I agree with the OPs point. I just look at the bar as the way to close apps not switch between them. I have my apps organized and know where everything is. It is much quicker for me to choose the app from the home screen. I am not complaining it is what it is but I do think there is some room for improvement here.
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I still don't get it
- Thread starter WhySoSerious
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Or, Option 3 (not starting from a blank slate):
- Tap Safari to open it to a web page
- Since Mail is already open, double tap the home button and pull up the "multi-task" dock, tap Mail
- Now that you've checked your mail, double tap the home button and go back to Safari, where you resume it in it's suspended state
Your mistake is assuming that you'll always be starting from a blank slate, just leave your apps "open" and you can switch between them without ever going to the home screen. In my personal experience, there is very little reason to actually close an app. The multi-tasking system in iOS is designed to allow you to leave the apps open, so why assume a blank slate?
Get it now?
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Sure, the apps are ordered by las use, that doesn't mean that it's simply a "last run app". If the apps support multi-tasking they'll go back to the same state that you left them regardless of where you click on them, the multi-task bar or the home screen, if they are still "running".
again, you're just a rude individual.
i wanted an answer and i'm getting tons of answers form multiple people. i'm sorry if you feel neglected because i don't reply to every comment you make.
i asked a question, the topic is now open for discussion and others are participating in the discussion. i will comment when i feel i have something to say or have the time to do so. For the past hour, in my absence, i was eating lunch. i wasn't purposefully ignoring you, cupcake.
that made absolutely no sense; you're basically agreeing with my point (and i thank you). re-read what you wrote and get back to us.
From a UI designer's standpoint, there are two main reasons for having the tasks in that bar:
1) Emergency task killer. When Jobs made that remark about "If you have a task manager you failed", he really meant, "If the user knows it's a task manager, you failed".
Previously the iOS paradigm was that clicking the Home button was the task manager, since it could stop a runaway app. Clever, simple and hidden from the user.
When Apple added the ability for apps to keep running after the Home button was clicked, that paradigm became obsolete, and another method was needed for the user to kill apps if needed without resetting the whole device. Thus the presence of the (X) kill flags.
2) Back button replacement. They're partly put there in an attempt to make up for the lack of UI context in iOS. In other words, the missing Back button that almost every other device has.
Many apps we use open other apps. For years on the iPhone, the only way to get back to the previous app was to hit the Home button, then remember, find and relaunch the previous app... hoping that it kept its state. This can be a real pain, and spoils some of the power of using multiple non-integrated apps.
On other devices, you simply click its Back button and you return back up the calling chain of apps. This makes using multiple apps quicker and easier.
So Apple, having painted themselves into a corner button-wise, is using the recently used app bar to get around the lack of a Back button. Three clicks to replace one Back click.
1) Emergency task killer. When Jobs made that remark about "If you have a task manager you failed", he really meant, "If the user knows it's a task manager, you failed".
Previously the iOS paradigm was that clicking the Home button was the task manager, since it could stop a runaway app. Clever, simple and hidden from the user.
When Apple added the ability for apps to keep running after the Home button was clicked, that paradigm became obsolete, and another method was needed for the user to kill apps if needed without resetting the whole device. Thus the presence of the (X) kill flags.
2) Back button replacement. They're partly put there in an attempt to make up for the lack of UI context in iOS. In other words, the missing Back button that almost every other device has.
Many apps we use open other apps. For years on the iPhone, the only way to get back to the previous app was to hit the Home button, then remember, find and relaunch the previous app... hoping that it kept its state. This can be a real pain, and spoils some of the power of using multiple non-integrated apps.
On other devices, you simply click its Back button and you return back up the calling chain of apps. This makes using multiple apps quicker and easier.
So Apple, having painted themselves into a corner button-wise, is using the recently used app bar to get around the lack of a Back button. Three clicks to replace one Back click.
I have to agree, when I got my iP4 i was expecting to be able to be able to start an app doing something and have it continue while I did something in a different app. That is what my definition of multitasking is. This is still only doing one think at a time, hence, not multitasking. I have switchermod installed and out of about 20 apps in my "multitasking bar" only 4 are actually in any sort of saved state. The others still have to start up as normal.
True multitasking should let me start cydia and have it be doing its reloading while I do something else for example. Instead it starts as new every time.
True multitasking should let me start cydia and have it be doing its reloading while I do something else for example. Instead it starts as new every time.
Actually it makes perfect sense. Your scenario only holds true if you're starting from a blank slate. After you have the apps open, you can switch back and forth all day without seeing the home screen, which is a considerable time saver.
Think about that for a while.
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IOS multitasking is not multitasking in the sense that the entire app runs in the background until you kill it. It is multitasking in the sense that select processes can run while an app is not in the foreground being used by the user. The Apple approach saves on memory consumption but is not multitasking as we have experienced until Apple's approach.
Apple's approach is not perfect but it is multitasking as things are running the background while doing something else on the phone. For example, when using Navigon it is still providing me audio updates while surfing on Safari; or should I say while my wife is surfing on Safari.
That is multitasking.The important note is that for Apple's approach to multitasking to work the developer has to write their code to leverage the streams Apple makes available, not all developers do this which is unfortunate.
