Apple iPhone OS 4.0 to introduce Multitasking, 100 other features

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  • Reply 181 of 273
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PaulMJohnson View Post


    I think the main question is, will all these new features actually make the iPhone better to use.



    Personally, I think the fact that apps will be able to save their state and open in the same condition is a big step forwards. Where in memory that app is kept and whether or not it uses CPU cycles I couldn't care less about, as long as it works.



    Being able to play music from other services in the background is good as well.



    This all seems to be pretty sensible and thought through changes, so it will be interesting to see what developers do with it.



    iAd does concern me a little though. Granted you could get some cool ads that are useful, but they could be a pain and just take up screen real estate. Again, time will tell.



    The ads would be there regardless. If Apple can make them less annoying, more power to them.



    For the rest, yes it does seem sensible. For those arguing that Apple's pseudo-multitasking is inferior or doesn't actually provide any benefits, one has to ask them, why exactly then do you think Apple implemented it this way? Was it just to make it harder on devs? To annoy users? Just to be different for the sake of being different?



    While much of how Apple markets it will obviously be spin, it is a bit strange that these people think Apple wanted to reinvent the wheel just to waste their own time. I mean, iPhone OS is UNIX. It is fully capable of pre-emptive multitasking. They intentionally prohibit traditional multitasking and took this long to implement the functionality announced today. Is the thought process really that Apple did this all of just for fun?



    Honestly, I am interested in hearing from those that are complaining about this...what exactly do you think Apple's motives would be, given the obviously downsides to have taken this route?
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  • Reply 182 of 273
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jodyfanning View Post


    Yes, I did, and it worked perfectly fine thank you very much.



    I'm sorry that you are so confused that you believe your 3G would grind to a halt. I'm sure the thousands with jailbroken ones might disagree though.



    Confused???? My 3G was jailbroken and it ran like a piece of shit so im speaking for experience but you are obviously the spokesperson for all jailbroken 3G's so i will need to bow to your knowledge.



    I must concede in my lack of knowledge with regards to the windows comment but i work for a fairly large company who looked into changing OS to Win7 and concluded that they would not go ahead as the hardware was not sufficient and these computers are approx. 3 years old. Maybe they were just crap to start with
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  • Reply 183 of 273
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Doesn't matter what else it would be doing, the point is that it wouldn't be allowed to do anything else.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jodyfanning View Post


    And what kinds of things would those be? I'm sure the Pandora developers are thinking "while the user is streaming music I'll just calculate PI to 12 million decimal places for a laugh".



    Jeez, people fall for the RDF every time.



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  • Reply 184 of 273
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    iPhone OS is now complete, in my opinion. Everything that anyone could ever reasonably want is now supported.



    Now Apple can concentrate on truly innovative features.





    Can't wait to play music with Spotify in the background.
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  • Reply 185 of 273
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iGuessSo View Post


    I don't think so. I would bet that it gets swapped out to the flash memory.



    That doesn't make much sense, flash is slow, really, really, really slow.
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  • Reply 186 of 273
    iguesssoiguessso Posts: 132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jodyfanning View Post


    That doesn't make much sense, flash is slow, really, really, really slow.



    But if it's not swapped out to virtual memory then every suspended app will still be using the very limited RAM (more limiting I think than the CPU power). It wouldn't take as long to swap it back in as it would to start the app up from scratch.
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  • Reply 187 of 273
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    What's the point of running an app in the background ifs doing absolutely nothing?



    The reason this is such a problem is because every software programmer is not of the same caliber. Some programmers are good at creating apps that run efficiently. Some software programmers create resource hogs.



    What is different about multitask in the iPhone OS is it does not allow anyone to create apps that will be resource hogs. The apps will only be allowed to perform the function that the API and the OS allows it to.



    Apps left in RAM start faster than if loaded from Flash. Reading from Flash is still extremely slow. If they are not using any processor time then leaving them in the background hurts nothing and makes using them again much faster.



    They are not doing anything that prevents resource hogs either.



    How about my stream is in OGG and I have a custom decoder for that. And I program like an 10 year old. Oops, my streaming app now sucks your battery dry in 30 minutes.



    So what happens? Pretty soon everyone tells that app XYZ sucks your battery. So what do you think happens for all the other mobile devices? All the crappy apps get a bad reputation and die.
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  • Reply 188 of 273
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jodyfanning View Post


    They are not doing anything that prevents resource hogs.



    How about my stream is in OGG and I have a custom decoder for that. And I program like an 10 year old. Oops, my streaming app now sucks your battery dry in 30 minutes.



    So what happens? Pretty soon everyone tells that app XYZ sucks your battery. So what do you think happens for all the other mobile devices? All the crappy apps get a bad reputation and die.



    Not sure what you're saying here. Obviously video streaming isn't going to be a background process, which is what we're talking about. An inefficient foreground process is another matter, but far more linked to user estimation of cause and effect.
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  • Reply 189 of 273
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    After 15 minutes of testing:
    1. No improved ntoification system

    2. The double-click to bring up the row of apps does indeed work and shows you recent apps, not just background compatible apps. It also scrolls from left to right to show you much more than the 4 listed.

