Multitasking = Success; Two Small Improvement Ideas

[sportsfrk214]

Two points I want to mention. First, I think mutlitasking is, in large part, a success on Apple's devices. I really don't understand people's complaints in how the multitasking was implemented. I think the 7 multitasking APIs are enough to satisfy 99% of iPhone users. So I think it's been a success. I've been using the feature and I find it suits my needs perfectly. I've been able to switch back and forth between apps and its been great.

There's just one small improvement I think needs to be made that would really solidify multitasking on the iPhone (and iPod). I don't like that apps are automatically added to the multitasking queue when you hit the home button. I understand that Apple wants to make the experience seamless, but the fact of the matter remains that I don't need every app running in the background. I use multitasking, but not constantly, and I'll admit it can be a tad annoying having to manually remove apps from the queue. So I have two suggestions to make multitasking better.

1. Give us an option to "swipe" an application off of the multitasking bar. This is quicker than x-ing them out, and more fun.

2. This is the main idea. I don't think that being in an app and pressing the home button should relegate the app directly to the multitasking pane. Maybe some people do, so at the very least, you should be able to select and option to do it differently. And here's how I think it should be done. Press the home button like normal, the app totally quits. Hold down the home button for 3 seconds, the app closes and is relegated to the multitasking bar. This would allow us to control what apps are multitasking, so apps we don't need don't end up on the list.

They could even have an option to have it the other way around: short press for multitasking, long press for quitting an app. Either way, I think this would make the multitasking experience better. I appreciate that Apple wants to make the experience seamless, but there should be advanced options for users who want to control it better.

So in summary, somewhere in the settings menu, there would be 3 user options for multitasking:
1. All apps relegated to multitasking (how its currently done)
2. Long press for multitasking, short press for quitting
3. Long press for quitting, short press for multitasking

What do you guys think?

 

[carebearsx3]

1. That would lead to lawsuits with Palm's WebOS multi-tasking, so no.

2. Great idea, but the long press is allocated for Voice Control.

 

[cocky jeremy]

I hate that every app you open automatically stays opened. That's going to get annoying. Hopefully someone makes an app for Cydia to fix that.

 

[youngplaya0228]

Yeah the second idea is what i was hoping it would do, ala backgrounder in jailbroken iPhones. They need an extra button or something because they are putting too many shortcuts on that one button (Voice control, favorites, multitasking, etc).

 

[sportsfrk214]

There have been way too many features allocated to the home button, and I'll argue very few people use all of them. Its about time Apple sets up advanced settings to allow users to control what button functions do what. Aka double tap, triple tap, hold, etc

 

[darkhunter139]

I just wish IM apps would be allowed to run in the background

I think apps are only allowed to stay open for a certain amount of time and it prevents them from doing this.

 

[ReidWings]

1. That would lead to lawsuits with Palm's WebOS multi-tasking, so no.

not really. Just make the icons poof away as they do in the OS X dock. No need to copy exactly the Palm's style.

 

[quotison]

To the extent you think you have remove apps in order to manage multitasking, you don't. Applications usually aren't 'running' when they're in the multitasking tray (which is probably not what we should be calling it). Most applications are going to be in a saved state, which consumes minimal memory, unless it's doing something like streaming audio. My understanding is that the OS will quit background programs fully if it needs the memory. I haven't used iOS 4 enough to say it's working as intended, but as intended, you're not supposed to micromanage multitasking.

So, the only reason we'd want to remove apps from that tray is if they're frozen (in which case the shaky mode method seems sufficient), or if you want to clear up room for apps you'd like to switch to more often. I suppose it might be nice to easily perma-quit an app if you don't plan on using it later, but aren't you still going to want to return to the saved state when you come back the next day or whenever you use the app again? If it's an app you're not going to come back to later, then it's probably in a folder or on a deeper page; the apps you're going to be switching to frequently are on the first page of the home screen anyway.

More options are great and all, but I don't think you're doing yourself that much a favor by trying to micromanage multitasking.

 

[ClutchThese]

would be nice in setting to have a tab to select multitasking for each app. that way you can select which ones actually multitask. easy enough.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I'll admit it can be a tad annoying having to manually remove apps from the queue. So I have two suggestions to make multitasking better.

Why do you need to remove them from the taskbar?

1. Give us an option to "swipe" an application off of the multitasking bar. This is quicker than x-ing them out, and more fun.

Wouldn't that interfere with swiping down to see applications further down in your taskbar?

2. This is the main idea. I don't think that being in an app and pressing the home button should relegate the app directly to the multitasking pane. Maybe some people do, so at the very least, you should be able to select and option to do it differently. And here's how I think it should be done. Press the home button like normal, the app totally quits. Hold down the home button for 3 seconds, the app closes and is relegated to the multitasking bar. This would allow us to control what apps are multitasking, so apps we don't need don't end up on the list.

That would be extremely annoying, especially if you accidentally didn't hold the button long enough and you lost the state that application was in. I like the way only applications that need to run in the background do, like Pandora or Skype.

They could even have an option to have it the other way around: short press for multitasking, long press for quitting an app. Either way, I think this would make the multitasking experience better. I appreciate that Apple wants to make the experience seamless, but there should be advanced options for users who want to control it better.

What's wrong with all applications going into the task bar? It's not like they're actually running in the background or wasting any cpu cycles.

I just wish IM apps would be allowed to run in the background

I think apps are only allowed to stay open for a certain amount of time and it prevents them from doing this.

This is what Push notifications are for. There are several instant messaging applications that work perfectly well in the background and have done so since 3.0.

 

[darkhunter139]

Push notifications for the IM apps suck honestly. I want to be able to be in a conversation on an IM app, switch out to send a text or browse safari then go back to the IM app without having to re connect.