Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The truth about iOS4's "multitasking"

M

mbell75

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 30, 2007
489
0
Thoughts?

http://mobile.computerworld.com/dev...7/iphone_4_multitasking_will_be_disappointing

"the way Apple is marketing it is a bit misleading. Out of the 200,000 apps available, only a few will be able to multitask, and possibly not from day one." The news is likely to come as a massive shock to current and new iPhone customers, who will no doubt expect to be able to multitask any app from day one. It also means that if you do want to multitask, you might not be able to with your favourite apps until that developer updates them.

As experts expected, Apple did not throw open the multitasking doors, letting just any developer add full-function multitasking to their applications. Instead, Apple added seven multitasking-specific APIs (application programming interfaces) to the iPhone OS 4 SDK. Among the tasks that will be allowed to multitask, said [Scott Forestall, Apple senior vice president of iPhone software] are audio play, voice over IP (VoIP), location services, task completion and what Apple called "fast application switching," which suspends an application, then lets a user resume at the point he or she left off.

For example, you'll be able to stream Pandora, receive Skype calls, use location-aware apps, and finish tasks like uploading photos to Flickr, in background. But apps will have to be rewritten to take advantage of those capabilities. Many apps will support multitasking from the moment iOS 4 becomes available June 21, many others will take time or never support multitasking at all. Apple started accepting iOS 4 apps on Thursday.
 
It doesn't bother me in the least.... I'm looking forward to a big jump in performance from my 3g, along with a great feature set.

What people say in the background I just dont let bother me, or cloud my excitement. Its my phone, paid for with money I earned. All the naysayers can go get this weeks droid or this months latest blackberry.

If the iphone wasnt so fantastic, why does everyone try to emulate/imitate it?

For all the apple/iphone/ipad bashers out there, get a life.

The proud Papa of a 2010 MBP i7 15", iPad 32 wifi, iPhone 3g, and soon to bee iPhone 4 32!
 
I think I'll prefer the controlled methods Apple is using rather than allowing just any app to run fully in the background. It seems they've found a good middle of the road solution that preserves battery life while still allowing some tasks to run in the background. Seems like a far better solution for a mobile device than letting every app just run.

The complaint used to be "I can't run Pandora, Skype, or Flickr in the background" and now they say "I can do that, but it doesn't count because it's not really multitasking." :)
 
clayj said:
This doesn't say anything that Jobs didn't already say when he introduced multitasking earlier this year.

Next.
Click to expand...

Exactly.


What are you trying to say, OP? That the situation with multitasking is exactly like they said it would be? Wow!
 
clayj said:
This doesn't say anything that Jobs didn't already say when he introduced multitasking earlier this year.

Next.
Click to expand...

Really? Did Jobs say only Apple's built in programs would be able to truly multitask? I think not. They are making it sound like EVERY app will be able to, and thats simply not true. The 3rd party apps will be limited to that "fast app switching" which is a pause state, resume function. Its not true multitasking.
 
Badandy said:
What are you trying to say, OP? That the situation with multitasking is exactly like they said it would be? Wow!
Click to expand...

The average consumer won't know this though. They'll think of existing phone MT or real time computer MT. When their apps restart when they switch back with the dock, they'll be like...what?
 
sammich said:
The average consumer won't know this though. They'll think of existing phone MT or real time computer MT. When their apps restart when they switch back with the dock, they'll be like...what?
Click to expand...

They won't restart. It is super easy to integrate fast app switching and saved state in iOS4. I'm betting 90% of your apps will support this within a week of iOS4 release.

Besides, the OP has just been trolling with this "limited multi-tasking thing" (you know, without pointing out anything the iPhone's "limited multitasking" precludes him from doing).

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10128305/
My response: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10129786/

I mean, seriously, that article that the OP linked to in the first link I posted was BS. He's just trying to spam this board with illogical, pro-Android posts.
 
mbell75 said:
Really? Did Jobs say only Apple's built in programs would be able to truly multitask? I think not. They are making it sound like EVERY app will be able to, and thats simply not true. The 3rd party apps will be limited to that "fast app switching" which is a pause state, resume function. Its not true multitasking.
Click to expand...


Did you watch the keynote when they announced multitasking? They didn't say anything like what you are saying.

They specifically mentioned VOIP, background task completion, streaming, etc. They didn't try to hide anything.
 
Badandy said:
They won't restart. It is super easy to integrate fast app switching and saved state in iOS4. I'm betting 90% of your apps will support this within a week of iOS4 release.

Besides, the OP has just been trolling with this "limited multi-tasking thing" (you know, without pointing out anything the iPhone's "limited multitasking" precludes him from doing).

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10128305/
My response: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10129786/
Click to expand...

I don't know how easy it is, and I like the opt-in system of MT on iOS4. I am very familiar with his one-man operation in that thread too.

