Hmm, so how does it play music from services like Last FM whilst you are using a sat nav application? I don't understand.

That is not true multitasking, in the same way running a background process such as the media player while doing something else isn't true multitasking

I am sure that you are telling me the truth. Telling it me twice does not seem to make it clearer.

It seems to be doing several things at the same time to me. In the case above. Streaming from a website, sat nav and I presume still acting as a phone. What more should I be wanting it to do?

AFAIK, things like chat clients don't run in the background, they hand off notification to the OS and sleep, until a new message is received and the user changes back to the app, similar to a TSR in MS-DOS. Apps like Facebook, Camera, games etc. act like they did in multi-finder, they go to sleep when the user isn't looking at them.

The calendar has a task which does check to see if it needs to set off an alarm, email is downloaded in the background, but the mail program itself isn't running, so, while it appears to be doing several things at once, the apps themselves are sleeping, just a small stub is left to pick up incoming messages, when the operating system calls it.

Navigation systems go to sleep in the background, if you are on the phone, so will take some time to update itself, when you come back.

I'm with you CC. I know all about what the iPhone can do in terms of running background stuff but I'm not sure what else Fin wants it to do?

Fin, please explain, what else would you like it to do that it doesn't already do. Specifically covering the area of multitasking as it seems to be your biggest area of interest. (I did ask previously but you haven't answered yet)

For me, having taken 50 image notes for Evernote, I'd like it to transfer in the background, whilst the screen is switched off, while I am walking back to my desk. As it is, I have to leave the phone in active mode, with Evernote in the foreground, for the images to be loaded up into the cloud.

No checking e-mails, no switching the 'phone off and sticking it in my pocket...

But the iPhone can do that as part of its Task Completion background API. Evernote needs to be updated (by the programmer) to make use of the function in iOS 4.

OK, just so that we don't confuse what an app can't currently do with what the iPhone 4 can or cannot do here is a list of the background APIs for the iPhone 4.

Background audio - listening to music
Voice over IP - talking to people
Background location - sat nav, RunKeeper (which is already using Background API)
Push notifications - email
Local notifications - hmm... not sure
Task finishing - Evernote syncing etc...
Fast app switching - save state for later resume

CC, as an explanation of what the difference is.

With true multitasking a system would allow for the iPod app to run in the background whilst email, games, etc... are running in the foreground on top of it.

What Apple has done is create a list of APIs that allows the programmer of an app to hand off certain tasks that the OS will run itself. i.e. the iPod app runs and a user starts playing a playlist or album and then when the user presses the home key the iPod app closes down completely but before doing so it tells the OS to continue playing the playlist.

This then allows Apple to manage the CPU and battery etc... for these tasks rather than having them all running and taking up CPU time and battery life.

I saw an app last night (can't remember which one) which asked me if I wanted to complete the task in the background. This is task completion. i.e. a user wants to transfer 50 Evernote image notes to their desktop so starts the transfer and closes Evernote. It then passes off the task to the OS and the OS manages the rest of the transfer whilst the user is free to start reading emails etc...

Didn't take the P0rn industry to come up with a good use for the video calls

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/FaceTime-iPhone-4-Video-Calling-VOIP,news-7241.html

It could also add a new dimention of the heavy breathing type phone calls

Being able to switch from one app, still running (such as a streaming news one, then to switch to a video playing system to find out more while having some music playing in the background if it can support it

I thought navigation systems did continue in the background. It was just location based stuff like Brightkite that updated periodically. i.e. only when you are actually moving.

I am still at a loss to know what it can't do that you want it to do.


Oh, and another little snippet I picked up from a podcast this morning Facetime does not require any minutes to work. i.e. You can make a free Facetime call without dialling a telephone number first. Just like Skype.

Not that I would use it…

You can do that on the 3G!!!

On a 3G (which doesn't have the same multi-tasking capabilities as the iPhone 4) the news app would use push notifications to pump headlines down whilst you have the iPod app playing your music. The iPod app works in the background even on the 3G, so you can then have youtube or what ever open to watch your video.

If the news app gets a new headline - a message will appear on screen telling you so and you can touch a button to view it in the news reader app. On the 3G this would mean closing youtube, but when you open it again it will have saved it's state.

I'm not sure I understand.

What's a streaming news app? Is that like an RSS news reader app that updates articles automatically?
AFAIK the iPod music is paused when playing YouTube videos but the app still runs in the background. Why would you want to watch a video and listen to music at the same time? Surely the mash of sound would be incomprehensible?

The news app would be able to use push notifications to update (just like mail does now) and these are currently managed by the OS (as they have been since iOS 3).

If the news app was written for iOS 4 then you would be able to do a quick app switch from it to YouTube or the iPod app (not that you need to as the controls are available anyway) or any other app and then switch back to the news app and it will still be exactly where you left it (even to the correct point on the page that you scrolled to).

Some sales figures.



Taken from HERE