Whatever Apple is doing, there always will be people like you, whining about something missing.
FAIL.
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Apple Announces Multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0
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Whatever Apple is doing, there always will be people like you, whining about something missing.
FAIL.
I have only posted negative comments recently, but finally we have an Apple event to be excited about. True multi-tasking will be fantastic and allthe apps that I currently love but have to pop out of because I want to do something else will work in the background; eg internet radio or gps exercise.
But the real news is iad. Whether or not it excites end users, it is a fantastic development for devlopers: imagine having the power of the iPhone generating fully interactive adverts? Also it strikes me as a major step forward in the world of advetising. Something that is rigt there on the device but which only distracts the user, but also let's them get back to the business at hand when they are finished. Most adverts means that I have to leave what I am doing am remember to return; not iad.
Fantastic news for the future of apple.
Finally I agree with sj that porn is no good for the iPhone nif people want it then the phone still grants access via the web. I'll be honest and say that as a bloke friends and I have dicussed he subject and we all know it's there. We don't expect to download porn apps for the desktops or laptops, so why would we want it for the iPhone. A company has every right to limit what is available through its channels and Apple s using that right.
But the real news is iad. Whether or not it excites end users, it is a fantastic development for devlopers: imagine having the power of the iPhone generating fully interactive adverts? Also it strikes me as a major step forward in the world of advetising. Something that is rigt there on the device but which only distracts the user, but also let's them get back to the business at hand when they are finished. Most adverts means that I have to leave what I am doing am remember to return; not iad.
Fantastic news for the future of apple.
Finally I agree with sj that porn is no good for the iPhone nif people want it then the phone still grants access via the web. I'll be honest and say that as a bloke friends and I have dicussed he subject and we all know it's there. We don't expect to download porn apps for the desktops or laptops, so why would we want it for the iPhone. A company has every right to limit what is available through its channels and Apple s using that right.
Get off this "kill your battery" Steve Jobs' nonsense. My Nexus One does true multitasking, and the battery life is fine. In fact I don't even think which apps are running and which ones are idle - "it just works".
The battery easily gets my through a full day of use, certainly no worse than my old 3GS.
Look at how the (jailbroken) setup running Backgrounder/ProSwitcher/Activator works.. To "background" an app, simply push home button for 1s.. It gets a special badge on its icon.. To see all currently running apps, double tap home button for a nice sideways scrolling list, a'la Exposé or what Palm Pre has (from what I've heard).
How to get Apps to appear in the Multitasking tray?
It isn't fully clear how the user end of multi tasking works.
Steve only demonstrated apps already open in the background and how to call on them via a Home button double click.
Is an app kept open depending on context or do you have to specifically engage it?
For example, if Pandora is running and you hit the Home button once, does Pandora know that it needs to keep playing and places itself in the Multitasking tray to keep itself running in the background or do you have to explicitly ask it to stay open via a Home button double click to keep it open and then hit Home again to go open another app?
What if you're running Safari and you want to send an SMS? Do you double click Home to keep Safari open or do you double click Home to bring up the tray and find the SMS app there which you can open on top of Safari?
In short, what's the UI procedure to get Apps to appear in the Multitasking tray?
In a comment to how well this has been implemented, the very fact that this question lingers, deducts points from Apple's implementation of multitasking. It should be intuitive, and not require some far fetched double clicking of buttons. Palm Pre's webOS multitasking UI is by far the most intuitive and in the spirit of iPhone's original implementation of their natural feeling touch UI. I wish Apple had done something similar with multitasking.
That's on the UI side. On the technical implementation, Apple did this absolutely the best way possible, allowing Apps to use only the services that they need to keep running. There's no point of having all of an App's functions running if the user is not paying attention to it.
It isn't fully clear how the user end of multi tasking works.
Steve only demonstrated apps already open in the background and how to call on them via a Home button double click.
Is an app kept open depending on context or do you have to specifically engage it?
For example, if Pandora is running and you hit the Home button once, does Pandora know that it needs to keep playing and places itself in the Multitasking tray to keep itself running in the background or do you have to explicitly ask it to stay open via a Home button double click to keep it open and then hit Home again to go open another app?
What if you're running Safari and you want to send an SMS? Do you double click Home to keep Safari open or do you double click Home to bring up the tray and find the SMS app there which you can open on top of Safari?
