iOS 4 with Multitasking = More Maintenance?

[shurcooL]

I haven't updated my 3GS to iOS 4 yet, but I have one concern so far.

All the other features on iOS 4 look great, but Multitasking is giving me concerns.

Right now I really like how maintenance free my iPhone is. I can leave it for weeks (in theory) and pick it up again to see the home screen and knowing all the apps are not running.

But with Multitasking, how would I know if some app is started and left half-way in some process... I can't be sure unless I close them all explicitly.

From what I've seen so far, the default behaviour when quitting an app is to have it save its current state... I'm not sure if that's better, cuz now you will never know what to expect when running an app (instead of starting from scratch, it may resume to some unusual state).

Meh. I'm probably the only one with such concerns, so I'm prepared to get flamed. ;D

 

[pxc]

It's not true multi-tasking. ars has a good description of it here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2010/06/ars-reviews-ios-4-whats-new-and-notable.ars

The situation you describe isn't one of the allowed behaviors. The app can complete a simple task in the background or can terminate, not close out a partially running task by the OS to resume later.

 

[royce321]

well if you can downgrade the os back to 3 if you don't like 4 i would just ignore your concerns and try it out

 

[EQTakeOffense]

There's only a few things programs can now do in the background.

Audio: you can now listen to streaming music from apps, like Pandora or newscasts through the NPR app, while doing other activities on your phone. Previously, you would have to quit out of the app (and therefore stop your music stream) if you wanted to respond to an SMS or read your e-mail, and now that's no longer the case. Hallelujah.

VoIP: similarly, you can carry on Voice Over IP calls on services like Skype without having to quit the app if you need to perform other tasks.

Location: apps that need to poll your location, such as GPS and direction apps, will be able to do so in the background. No longer will you need to keep the app in the foreground just so it can keep track of where you are.

Local notifications: third-party apps no longer have to rely solely on push notifications if they want to alert you of something on your phone. If you have an alert set in, say, one of Omni's applications, it can ping you when the time comes instead of having to go through a convoluted series of Internet tubes to get to you. This, of course, reduces your reliance on an Internet connection to get certain types of alerts and helps cut down on overall wireless bandwidth.

Complete tasks: if you start a task in an application and then switch to another one (such as downloading a new map in your favorite game), it can now complete the task in the background instead of forcing you to sit there and wait on it.

Fast app switching: this is basically "pausing" an app where it is, which allows you to quickly switch away from it and then switch back, picking up where you left off.

The application technically isn't 'running' only the API it was using is. The program itself is 'Fast Apped' meaning, the application is stored in RAM until you're going to use it again, much like a PC can be hibernated, same idea.

So your concern about the program always running, or quitting when it's partially completed a process is just an irrational fear of how every other phone does multi-tasking.

 

[shurcooL]

Thanks for the help guys.

I don't think I explained it well. I do know how "multitasking" works in the iPhone.

My concern is not about programs running in the background without me knowing about it (ala traditional/true multitasking as on other phones/PCs). It's about programs not restarting from scratch when launched.

This is already the case with most native iOS apps (Chat, Safari, etc.) and I'm ok with that.

But I'm not sure if I'll be ok when every 3rd party app doesn't start from its home screen (whatever that may be), but rather the place where I last left off...

Anyway, I didn't know you could downgrade to 3.x, so that's good to know (assuming no data lost).

 

[EQTakeOffense]

But I'm not sure if I'll be ok when every 3rd party app doesn't start from its home screen (whatever that may be), but rather the place where I last left off...

Anyway, I didn't know you could downgrade to 3.x, so that's good to know (assuming no data lost).

That's kind of odd. I mean, that's what the point of multi-tasking is, to let you be able to do multiple things at once. I don't understand why you'd want the programs to to always start from their 'home screens', seems counter-productive to the concept of multi-tasking.

In any case, it shouldn't be that big of a deal, you should be able to 'exit' the program by just hitting the home button once, instead of twice which would bring up Fast App Switching. Basically, you don't HAVE to use Fast App Switching/Multi-Tasking on the iPhone, it's just a feature if you want to.

