iPhone OS 4.0 Will Finally Introduce Multi-tasking?

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Posted March 11, 2010 at 11:32am by iClarified

A new report from reputable sources says that Apple will finally deliver a multi-tasking manager for the iPhone in OS 4.0.

According to AppleInsider, "people with a proven track record in predicting Apple's technological advances" say that the company has developed a "full-on solution" to multitasking for the iPhone OS.

From a user-facing perspective, Apple plans to deliver a multi-tasking manager that leverages interface technology already bundled with its Mac OS X operating system, according to those same people. It was requested that specifics be withheld at this time, as the iPhone Software 4.0 remains under development and reportedly has a quite 'way to go' before it's ready for prime time.

Technically the iPhone OS already preforms multi-tasking; however, only official iPhone apps are allowed to run in the background. Enabling App Store applications to operate in the background would require a new graphical interface for switching and a way for apps to communicate with each other or prioritize resource allocation.

Installing numerous background apps will eat up battery life and degrade performance, tarnishing the overall iPhone experience. Of course additional system RAM and faster processors could help the situation.

Other solutions have been suggested such as saving the state of the foreground app before parking it, or scaling down the execution of a background app to reduce resource use.

*Update: a reference to a 'Multitasking Dialog Box' has been found in the latest iPhone SDK Beta.

iPhone OS 4.0 Will Finally Introduce Multi-tasking?

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Pr0phet - March 16, 2010 at 8:49pm

Im tired of apple coming up with old crap as some new innovation. It has been done, now stop with the proprietary BS and get on with it. You already launched a new device, go bonkers with the legalities of that and give 3 generations of iphone users a break. Running Backgrounder with Tom Tom / Pocket God / Phone / Email / SMS on a 3G Get with it, Steve!

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Bike1967 - March 11, 2010 at 12:29pm

But already nowadays, using backgrounder on 3GS but without any unusual application running, the average amount of free memory is the half amount of memory avaliable in the device (256 mb). So it has a lot of free memory to run background applications, but more is better.

turim - March 11, 2010 at 11:44am

Mr. Multitask! I welcome you!