iOS4 users: Is your multi-task list full of all the apps in your pages now?

[danpass]

Since they don't close are all the apps in your pages now creating a lonnnnnnnnng filmstrip in the task switcher?

edit: I think I'd rather have them suspend-in-place so to speak and instead set the filmstrip to learn and 'save' the '10-most-used-apps' or something like.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Since they don't close are all the apps in your pages now creating a lonnnnnnnnng filmstrip in the task switcher?

I dont quite understand how it works. How do you actually close a program so its not constantly open without having to go diggin around the multitask bar?

 

[Small White Car]

I dont quite understand how it works. How do you actually close a program so its not constantly open without having to go diggin around the multitask bar?

Same as now. Hit the home button.

That's it.

 

[jeni0816]

With your "filmstrip" open, press and hold one of those icons and a little minus button appears to officially close it.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Same as now. Hit the home button.

That's it.

So why do the apps remain in the multitasking bar then? They must still be open right?

 

[Drag'nGT]

Most of the apps are on pause. They aren't really open and running. An app like Pandora or AIM with background tasking ability will remain open because a coder wrote it to run that way. All the other apps you open and then leave (press the home button) go on pause until you return to them.

 

[Small White Car]

So why do the apps remain in the multitasking bar then? They must still be open right?

No, that's a list of 'recently used apps.'

Nothing more. Nothing less.

So yeah, if you ARE running something in the background it'll be on that list because you've recently used it. But if you're not running something in the background it'll still be on that list simply because you recently used it.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

So why do the apps remain in the multitasking bar then? They must still be open right?

OMG, no. Its just recently used apps. They're only openif they're using one of the 7 multitasking API's.

 

[bozzykid]

I dont quite understand how it works. How do you actually close a program so its not constantly open without having to go diggin around the multitask bar?

There are very few programs that can actually stay open after exit (Pandora is one example). 99% of the apps will just appear there because they were recently opened. A few apps have updated so that their state can be saved so when you launch it again from the multi-tasking pane they open where you left them off. But to be clear, most of the time, what you are see is not true multitasking but it is just simulated to appear to be.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

No, that's a list of 'recently used apps.'

Nothing more. Nothing less.

So yeah, if you ARE running something in the background it'll be on that list because you've recently used it. But if you're not running something in the background it'll still be on that list simply because you recently used it.

So if I delete a game for example from the multitask bar will that effectively work like I had 'closed' it and mean I would have to start my game from the beginning again?

 

[danpass]

No, that's a list of 'recently used apps.'

Nothing more. Nothing less.

So yeah, if you ARE running something in the background it'll be on that list because you've recently used it. But if you're not running something in the background it'll still be on that list simply because you recently used it.

Exactly. The apps in the pages have now been simply listed in a filmstrip.


I think I'd rather have them suspend-in-place so to speak and set the filmstrip to learn and list the '10-most-used-apps' or something like.


(knowing the typical macrumor poster by now I'd better add that to the original post.)



.

 

[Small White Car]

So if I delete a game for example from the multitask bar will that effectively work like I had 'closed' it and mean I would have to start my game from the beginning again?

No, think of it like the "history" menu in your web browser. If you want to see the list, you leave it alone. If you want to clear the list, you can do so. But none of that has anything to do with what happens when you re-open the website (or game, in this case).

When you re-open the game it will depend on if the programers designed it to remember your place or not. That has to do with the developers. Whether or not you clear it from your quick-switch list has zero impact on that.

EDIT: Basically, think of that filmstrip as "a way to quickly find an app." If you're starting to think of it as anything else just stop yourself and say "No, it's not for that."

 

[MacBoobsPro]

No, think of it like the "history" menu in your web browser. If you want to see the list, you leave it alone. If you want to clear the list, you can do so. But none of that has anything to do with what happens when you re-open the website (or game, in this case).

When you re-open the game it will depend on if the programers designed it to remember your place or not. That has to do with the developers. Whether or not you clear it from your quick-switch list has zero impact on that.

EDIT: Basically, think of that filmstrip as "a way to quickly find an app." If you're starting to think of it as anything else just stop yourself and say "No, it's not for that."

Oh so its a pointless waste of time and effort. Why double tap to open up the strip to find an app you recently used when its available with just a tap of the icon thats right in front of you? Also why do people refer to it as multitask this and multitask that, if it has nothing to do with multitasking?