Edit: What I'd do, is before you upgrade to iOS4 just do a backup of your phone. If worse comes to worse, restore your iPhone from the backup.

 

[HenryBravo]

In any case, it shouldn't be that big of a deal, you should be able to 'exit' the program by just hitting the home button once, instead of twice which would bring up Fast App Switching. Basically, you don't HAVE to use Fast App Switching/Multi-Tasking on the iPhone, it's just a feature if you want to.

I just upgraded my iPhone to iOS 4 about an hour ago. What I've noticed is that when you exit an app by hitting the home button, it doesn't really exit the app fully. You still see the app icon on the multitask/fast app switching bar. To "fully" exit the app, you have to press and hold the app icon in the multitask bar until it wiggles, then press the "-" minus sign on the app icon. So in other words, the operating system sort of MAKES you use fast app switching/multitasking.

 

[shurcooL]

That's kind of odd. I mean, that's what the point of multi-tasking is, to let you be able to do multiple things at once. I don't understand why you'd want the programs to to always start from their 'home screens', seems counter-productive to the concept of multi-tasking.

You are absolutely right. Multi-tasking gives you more functionality. It gives you more power. However, it _may_ also increase the cognitive load* for the user. I'm sure the benefits of multi-tasking outweigh the cons, but I just wanted to think about this in detail...

In any case, it shouldn't be that big of a deal, you should be able to 'exit' the program by just hitting the home button once, instead of twice which would bring up Fast App Switching. Basically, you don't HAVE to use Fast App Switching/Multi-Tasking on the iPhone, it's just a feature if you want to.

The problem is that even when you do a single home button press, it saves the program state by default and goes to home screen.

At least that's what I got out seeing iOS 4 demo videos.

Anyway, I'm about to install it and try it out for myself... Surely, that's the best way to see how things go.

Edit: What I'd do, is before you upgrade to iOS4 just do a backup of your phone. If worse comes to worse, restore your iPhone from the backup.

Ok, is this different from the backup it makes when I do a Sync? If so, how do I make a backup?

* - by cognitive load, I'm referring to how much stuff you may have to worry about. For example, when using a Windows PC, you may have to worry about updates, new drivers, viruses, anti-viruses, problems that may happen after uninstalling programs, etc. whereas when using a simple watch, the cognitive load associated with it is much less (just set the time and never worry about anything). Of course, a Windows PC allows you to do many more things than a watch, so the extra cognitive load is justified.

 

[Blackforge]

If you want to kill an app that supports being backgrounded so it starts from scratch, just bring up the fast-app switching (double-click home) and then tap and hold on one of the icons. Then just use the minus to kill the app. Just tapping Home will not kill all apps. You can verify what I say is true by trying it with Pandora

 

[shurcooL]

If you want to kill an app that supports being backgrounded so it starts from scratch, just bring up the fast-app switching (double-click home) and then tap and hold on one of the icons. Then just use the minus to kill the app. Just tapping Home will not kill all apps. You can verify what I say is true by trying it with Pandora

I know that, but it'd be annoying if I'll have to do this almost every time after I start an app (to replicate 3.x default behaviour of pressing home button once).

So how do I do a full backup? Ty in advance.

 

[EQTakeOffense]

I only have a 3G, not 3GS, so I can't speak from experience exactly how the Fast App Switching works. It was my best educated guess at seeing videos. However, look at Henry's post about exiting apps fully, seems like it's just an extra step or two for you to fully close apps, but definitely possible.

Whenever you plug your iPhone in, it automatically backups your phone. It'll also do a backup before upgrading to a no iOS. This Apple KB should be what you're looking for.

 

[shurcooL]

I only have a 3G, not 3GS, so I can't speak from experience exactly how the Fast App Switching works. It was my best educated guess at seeing videos. However, look at Henry's post about exiting apps fully, seems like it's just an extra step or two for you to fully close apps, but definitely possible.

I think you're right; see my post above.

Whenever you plug your iPhone in, it automatically backups your phone. It'll also do a backup before upgrading to a no iOS. This Apple KB should be what you're looking for.

Thank you very much.