In short, what's the UI procedure to get Apps to appear in the Multitasking tray?
In a comment to how well this has been implemented, the very fact that this question lingers, deducts points from Apple's implementation of multitasking. It should be intuitive, and not require some far fetched double clicking of buttons. Palm Pre's webOS multitasking UI is by far the most intuitive and in the spirit of iPhone's original implementation of their natural feeling touch UI. I wish Apple had done something similar with multitasking.
That's on the UI side. On the technical implementation, Apple did this absolutely the best way possible, allowing Apps to use only the services that they need to keep running. There's no point of having all of an App's functions running if the user is not paying attention to it.
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From everything I've read, is the original iPhone (2g) going to get 4.0?
From everything I've read, is the original iPhone (2g) going to get 4.0?
Good question! It kind of sounded automatic. As though the act of quitting an app isnt something the user even has to think about. If so, how would that work?
Maybe the switcher bar has some intelligent combination of recently-used apps and currently-active apps (playing music, giving voice directions, etc.). So when you leave Pandora, if you do NOT want music to keep playing, hit Pause. Then it will still be in the app switcher for a time, but if you dont use it then eventually it will be gone and other apps will appear there.
- or -
Maybe the app switcher isnt for all running apps, but ONLY for apps that are actively doing something (like waiting for messages, or playing audio). In that case, to switch back to paused Pandora youd just launch it as normal. But it would happen to come up instantly. Eventually, if resources got tight, it would quit automaticallyand to the user, that just means a slower launch the next time.
Well have to see what developers discover!
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You're forgetting that the earlier itouches and iPhones only have 128 MB of ram.
exalted719 said:
You're forgetting that the earlier itouches and iPhones only have 128 MB of ram.
It is not a task manager! The iPhone has limited screen real estate so they can't quite do expose or something like that. This is much more like alt-tab but in a sexy bottom tray. The apps are not waisting resources and churning nonstop while inactive. The ability to see and switch between apps does NOT denote a task manager. By that definition the pre's card interface is a task manager, expose is, alt-tab is, flip 3D is too. Think things over a little bit!
I'd love to hear your interface and experience design ideas on how to switch between running apps without ever seeing the apps! WOW you must be impossibly good!
Lol defensive much?
I like apple's idea, just not Steve's stupid double-talk.
I have the Nexus One - I got multitasking, folders, widgets, home screen shortcuts, proper notification system, live wallpapers, and much more. And I am not jailbroke.
English? What about everything you've read? It sounded like you were going to answer a question but you asked one instead.
Answer to your question: No firm statement from Apple on that yet but because the 2G and the 3G only really differ internally in the 3G chip -- they both share the same CPU and memory -- both phones will get a limited version of iPhone OS 4.0 unless Apple wants to purposefully leave their first iPhone out.
I think there is a lot of confusion regarding Apple's stance here. They are NOT, IMHO, protecting users from themselves. They want to protect users from the developers. Apple has always had multitasking on the iPhone. They did not have an API for it and they force closed programs when they lost focus. This is because it is easy to write a program that drains the battery if you are not careful. It is also possible for a developer to optimize code to minimize battery usage when focus is lost.
Apple is taking a proactive stance. On a typical OS, you write your program and it runs. When it loses focus it is your responsibility to code your processes to minimize utilization. Apple instead is not supporting OS multitasking, IE, run program until it quits. Instead they are making a multitasking API where the developer must actively choose processes that run when focus it lost. It will still be possible to kill a battery with a "bad" app, but you will have to purposefully code it and it would probably not make it through the review process.
I have both a Nexus One and an iPhone 3GS.
You're right, the Nexus One does have that stuff. But you know what? The iPhone is easier to use, has much better apps, and is responsive and smooth. My Nexus One feels jerky when I use it most of the time, and it just doesn't have the UI flow that I appreciate and enjoy. It has many downsides, just like any device. Apple makes things that make sense without needing to read an instruction manual to understand what 50% of its settings are. Consumers are not all "droid" nerds.
In my opinion the iPhone just is a better all-around device. I'm happy with Apple's "closed system" (as your signature states) because it works perfect for me.
I'm sticking to the iPhone.