I'm totally confused now?!

 

[LoganT]

I dont quite understand how it works. How do you actually close a program so its not constantly open without having to go diggin around the multitask bar?

If you hit the home button once while using Pandora, the music will continue playing in the background. Technically there are two ways to close an app like Pandora.

Go read this: http://whenwillapple.com/blog/2010/04/19/iphone-os-4-multitasking-explained-again/

 

[dojoman]

I don't like this multitasking too much. All open apps in the background take up memory. When I open memory app I have 7MB left, and after closing all background paused apps it frees up huge chunks of memory. I know now why Apple added extra 256MB in iPhone 4.

 

[Small White Car]

Oh so its a pointless waste of time and effort. Why double tap to open up the strip to find an app you recently used when its available with just a tap of the icon thats right in front of you?

Well for many apps I'd say that double-tap + tap is a lot easier than tap + scroll + scroll + scroll + tap, right?

It's a time-saver. That's all. Is a time-saver a "pointless waste of time?" I dunno...seems like the opposite to me.

Also why do people refer to it as multitask this and multitask that, if it has nothing to do with multitasking?

Because whenever Apple introduces a dozen new features people find it easier to just give them all a single name.

That's just the way the world works. Yeah, by trying to make it simpler they've actually made it more confusing. And then we've got to deal with that confusion. It's not fun, I know.

 

[Arminator]

As long as developers doesnt add a multitasking api to their app, this kind of multitasking is just completly useless for me. This works fine on the few apps which support it, but there should be a lot more of them!

EDIT:

And apple should only allow apps to appear in the multitasking UI which actually supports one of the APIs. All the others should be closed instantly.
This way you could work effectively work with the few apps that actually support it. Furthermore there should be an option to choose a time after which apps automaticly removed from the multitasking list. My iphone should remove nonused apps from there automaticly.
For me it seems this doesnt only make life easier, i also have to work more....i have to remove apps from the list

 

[Small White Car]

I don't like this multitasking too much. All open apps in the background take up memory. When I open memory app I have 7MB left, and after closing all background paused apps it frees up huge chunks of memory. I know now why Apple added extra 256MB in iPhone 4.

So? Why does it matter?

When you open a new app and it needs more memory it takes back the memory from the oldest-running app.

So who cares? When you need memory, it gives you memory.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Well for many apps I'd say that double-tap + tap is a lot easier than tap + scroll + scroll + scroll + tap, right?

If the app falls within the first four spaces. If not then there will be much more swiping going on to find the app. You may as well swipe twice the main window and have access to many more apps instead of only four.

I'm not having a go I just think its a bit pointless. Maybe I'll grow to prefer it but so far I dont see any use for it whatsoever. Especially now I know it has nothing to do with multitasking.

 

[Small White Car]

I'm not having a go I just think its a bit pointless. Maybe I'll grow to prefer it but so far I dont see any use for it whatsoever. Especially now I know it has nothing to do with multitasking.

I haven't used iOS 4 yet, so I'm not able to say one way or the other.

But I'm guessing that none of us will really know how useful it is until all these apps get updated to use more background featuers. That's when we'll actually know if the filmstrip is useful or not. We'll just have to wait and see.

And hey, if it's not useful it's not like we ever have to double-click.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

And hey, if it's not useful it's not like we ever have to double-click.

I've only just got used to double clicking to bring up the audio controls. Lol. Now they've taken that away.

 

[LoganT]

I've only just got used to double clicking to bring up the audio controls. Lol. Now they've taken that away.

The audio controls are still there. Just swipe right to reveal them.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

The audio controls are still there. Just swipe right to reveal them.

Yeh I know I'm just saying I've only just got used to them and now its different because of (in my view) a pointless feature.

 

[Small White Car]

I've only just got used to double clicking to bring up the audio controls. Lol. Now they've taken that away.

I am annoyed that they took away "double-click and hold." In the early OS 4 betas that was what replaced the old double-click. (I used to use mine to go to phone-favorites.)

But on the final version it went away.

 

[Vertigo50]

I love how everyone was complaining when Apple said that multi-tasking was a bad idea. People said "screw you, you can't tell us what to do!". Apple said there was not an easy way to do it that wasn't complicated, and that it would ruin battery life.

Now that everyone has multi-tasking, all we hear about is how complicated it is and how much it drains the battery.