 

[Blackforge]

I know that, but it'd be annoying if I'll have to do this almost every time after I start an app (to replicate 3.x default behaviour of pressing home button once).

So how do I do a full backup? Ty in advance.

You should only really need to do this if the application is having an issue anyways, correct? Not sure what you have against the save states, unless your application experiences issues. It should make application launching faster this way.

Plus if an app locks up or something, you can still use the Hold Power (until the power off slider pops up) and then press and hold Home to try to kill it as well.

 

[shurcooL]

You should only really need to do this if the application is having an issue anyways, correct? Not sure what you have against the save states, unless your application experiences issues.

This isn't a major issue in any way, but I'll give you an example.

Consider the Settings app. I'm used to opening it and it always starts at the top-most level, scrolled all the way to the top.

Given that, I can quickly get to WiFi and turn it on/off, or go to General->Usage and check some times there.

I can almost do it blindfolded, because I know where everything is.

But with a saved state, Settings will resume in last place I left it, which can be anything (unless I specifically go to its initial position before quitting it). So now I have to spend some extra time figuring out where I am and where I need to go.

Again, this isn't critical (and in fact, it can be helpful, if for example the only thing you most commonly do in Settings is turn WiFi on/off; then it makes sense to always end up on that screen).

This iOS 4 review brushes up on a similar finding:

That’s great when you want to switch between a couple apps or, best of all, when you click a link in one application that, say, launches Safari. It’s less great when you want to switch to anything beyond the applications you’ve most recently been using. Because the iOS doesn’t automatically excise inactive applications, the shelf contains every application you’ve run, but, unlike your Home screens, the apps aren't in fixed locations. After you’ve spent a decent amount of time swiping through a list of “running” applications, looking for one particular app, you start to wonder if it wouldn’t have been faster to jump back to the Home screen and tap on the app there, since you know where it is.

I've already updated to iOS 4 and so far so good. I've been waiting forever for folders so now I can group together a whole bunch of rarely used apps and reduce the app clutter.

 

[MavsX]

so not all apps support this "switching" right? Just the apps that appear support that?

 

[EQTakeOffense]

I'm pretty sure, actually.

 

[shurcooL]

so not all apps support this "switching" right? Just the apps that appear support that?

You mean switching between apps and seeing them in exactly the same "state" as you left them?

Yes, apps will need to be updated (it's extremely easy from what I understand) to make use of the new APIs and do a "state save" when they're quitting. So at this time, most of the 3rd party apps don't save state. When switching between them, you are effectively launching them from scratch each time.

Just about all stock apps now obviously do save state.

 

[MavsX]

You mean switching between apps and seeing them in exactly the same "state" as you left them?

Yes, apps will need to be updated (it's extremely easy from what I understand) to make use of the new APIs and do a "state save" when they're quitting. So at this time, most of the 3rd party apps don't save state. When switching between them, you are effectively launching them from scratch each time.

Just about all stock apps now obviously do save state.

yeah, that's what i meant. thanks bro.

 

[MavsX]

personally, i kind of feel like my 16 gig 3gs is sluggish now. I almost want to roll it back to what i had. and, i'm not sure if i like the folders either.

 

[Wolfie]

I could do without the cool icon flip when you go to the home screen. give me the icons, I don't want to wait for them to dance.

Oh, and had to go back in and turn of 3G and location services for max battery life.
(no 3G service within 50 miles, and location services is just a battery draining hog)

 

[tnt3k]

I only have a 3G, not 3GS, so I can't speak from experience exactly how the Fast App Switching works. It was my best educated guess at seeing videos. However, look at Henry's post about exiting apps fully, seems like it's just an extra step or two for you to fully close apps, but definitely possible.

Whenever you plug your iPhone in, it automatically backups your phone. It'll also do a backup before upgrading to a no iOS. This Apple KB should be what you're looking for.

Do you see performance gains on the new ios4 with your iphone 3g? by performance i guess i mean does it feel smoother, able to run programs faster? Sometimes i get screen lag on the iphone 3g. and keys don't respond at first and then it cranks out the words super fast after the initial lag