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Backrounder VS 4.0 Multitasking...

bilboa said:
From what I can tell, Apple's multitasking APIs cover pretty much every multitasking use case that I need, assuming they work as advertised. The main problem compared to Backgrounder, is that Apple's APIs have to be actively supported by the app developers, whereas Backgrounder works with any app without any special support. So unless/until app developers of all the apps I use add multitasking support to their apps, Backgrounder will have an advantage.

One of the main uses I have for Backgrounder is allowing audio apps, like Pandora and Stitcher, to run in the background. I'm sure the developers of those apps will very quickly add multitasking support, since it's such an obvious benefit.

However the other reason I occasionally use Backgrounder is when I'm filling in a dialog box or am in the middle of some other process in the app that I don't want to interrupt by having to restart the app, and then I need to do something else on the phone, like look something up. In theory the Fast App Switching API should be able to handle this, but only if the developer has added support for it. Since some of these apps aren't ones which you would normally think need multitasking, I'm not sure the developers will add support, unless Apple has made it trivially easy to add support for Fast App Switching. So Backgrounder may still beat Apple's APIs for some time.
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+1 for the first and third paragraphs.
 
So now that ios 4 is fully functional for the mass population, I'd love to hear more opinions whether or not you'll all install backgrounder or not?

The more I use the multitasking the more I like it and the more I can think of ways Apple could improve it in future firmwares.

What would you all suggest Apple to improve upon? The first minor tweak that comes to my head is....simply adding a small badge to the apps that are running in the background. Exactly the way backgrounder did it.

What's your thoughts?
 
thelatinist said:
Exactly what do you dislike about the native multitasking? Does everything I want it to so far, and with less battery drain than backgrounder. I'm just waiting for the Navigon update...
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I agree the battery saving aspect is GOLD....but I love the way backgrounder works. For example when watching a video on youtube or in iPod app...I can pause it, exit out of the app, come back in and it's exactly in the same state as when I exited the app. I know that's not what multitasking is for but it's very useful being able to do that for me.
 
Jamesdamon said:
I agree the battery saving aspect is GOLD....but I love the way backgrounder works. For example when watching a video on youtube or in iPod app...I can pause it, exit out of the app, come back in and it's exactly in the same state as when I exited the app. I know that's not what multitasking is for but it's very useful being able to do that for me.
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Both apps do that natively without the use of Backgrounder. I just did exactly what you describe in both apps without backgrounder installed.
 
thelatinist said:
Both apps do that natively without the use of Backgrounder. I just did exactly what you describe in both apps without backgrounder installed.
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WOW you're absolutely right! It does work!!

I'm not sure why it didn't work for me a couple days ago when I tried it, but trying it now after your post...worked like a charm.

Thanks for clearing that up for me!


Cheers
 
I just tried using it on the IGN app....started to play a video, tried to exit out and come back into the app and it shut the video down.

Does anyone know if this is because IGN hasn't upgraded their version to 4.0 multitasking API's??
 
Multitasking

I really don't like the way Apple did multitasking... Just because an app can be backgrounded doesn't mean I want it to when I exit the app. Now when I check my processes from SBSettings it shows apps like Stocks, App Store, Calculator, Photos, basically all the Apple apps will background after you exit them. I wish they did it more like Backgrounder where you could choose when to background an app.
 
G****ROW said:
I really don't like the way Apple did multitasking... Just because an app can be backgrounded doesn't mean I want it to when I exit the app. Now when I check my processes from SBSettings it shows apps like Stocks, App Store, Calculator, Photos, basically all the Apple apps will background after you exit them. I wish they did it more like Backgrounder where you could choose when to background an app.
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You make a very valid point my friend...hopefully someone within the JB community will tweak multitasking to work as you mentioned it should work!

Fingers crossed!
 
