. Apple has just been shy to enable it since day one claiming it would bring poor battery performance along with various security threats.
The sources also claim the 4.0 software is still a long way off from being finished (this summer) so show some patience as good things come to those who wait.
Anyone else excited for some iPhone 4.0?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Multitasking Support to be Included in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 Software is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Is RAM the Thing That Will Dictate iPhone Multitasking?
Jan 15th
On the last iPhone Live!, Dieter, Phil and I discussed iPhone 4.0 and whether, as rumors suggest, we’d finally see multitasking brought to the platform. That’s when the discussion turned to RAM. The iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G have an anemic 128MB of RAM. The iPhone 3GS has 256MB. That’s the same amount as the original Palm Pre and Motorola Droid, which do multitask but do bog down and sometimes error out while doing it. Just-released phones like the Palm Pre Plus and Google Android Nexus One up the ante to a beefy 512MB of RAM.
What does this have to do with the iPhone and multitasking? We’ve seen time and time again that Apple would rather not offer a feature at all then offer one with a poor user experience. It’s why we waited for copy and paste until iPhone 3.0, and why the iPhone 3GS does 30fps video recording and even though the iPhone 3G could do half that, maybe, Apple won’t enable it.
When Push Notification was announced, head of iPhone software Scott Forstall made fun of Windows Mobile-style task management on a mobile device, and sighted battery drain as the primary reason Apple wasn’t doing it. Let’s assume Apple gets better battery life in the 4th generation iPhone as well, unless they get more RAM, it’s still tough to see them enabling multitasking unless and until they beef up the RAM so that at least a few apps can run in the background with as much smoothness and reliability as Apple demands.
Will iPhone 2G get another free update to iPhone 4.0 when it’s released? Will it get the full update, unlike 3.0 when it didn’t get MMS or A2DP. Will iPhone 3G, when it didn’t get video recording? Will iPhone 3GS?
If RAM is the thing that will dictate iPhone multitasking, 512MB (or more?) might just be the magic number, and potentially the magic cut off (or scale back) as well.
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Is RAM the Thing That Will Dictate iPhone Multitasking?
iPhone 4.0, 4th Generation iPhone Rumors at CES – Limited Multitasking, Verizon-capable
Jan 8th
While iPhone accessories and apps are everywhere here at CES, the iPhone — meaning Apple itself — is characteristically absent. That doesn’t mean people are whispering about it. There are lots of rumors about iPhone 4.0 software and the 4th generation iPhone hardware, but the ones floating around the most are:
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Limited multitasking ability. Whether it’s that new multi-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, a new SpringBoard (Home Screen) metaphor, or just Apple finally deciding to invent it (sigh), iPhone 4.0 may see us able to run a few apps (or more?) in the background.
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Verizon-capable. Again, it could just be the buzz around Qualcomm’s new dual CDMA/GSM chipset which should be ready just in time, but the technology seems to there and all that remains is for Verizon and Apple — control freaks both — to come to a subsidy agreement.
[Oh, and by the way Google, TiPb's been using that whole superphone meme since February of 2008. Just sayin...]
We’re not going to ask if you want multitasking and Verizon — we know you do — but do you believe it’s finally going to happen? It’s Vegas baby, so peg the odds below!
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
iPhone 4.0, 4th Generation iPhone Rumors at CES – Limited Multitasking, Verizon-capable
Jailbreak: MultiFl0w Task Manager for Backgrounder-enabled iPhones
Nov 24th
Running Backgrounder on your Jailbroken iPhone and looking for a little UI magic for your task switching? Check out MultiFl0w, free to try and $5 to buy, it’s not free like Kirikae but it’s fun.
If you give it a go, let us know how it works for you.
[MultiFl0w via Gizmodo, thanks Dylan for the tip!]
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Jailbreak: MultiFl0w Task Manager for Backgrounder-enabled iPhones
