Apple Watch Multitasking

[iKane]

So I discovered the other day during a demo that you can multitask between two apps on Apple Watch. I haven't seen this documented anywhere, but I think it's pretty useful!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YExWrJ9JgFs

Have any blogs or even Watch reviewers even mentioned this?

 

[aduteau]

interesting ....
That was one thing that is not clear in any tech reviews ... How does the Watch OS handle apps ?

Do they close by themself ?
Do they keep open but suspend activities in the background ?
Do they multitask ?
Only limited to two apps at a time to multitask ?
Can you kill an app process ?
How do you know if apps are open ?

 

[iKane]

interesting ....
That was one thing that is not clear in any tech reviews ... How does the Watch OS handle apps ?

Do they close by themself ?
Do they keep open but suspend activities in the background ?
Do they multitask ?
Only limited to two apps at a time to multitask ?
Can you kill an app process ?
How do you know if apps are open ?

From my brief interaction, I can say that it's limited to two apps. Double pressing the crown swaps you to the last open app. So when you swap to the last app, double pressing the crown again swaps you back to the original app you were on. If you're on the home screen, it'll take you to the last app, and then if you double press it'll then take you to the app before that. There's no choosing which app it sends you to, just whatever was the last one.

The other points I can't answer though I'm afraid!

 

[aduteau]

Weird how tech sites reviews cants get into the specifics of inner workings of tech anymore ... its as if they are actually clueless on how to do a proper tech review. Its all about doing flashy video montage with little to no tech mention ...

 

[Tim7]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1865997/

 

[Mascots]

interesting ....
That was one thing that is not clear in any tech reviews ... How does the Watch OS handle apps ?

Do they close by themself ?
Do they keep open but suspend activities in the background ?
Do they multitask ?
Only limited to two apps at a time to multitask ?
Can you kill an app process ?
How do you know if apps are open ?

Well, the 3rd parties, at least, will actually be running on the iPhone in a similar fashion to how extensions are handled now (which is not as a 1st class app-citizen), so it depends on the context of what you're doing and the permissions granted by the OS because of that.

As far as first party apps, I'm sure they work in a similar fashion as iOS, at least in its earlier stages which had limited backgrounding and a facade to mask that limitation. No, you can't "close" them because they are always potentially killed when you leave or conditions get tight, but the OS can handle relevant tasks and report back as needed.

Not sure of the crown behaviors or options, though.

 

[aduteau]

Well, the 3rd parties, at least, will actually be running on the iPhone in a similar fashion to how extensions are handled now (which is not as a 1st class app-citizen), so it depends on the context of what you're doing and the permissions granted by the OS because of that.

As far as first party apps, I'm sure they work in a similar fashion as iOS, at least in its earlier stages which had limited backgrounding and a facade to mask that limitation. No, you can't "close" them because they are always potentially killed when you leave or conditions get tight, but the OS can handle relevant tasks and report back as needed.

Not sure of the crown behaviors or options, though.

Yes I guess after WWDC 2015, Apple will open up the watch OS for native apps ... and after playing with the watch at an Apple Store ... the way the Apple Native Apps worked .. they were smooth as butter ! that thing has enough horse power to handle Apps (remember that apps wont be graphic intensive as iPhone apps or full fledge iPhone apps ... thats not the reason for apps on the watch). Seeing this first hand and realizing that app will need to be rethink on the watch ... and seeing Apple Native apps runing just fine ... my fear of this being a 1st gen device just went away.

Dont get me wrong .. future versions will get more horse power ... but for what ? this is a tiny screen .. its limited for interaction ... this tiny screen is for quick action ! If you want more .. take out the phone.