That said, the most popular apps will be ready on day one, and the average consumer will be happy. As will I. My TTR games will never again be interrupted! :D
 
I think Apple's implementation of multitasking is exactly the right way to go about it on a mobile device with battery constraints. Other thoughts:

1) The vast majority of apps do not NEED to have true multitasking, and simple saved state will be perfect. Apps that do not need to actual do anything in the background will simply save state and be exactly where you left them when you come back. Most games, for example, will not need anything more than saved state. Some already do it, but having it at the OS level will be a great boon.

2) You really don't WANT to have every single app running in the background, as this would not only kill battery life, but would eat up memory and slow the entire phone down. Simply having a quick way to switch between recently opened tasks and saved state is all you need for most apps.

3) Now yes, for those apps that DO need some kind of process running in the background, then of course they will need to be updated. I'm sure developers will WANT to update them as quickly as possible because it means you will be using their apps more often! Some will updated on day one (Pandora, for example). Others will be updated shortly after launch. Perhaps others may take longer.

But all in all, the advantages of the way Apple is doing multitasking far outweigh the advantage you may have by doing it like a desktop computer.
 
sammich said:
The average consumer won't know this though. They'll think of existing phone MT or real time computer MT. When their apps restart when they switch back with the dock, they'll be like...what?
Click to expand...

The average consumer doesn't care about multitasking to begin with.
 
mbell75 said:
Really? Did Jobs say only Apple's built in programs would be able to truly multitask? I think not. They are making it sound like EVERY app will be able to, and thats simply not true. The 3rd party apps will be limited to that "fast app switching" which is a pause state, resume function. Its not true multitasking.
Click to expand...

Uh, obviously you didn't watch the 4.0 event, because they made it VERY clear what you'll be able to do with the new API's....
 
Apple is betting that for most people, 99.9% of the time their approach will work as well or better than fully open multitasking across every app. I'm pretty sure they are right.

NT1440 said:
Uh, obviously you didn't watch the 4.0 event, because they made it VERY clear what you'll be able to do with the new API's....
Click to expand...

And it's definitely not limited to pause and resume.
 
I guarantee that the same people who would complain about this would be the same who would complain about battery life if their phone did what they wanted it to do.

Apple has offered up a good initial round of APIs that should cover the most popular functions. Along with Push, of course. More APIs are surely down the road, and I'm sure we'll see some pretty creative uses for the ones provided.
 
mbell75 said:
Really? Did Jobs say only Apple's built in programs would be able to truly multitask? I think not. They are making it sound like EVERY app will be able to, and thats simply not true. The 3rd party apps will be limited to that "fast app switching" which is a pause state, resume function. Its not true multitasking.
Click to expand...
I am confused...Where are you getting this? This is 100% not true and not even in anything you quoted. All it said was that they need to update their applications to take advantage of the new API's.

Also, can you explain to me how Android's multitasking differs?
 
diabolic said:
Apple is betting that for most people, 99.9% of the time their approach will work as well or better than fully open multitasking across every app. I'm pretty sure they are right.
Click to expand...

I guess we will see next week!
 
^ I feel like you're saying "boy's hole" when clearly I meant "soul". Artemis, you did write "soul", right?

OP, thank you for opening my eyes! I am so happy that you're around to make me aware of this grave situation. I was almost about to go out and pay Jobs himself for the upgrade, but now that I know it's not "real" multitasking, I may just sell my phone for $50 and buy myself the first Pre I can find (You know, one that has "full" multitasking). Thanks again! ;)
 
mbell75 said:
Thoughts?

http://mobile.computerworld.com/dev...7/iphone_4_multitasking_will_be_disappointing

"the way Apple is marketing it is a bit misleading. Out of the 200,000 apps available, only a few will be able to multitask, and possibly not from day one." The news is likely to come as a massive shock to current and new iPhone customers, who will no doubt expect to be able to multitask any app from day one. It also means that if you do want to multitask, you might not be able to with your favourite apps until that developer updates them.

As experts expected, Apple did not throw open the multitasking doors, letting just any developer add full-function multitasking to their applications. Instead, Apple added seven multitasking-specific APIs (application programming interfaces) to the iPhone OS 4 SDK. Among the tasks that will be allowed to multitask, said [Scott Forestall, Apple senior vice president of iPhone software] are audio play, voice over IP (VoIP), location services, task completion and what Apple called "fast application switching," which suspends an application, then lets a user resume at the point he or she left off.

For example, you'll be able to stream Pandora, receive Skype calls, use location-aware apps, and finish tasks like uploading photos to Flickr, in background. But apps will have to be rewritten to take advantage of those capabilities. Many apps will support multitasking from the moment iOS 4 becomes available June 21, many others will take time or never support multitasking at all. Apple started accepting iOS 4 apps on Thursday.
Click to expand...


blah blah blah... we get it. you love your evo android...

all this was covered in the keynote.:rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back