Filed under: OS, Software, Developer, iPhone
More suggestions of multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0
Developers have found further evidence of multitasking support for 3rd party iPhone apps in the latest beta (3.2 beta 4) of the iPhone SDK, and suggest that it will become a reality this summer.9to5 Mac reports on a new line found deep within the latest iPhone SDK. Specifically, SpringBoard.js has a reference to a "multitasking dialog box" that did not appear in version 3.1.3 of the SDK; it seems that it's new to version 3.2. Of course, there's no assurance that this refers to 3rd party support for multitasking, but it is new.
Additionally, Appleinsider's souces with "proven track records" state that Apple has developed "a full-on solution" for 3rd-party multitasking which will be a part of iPhone OS 4.0. No specifics were given on how it will be pulled off or how it will address the two main concerns: battery life and security.
Let's assume that Apple's plan addresses the security issue, but battery life still presents a problem, one that was supposedly addressed by Push Notifications. Apple's remote notification service allows applications to offload polling processes to web servers. By keeping the update algorithms working off the device, the iPhone's battery is spared. Certainly the iPhone itself must take on the task of keeping all of those apps up and running.
It should also be noted that iPhone OS does not use a paged memory model. That means, multi-tasking applications must compete for the same memory space, making it more likely that apps will receive memory warnings and even crash when they use too much memory. That's not an issue in the one-app-at-a-time space, but a real problem with multitasking
Of course, the iPhone OS is already fully capable of multitasking. In order for non-Apple apps to participate, Apple must lift the current restrictions within the OS. That's something the company won't do until the iPhone engineers have devised the best and safest method. As for iPhone OS 4.0, Appleinsider notes that it's got "a ways to go." Hopefully we'll have an answer in July.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
trayser said 2:14PM on 3-11-2010
About the battery issue :
I don't think the battery should discharge more than it does today when playing songs and receiving push email and other push notifications.
I don't know about apple's solution, but it might be good if applications have application types (For example, sound producers, geo loggers, internet based notifications receiver etc).
There could be only one application in each category running. For example if pandora is playing, itunes cannot play. If one geo-location logger is running, the other cannot.
This will reduce the possibility of many apps running that drain the battery. If the number of application types is small, they could as well be displayed in status bar.
In any case, since we can only see and interact with only one application at a time, I don't think there is any significant use of multitasking, except for the apps that don''t need user interaction like the sound producers and geo-loggers mentioned above.
-satyakam
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Jordan said 3:03PM on 3-11-2010
When it comes to the battery issue:
Have any of you ever played a real game on the iPhone/pod. The battery drains instantly, you're lucky to get a few hours of battery life. So what does it matter if I choose to use my battery playing a game vs running multiple applications? Apple seems to have no problem selling games that kill the battery...yet we can't run multiple apps.
The same issue applies to Flash. Apple's main argument is battery life. Well, what does it matter if I choose to use my battery on a game vs using something that runs flash? Again, Apple has no problem selling me that game that kills my battery, yet they won't let me use flash. It's not like flash being there is going to destroy the battery, it's only going to get used when needed.
Same applies to watching video, watching full-length movies kills the battery, yet Apple has no problem selling me those movies.
Apple needs to start finding new excuses besides battery life.
Harkonian said 5:44PM on 3-11-2010
@Jordan: The difference is that when a game drains the battery life, you know exactly what is going on and why. If you have apps running in the background it is not as clear to the user and they are more than likely to just assume Apple sucks, or the battery sucks, or they have a faulty device. I can imagine the support incidents per device will go up significantly when users can run apps in the background and forget about them.
darrell said 12:57AM on 3-12-2010
@Jordan: you answered part of your question. apple clearly states battery life for basic functions on the iPhone. but they can't state x-hours battery life while running multiple applications. that's why they can claim 10 hours of battery life while watching videos, but won't rate battery life for applications.
@trayser: another issue is for apps like games. some games use the full power of the iPhone, what will happen if we want to check out a website while the game is running in the background? the entire phone will start to slow down. there isn't a magical device that can keep us from slowing down our phones but the perception is that there is. this is probably why android limits the amount of multi-tasking applications. also, if the user doesn't realize that the game they were playing has been running in the background - they'll wind up with a dead battery in 20 minutes.
RF9 said 2:41PM on 3-11-2010
Using the jailbreak app Backgrounder, multitasking works pretty well already. Of course the solution is a kludge as it offers no good task switching or management. Really, all I ask is to multitask 1-2 apps at a time, particularly running the Sirus XM app in the background while I go on to web surf or do other things.
Memory hasn't been an issue.
Battery life would be an issue. Leave something running and it'll run down the battery. I say educate the customer. It works on other phones.
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Gary said 2:50PM on 3-11-2010
Get proswitcher if you want a good way to switch between backgrounded apps.