It is pretty much guaranteed that the OG iPhone will not be getting 4.0. Much like how the OG iPhone didn't get MMS. Apple wants you to upgrade...
Samsung Omnia HD can run 62 apps at the same time with real multitasking but the iPhone 3G can't even handle let's say 5 apps with Apple's limited "multitasking" (aka task freezing)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieSR97Ar8Ew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieSR97Ar8Ew
Can you please explain to me what limited "multitasking" is vs. real multitasking?
Like give me some real-world examples of what you can do on one phone that you cant on the iPhone 4.0?
Apple's multitasking seems pretty full featured to me.
Ethan
Do you want a freaking cookie or something? Really? Why don't you roll on over to the Nexus forums........
I thought the way in which Apple has implemented multi-tasking in OS 4.0 was quite clever actually. Theoretically speaking, it should do everything the end user wants it to do. At least, it's a 100% step up from the current OS. So people shouldn't really complain.
The notification system, however, has gone from terrible to possibly the worst system on earth.. or well, on computerized earth. Because now the multi-tasked apps will spam you with notifications, keeping you updated on their status (for example task completion), and now we've also gotten local notifications.
So you'll end up with the following scenario: you receive a text, push notification, local notification, alarm, battery 20% message, etc etc., and you will already have like forgotten that you'd received a text.
Apple's current implementation of notifications is a shame, especially when you compare it to Android, which is a much better and much more useable and organized approach.
OS4.0 seems to be a game changer for iPhone owners, but man, I wish Apple would step up on the notifications one day.
Oh and, I honestly can't comprehend the fact that some people are writhing in agony that their 3G won't support multi-tasking. I too own a 3G, and am perfectly capable of understanding why it won't support multi-tasking; the thing is already running on it's last legs on plain 3.0. There is no way in which you could implement a smooth running multi-tasking solution on an outdated platform such as the 3G.
Plus, the two year 3G contracts are due to be refreshed for the 4G anyway.
The notification system, however, has gone from terrible to possibly the worst system on earth.. or well, on computerized earth. Because now the multi-tasked apps will spam you with notifications, keeping you updated on their status (for example task completion), and now we've also gotten local notifications.
So you'll end up with the following scenario: you receive a text, push notification, local notification, alarm, battery 20% message, etc etc., and you will already have like forgotten that you'd received a text.
Apple's current implementation of notifications is a shame, especially when you compare it to Android, which is a much better and much more useable and organized approach.
OS4.0 seems to be a game changer for iPhone owners, but man, I wish Apple would step up on the notifications one day.
Oh and, I honestly can't comprehend the fact that some people are writhing in agony that their 3G won't support multi-tasking. I too own a 3G, and am perfectly capable of understanding why it won't support multi-tasking; the thing is already running on it's last legs on plain 3.0. There is no way in which you could implement a smooth running multi-tasking solution on an outdated platform such as the 3G.
Plus, the two year 3G contracts are due to be refreshed for the 4G anyway.
I thought the way in which Apple has implemented multi-tasking in OS 4.0 was quite clever actually. Theoretically speaking, it should do everything the end user wants it to do. At least, it's a 100% step up from the current OS. So people shouldn't really complain.
The notification system, however, has gone from terrible to possibly the worst system on earth.. or well, on computerized earth. Because now the multi-tasked apps will spam you with notifications, keeping you updated on their status (for example task completion), and now we've also gotten local notifications.
So you'll end up with the following scenario: you receive a text, push notification, local notification, alarm, battery 20% message, etc etc., and you will already have like forgotten that you'd received a text.
Apple's current implementation of notifications is a shame, especially when you compare it to Android, which is a much better and much more useable and organized approach.
OS4.0 seems to be a game changer for iPhone owners, but man, I wish Apple would step up on the notifications one day.
Oh and, I honestly can't comprehend the fact that some people are writhing in agony that their 3G won't support multi-tasking. I too own a 3G, and am perfectly capable of understanding why it won't support multi-tasking; the thing is already running on it's last legs on plain 3.0. There is no way in which you could implement a smooth running multi-tasking solution on an outdated platform such as the 3G.
Plus, the two year 3G contracts are due to be refreshed for the 4G anyway.
THANK YOU! An actual intelligent comment on this forum for once!!
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