Rumor: Apple's iPhone 4.0 to support multitasking, Expose-like interface
Rumors are flying hot and heavy about a new update coming to the iPhone this summer. AppleInsider has another big rumored feature: Multitasking. According to their sources, Apple will finally introduce third-party multitasking on the new iPhone. Of course, they're doing it the way that they want to and utilizing an Expose-like interface. Two presses on the Home button will supposedly bring up a list of icons, or names of the apps currently running, and then the user will be able to choose from those.Notifications won't go away; AI says that Apple is still concerned about battery life and network performance, so whenever it's possible to keep an app alive simply with notifications, they'll advocate that solution rather than running it in the background all of the time. However, it's also noted that jailbreaking is currently the only way for a third-party to multitask on an iPhone, and the company hopes to end a lot of piracy and jailbreak concerns by providing an official solution.
This isn't the first time we've heard rumors about a multitasking system like this, and it probably won't be the last. Once the iPad is out of the way, it's very likely that we'll next see the iPhone updated, and it would be a smart move to finally allow users to run more than one app at a time.
Share
Categories
Rumors are flying hot and heavy about a new update coming to the iPhone this summer. AppleInsider has another big rumored feature:...
Add a Comment
Two clicks get the task list instead of that bloody useless Spotlight? Hurray!!!
April 01 2010 at 8:31 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou can set what two clicks of Home does in Preferences. I've got it set to go to my favorite phone numbers (which is the default, AFAIK.)
April 01 2010 at 8:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis was posted yeterday afternoon (eastern time) on macrumors.com, and I doubt they'd post an April Fools joke a day early.
April 01 2010 at 8:04 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis dosen't seem funny enough for an April Fools gag. Hopefully TUAW will update the post if that's the case.
April 01 2010 at 6:13 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt would be nice to have pandora stream in the background like all my other music, notice you can only do it with iTunes and that's why there is no hulu app yet, you "supposed" to get all your media from iTunes, right.....
April 01 2010 at 4:11 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAwesome April 1st post.
Keep it up. Well, at least for the next 23.5 hours here on the West Coast.
Thanks.
who actually multitasks?
like, who has two mouse pointers on a screen in different windows at the same time?
I multitask constantly on my blackberry for example. the fact i can choose to quit to "minimise" should be up to me.
but to get back to your point, a small minority chose to jailbreak so they can multitask. Apple needs to learn that the strict rules of what can and cannot go into the appstore is why the majority of people jailbreak.
People want to install what they want regardless of the content. Drug Wars is in the BlackBerry AppWorld for pete's sake!
If Apple went back to what everyone thought the appstore regulations were going to be, then most people will most likely not jailbreak - that is, don't allow illegal or harmful content, or apps that invade/steal private information.
That all being said, BlackBerry, Nokia, etc. all allow unsigned code to be run as well. We should be given the chance to decide what goes on the phone, and decide to drain the battery away as we see fit, it is our phone/ipod to do what we want with it.
I did the jailbreak and installed several multitasking programs. It was fun for a while, but guess what? My iPhone crashed at least once a day so I removed them.
April 01 2010 at 2:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWell it's not bit exciting as I 'ALREADY' have multitasking ability :) for a long long time.
April 01 2010 at 2:36 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYeah but every time there's an iPhone update all your crap gets hosed which is a huge PITA. Hopefully this is true and I believe Apple will have to do it to remain competitive. My bet is it'll only be possible on the 3GS and whatever they call the new phone coming out this year.
April 01 2010 at 7:09 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWe have been multitasking since 1.x.x
I just hope the community jailbreaks the iPad as quickly as the iPhone was.
Hot Apps on TUAW
Deals of the Day
more deals- Verizon Leather Sleeve for Tablets for $4 + free shipping
- Wicked Jaw Breaker Noise-Isolating In-Ear Headphones for $6 + free shipping
- Refurb Apple MacBook Air Laptops: 12" 64GB SSD for $699 + free shipping
- JVC Motion Sensing Clock Radio with Dual iPod Docks for $55 + free shipping
- Apple iPhone Headset with Mic for $4 + $2 s&h
- Refurb Apple iPod nano 8GB MP3 Player for $99 + free shipping, 16GB for $119
Software Updates
more updates- EFI Firmware Update brings Lion Internet Recovery to 2010-model Macs
- OS X Lion 10.7.3 released with Safari 5.1.3, Wi-Fi bug fix
- Aperture updated to 3.2.2, addresses Photo Stream issue
- Apple updates Keynote to address Lion issues
- Google Search app gets new look on iPad
- Apple releases Apple TV Software Update 4.4.3
Featured Stories
more stories
Popular Stories
TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
16 Comments