G****ROW said:
I really don't like the way Apple did multitasking... Just because an app can be backgrounded doesn't mean I want it to when I exit the app. Now when I check my processes from SBSettings it shows apps like Stocks, App Store, Calculator, Photos, basically all the Apple apps will background after you exit them. I wish they did it more like Backgrounder where you could choose when to background an app.
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I agree with you as well. I really don't like that any app I close out of is not listed in the multitasking section. I much prefer to pick and choose the apps I want running in the background. Backgrounder was great for this reason.
 
G****ROW said:
I really don't like the way Apple did multitasking... Just because an app can be backgrounded doesn't mean I want it to when I exit the app. Now when I check my processes from SBSettings it shows apps like Stocks, App Store, Calculator, Photos, basically all the Apple apps will background after you exit them. I wish they did it more like Backgrounder where you could choose when to background an app.
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So those apps will run forever? I don't really understand how 4.0 multitasking works since I can't jailbreak it yet and haven't installed it. This seems a lot like old Windows Mobile multitasking. I'm debating whether I'll still need jailbreaking as well or should I just use straight 4.0. This seems bad for memory utilization.
 
I never really used backgrounder that often to begin with and I don't see the point of Pandora. All the music I want to hear is already on my phone.
 
boxstboy said:
So those apps will run forever? I don't really understand how 4.0 multitasking works since I can't jailbreak it yet and haven't installed it. This seems a lot like old Windows Mobile multitasking. I'm debating whether I'll still need jailbreaking as well or should I just use straight 4.0. This seems bad for memory utilization.
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Yes those apps will continue running until you manually close it or it gets replaced by another application running. It's pretty dumb to let all these apps use memory when you don't want them running anymore :( I'm guessing apps will close based off of how much free memory you have as well.
 
G****ROW said:
Yes those apps will continue running until you manually close it or it gets replaced by another application running. It's pretty dumb to let all these apps use memory when you don't want them running anymore :( I'm guessing apps will close based off of how much free memory you have as well.
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No, you're worrying needlessly. When an app gets suspended due to the Fast App Switching functionality, they become second class citizens with regard to memory. As long as no foreground app needs the memory they're using, the suspended apps stay in memory so you can switch back to them quickly. However if any foreground app needs more memory, the OS will start booting suspended apps from memory to free up memory for the foreground app. So those suspended apps don't actually take memory away from foreground apps, and they don't use any CPU cycles or battery power either, so there really is no downside. Except for causing people who see them listed in SBSettings to worry about it.... :)
 
after using the iPhone 4 for a couple days with iOS4's multi-tasking, I can't wait until they release an iPhone 4 Jailbreak. The way apple does it doesn't make sense. It makes the multitasking launcher more of a favorites launcher, sincei apps that dont even support 4.0API's will stay there. I only want specific apps open all the time, and apple has made this suck.

Cant wait until I can have backgrounder on here again....the fact that if I leave a terminal session it disconnects is already to much to handle for me.
 
DSchwartz88 said:
after using the iPhone 4 for a couple days with iOS4's multi-tasking, I can't wait until they release an iPhone 4 Jailbreak. The way apple does it doesn't make sense. It makes the multitasking launcher more of a favorites launcher, sincei apps that dont even support 4.0API's will stay there. I only want specific apps open all the time, and apple has made this suck.

Cant wait until I can have backgrounder on here again....the fact that if I leave a terminal session it disconnects is already to much to handle for me.
Click to expand...

Basically, the dock which pops up on double-tap is a recently-used-apps list. It has nothing directly to do with whether those apps are running or suspended in the background or not, though more recently used apps are more likely to be suspended if they're 4.0-aware.

It's true that apps which don't use Apple's IOS4 SDK won't be able to take advantage of Apple's multitasking, and obviously the Terminal app falls into that category. Backgrounder will always have the advantage of working for apps which haven't had IOS4 backgrounding support added.
 
backgrounder is real multi tasking period.
im hoping they update it and somehow incorporate the 4.0 native "multi tasking"
 
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