Also, in the multitasking bar, Apple puts all apps even if they are not running multitasking streams or saving state, this is unfortunate as it gives the impression the app is multitasking when it is not. This is what I used to love about Kill Recents when I jail broke, it striped apps out of the multitasking bar that were not doing anything.
I'm glad apple made multitasking in iOS so simple, the fact that people still can't understand it makes me think they would never be able to cope with complex desktop style multitasking! Its a great simple approach that works well and is unobtrusive to the user. If you don't like the fast app switcher then never double tap the home button. That way you never see it and its effectively switched off. Simple. Personally I think its great and use it probably more than launching apps from the homescreen as there are a certain number of apps I use regularly that are always near the top of the list.
I think if apple had restricted the fast app switcher to say just 8 apps then it wouldn't confuse people so much. You do have a choice you know and if you haven't used an app for a while that its a long way down the list, then just launch it from the homescreen instead. Just because the list holds every app in the order used, doesn't mean you have to use it
I think if apple had restricted the fast app switcher to say just 8 apps then it wouldn't confuse people so much. You do have a choice you know and if you haven't used an app for a while that its a long way down the list, then just launch it from the homescreen instead. Just because the list holds every app in the order used, doesn't mean you have to use it
WebOS is an example of making multitasking simple to understand.
OTOH, iOS makes any of its OCD users go crazy, clicking the X close button on every app in the list.
The fact that many people can't understand it, shows it's not intuitive. At the least, there should be an indication of which apps are actually doing something in the background (not just the global indications on the status bar).
Example:
I have one app in a folder on page 4 and another in a folder on page 10. I need to continuously go between the two apps every minute for 20 minutes to completely some sort of task.
I can open both and then use the task bar to go easily between the two. Or every minute I can open one app, then a minute later exit the app, swipe 6 pages, open a folder, open the other app. Repeat 20 times. Which would you rather do?
I have one app in a folder on page 4 and another in a folder on page 10. I need to continuously go between the two apps every minute for 20 minutes to completely some sort of task.
I can open both and then use the task bar to go easily between the two. Or every minute I can open one app, then a minute later exit the app, swipe 6 pages, open a folder, open the other app. Repeat 20 times. Which would you rather do?
While I agree that WebOS has a fantastic multitasking system, (I own a Pre) I can't really say it helps with OCD. I don't consider myself to have OCD but I always swipe all of the windows away when I'm done with them.
I really don't understand why people are confused. Let iOS manage your available memory and you can switch between your most used apps all day long. If you want to return to the home screen instead and use the phone the way you've always been using it, you're free to do that as well.
Exactly. What is so hard to understand about this? Just leave them "open"
Put the 2 apps in the same folder? Ive got all my apps organized into 7 folders on 1 page, I'm OCD like that.
I was thinking that too. Who really has 10 pages of apps, let alone 10 pages AND in folders?
The app store may have 65k+ apps, but 64,800 of them are pure crap. how many apps do people really use?
Here's another example. I have an audio app playing music, a GPS app guiding me on a route, and a task completion app all running in the background. Say I want to end all of these. How would I do it if the apps were not present in the task bar for me to exit it? And even then if there was some way by going to the actual app, if they're on 3 different pages I would have to go to each different page to exit all of them in order to stop background processes.
It's not just about entering apps, it's also about exiting them when there's a background API being called.
It's not just about entering apps, it's also about exiting them when there's a background API being called.
The solution seems to be that the ONLY apps that should reside in the dock are apps that really do run in the background. As it is now, every single app you open, regarless if it runs or not in the background, resides in the dock until you X it out....essentially making it nothing more than a task switcher (which is what the home screen is).
I still don't get it!!
Why does the iphone have a speaker AND a headphone jack?!? In absolutely no scenario, would I be able to use both at the same time. Also, because I don't own a pair of headphones, I have absolutely no reason to use the headphone jack. It is of absolutely NO use to me, it is a waste of space, and I don't understand its purpose. It would be much more work for me to buy and carry separate headphones around. So apple, if you're listening, please get rid of the headphone jack, because my choices reflect those of the entire iphone-user population. If I don't use the headphone jack, then clearly no one else does.
Why does the iphone have a speaker AND a headphone jack?!? In absolutely no scenario, would I be able to use both at the same time. Also, because I don't own a pair of headphones, I have absolutely no reason to use the headphone jack. It is of absolutely NO use to me, it is a waste of space, and I don't understand its purpose. It would be much more work for me to buy and carry separate headphones around. So apple, if you're listening, please get rid of the headphone jack, because my choices reflect those of the entire iphone-user population. If I don't use the headphone jack, then clearly no one else does.
While the home page is a task switcher, it can't be accessed without exiting the app and potentially leaving the current page you're on. Herein lies the difference. Whether an app is doing a background task or not, I want to be able to switch easily between two apps using the task bar instead of being on page 5 for one app and then having to go to page 2 for another.
His point is that while you may see no use for such a feature, it doesn't mean others don't. You should have the ability to understand this. For example, I listed an example where a person may need to switch between apps from page 4 to 10 quickly. This is where this feature comes in handy. My reply was met with "Well why don't you just put it in the same folder?" While that's doable, not everyone wants to do things like you.
I know what he's saying, I'm just saying that those are 2 entirely different scenarios. And all I did was give you a third option in your scenario that does much the same thing as the "multitasking bar" which currently is more of a recent-apps-which-may-or-may-not-be-multitasking bar.