Halopend said 6:53PM on 3-11-2010
Yes, definitely get ProSwitcher, I only found out about it today (in the comments of the macrumors version of this article) and downloaded it immediately. There is a ton of options with it so it's a little confusing and it works in conjunction with backgrounder so they seem to conflict with each other at first.
My primary suggestion is to go into backgrounder under controls and set it to NONE. ProSwitcher will still background the app by holding the home button and launch it's menu, but this way if you hold the home button a second time from the app it won't quit. For when you do want to quit the app, just do it from the ProSwitcher menu. Using it like this, there is no more guessing "Did I background this app or not?" and then being pissed off when you accidentally killed an app by trying to background it.
darrell said 1:09AM on 3-12-2010
@Halopend: thanks for the tip! i've been running proswitcher for a few days and that was the only thing that bothered me about it.
kbotc said 2:49PM on 3-11-2010
Actually, IMHO, they have made some good task switchers for the jailbroken phone. Check out Proswitcher (A very obvious rip of Palm's card application, but it works well, none the less).
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MC SE7EN said 2:56PM on 3-11-2010
Yeah, I agree. I love ProSwitcher. Between that and LockInfo's new InfoShade, I can get to any information I need in just a second or two. It's really handy.
And the ProSwitcher details page actually says it's styled after the Palm card layout, so I should hope it's pretty obvious that it's taken from there lol. ;)
deeboykin said 6:41PM on 3-11-2010
I think thats a good way to put it im 13 and i have an iphone it helps me alot
RF9 said 3:02PM on 3-11-2010
Thanks, I'll try proswitcher. Now if Apple will only implement what they can learn from this.
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mjhru said 6:32PM on 3-11-2010
Proswitcher is really good! Multitasking on a jailbroken iphone works really well! Memory is defintely an issue on the 3g version of the iphone. I'm seeing only about 40MBs free without any apps open. If you open up Safari, and the Ipod, it goes down to 5-8MB..randomly the phone and mail apps open on their own, consuming memory.
I've heard the 3gs has double the RAM and I'm sure newer versions will have even more so bring on the multitasking!
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MacDavo said 3:21PM on 3-11-2010
JB Clipboard support was out several months before Apple FINALLY did anything about it. I think multitasking may fall into that category and you can bet when they do it, it will be unlike anything in the JB scene.
I agree with the flakey excuse of battery life comments. iPhone battery life already sucks and many professionals have switched back to Nokia or others because of it.
Multitasking may never see the light of day because of Apple's KISS approach to products; especially the iPad.
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James Barsby said 3:35PM on 3-11-2010
Am I the only one that doesn't see the point of multitasking on such a small device.
I can already listen to music while browsing the web or checking email, what more do you want?
I can close Safari, open another app, then reopen Safari and it is exactly where I left it... What is the difference between that and minimising it on a PC? There just isn't the screen space to do two things at once.
Adding multitasking will just make the iPhone slower and less stable.
The iPad is a slightly different matter as the larger screen gives you the possibility of running two apps side by side, but I could certainly live without it... BTW this is coming from someone who works on large dual screen monitors with a minimum of 5 apps and about 30 browser tabs open at one time. The difference is, I'm not planning on trying to develop websites or design magazines on my iPad, that isn't what it's for.
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Jordan said 4:35PM on 3-11-2010
I want to listen to music that's NOT ON my iPhone, such as Pandora or Internet Radio, while sending a text or checking my email. I want to be playing a simple game, as simple as a crossword puzzle, and be able to respond to an incoming text while not losing my game. It's the simple things. I don't want to be running photoshop while editing in Final Cut, but the iPhone SHOULD be able to handle the simple things.
Montana Leet said 11:21PM on 3-11-2010
Jordan: There are Internet streams compatible with the Safari browser, and Safari runs in the background. There are even a few apps that you can look up compatible radio stations with and the app will open the stream in Safari. TuneIn Radio is BY FAR my favorite. :-)
hmlong said 3:38PM on 3-11-2010
IMHO there are only a few instances where full app multitasking is needed. Many apps could get by with spinning off lightweight tasks that run in the background.
Apple could also implement pooled connection requests on some sort of timer to keep each and every app from firing up the GPS or WiFi/3G radios whenever they please.
They could also let some applications behave somewhat like the existing phone app, where they push the current application into the background until the "modal" app is finished. That and timed tasks would make most IM and SMS-type applications feasible.
Put on your thinking caps people. There are many ways to get most of the benefits while reducing the disadvantages and while maintaining a decent battery life.
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joeybeast said 5:14PM on 3-11-2010
I just hope that I don't need to buy a new iphone to enjoy this feature.
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Jordan said 6:28PM on 3-11-2010
This is Apple we're talking about. After all, they expect users to believe that only the third-gen iPod touch and iPhone 3GS can handle voiceover...