    3. No lockscreen change at this point.

    4. Hardware keyboard option for the iPhone, just like the iPad.

    5. You can now add password lock instead of simple PIN (without resorting to profileutility app). I tried 32 characters, it worked fine but you can likely choose even more.

    6. Test SMS and MMS failed (on AT&T).

    7. Aggrogated mailboxes look great

    8. iPod app allows you to create playlists.

    9. iPod app allows you to edit any static playlist (read: non-smart playlist).

    10. New icon for Location in Maps is the arrow icon shown in the Menu Bar of the pics.

    11. Terrian option still NOT available in maps

    12. Maps software still using Google.

    13. In Maps, if you click the Do Not Allow button for the Location Services and then click the GPS button or try to use Current Location in the directions it will not remind you that you have turned it off.

    14. Still no search in Safari.

    15. 3GS definitely warmer to touch and sluggish to use than with v3.x and but it's unoptimized code so it's not unexpected.

    16. Only 12 apps per folder and you can't put folders within a folder (not sure if they mentioned that).

    17. ITunes doesn't understand the folders and the method on the iPhone doesn't allow removing the folder contents at once or adding multiple files at once. I think a list would much easier here.

    18. The default Weather app FINALLY has the Localization API. Still doesn't show current temperature in the icon.

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  • Reply 190 of 273
    jfanningjfanning Posts: 3,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post


    Memory had nothing to do with lack of MMS in the original iPhone... it was the cell radio used that prevented it from being possible, so it was a hardware issue.



    What hardware issues stops the original iPhone from doing MMS?
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  • Reply 191 of 273
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,418member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cavallo View Post


    I'm not sure about you, son, but my time is worth money. I get irritated when people steal it.



    So why are you wasting it, posting here? There is no payoff at all for you in any way?



    Oh wait, maybe it's because......
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  • Reply 192 of 273
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,418member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AsianBob View Post


    Do you still have a 2G? If you do, then wouldn't now be about time you can get your 2-year upgrade?



    Exactly. Can't wait for my 4G. My wife will be thrilled with the 2G* (she is not into multitasking and such), and my 11-year old with the original (he'll probably use it mostly as an iPod Touch anyway).



    But ATT allowing total unlocking would be nice.



    *I assume you mean 2nd generation.
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  • Reply 193 of 273
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,418member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Brainless View Post


    Great iPhone fragmentation just accelerates...



    Brainless comment.
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  • Reply 194 of 273
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Brainless comment.



    I expected this bogus comment much earlier though in the thread, the trolls are just a bit numb after this update it seems. !
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  • Reply 195 of 273
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    I expected this bogus comment much earlier though in the thread, the trolls are just a bit numb after this update it seems. !



    They have to find new things to complain about now, which actually might mean some research, if you can believe it.
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  • Reply 196 of 273
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    I expected this bogus comment much earlier though in the thread, the trolls are just a bit numb after this update it seems. !



    You have to wonder what kind of person thinks that a year-over-year update is fragmentation. Of course, these trolls spend the rest of the year claiming how Apple is losing ground and has fallen asleep because they aren't releasing a half-assed updates along with Android. The Droid just got v2.1 two days ago. It's a shame.
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  • Reply 197 of 273
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tulkas View Post


    The ads would be there regardless. If Apple can make them less annoying, more power to them.



    For the rest, yes it does seem sensible. For those arguing that Apple's pseudo-multitasking is inferior or doesn't actually provide any benefits, one has to ask them, why exactly then do you think Apple implemented it this way? Was it just to make it harder on devs? To annoy users? Just to be different for the sake of being different?



    While much of how Apple markets it will obviously be spin, it is a bit strange that these people think Apple wanted to reinvent the wheel just to waste their own time. I mean, iPhone OS is UNIX. It is fully capable of pre-emptive multitasking. They intentionally prohibit traditional multitasking and took this long to implement the functionality announced today. Is the thought process really that Apple did this all of just for fun?



    Honestly, I am interested in hearing from those that are complaining about this...what exactly do you think Apple's motives would be, given the obviously downsides to have taken this route?



    I guess you're probably right about the ads. We'll see what people do with them. I like the idea of applications where it could be a paid download and the ads aren't there, or you can download it for free and they are. Everyone wins then. Devs get paid and regardless of your financial situation, you can get to use the app.



    As for your other comments, I completely agree. The thing is, on a website like this where there are are both Apple haters and (mostly) tech minded people, these things are always going to get beaten to death. The thing people who bash Apple's implementation of things pretty much always fail to realize is that Apple focus on the experience for non-technical people first. As I've said before, most non-techy people have no idea what multi-tasking is, much less care, but the fact that an app doesn't open looking like it did when you closed it is something that will bother people. The fact that they have fixed that for the general user is great, and one of the main reasons I like Apple.



    That said, sometimes the Apple bashers have a point. For example, not having cut/copy/paste when they first released iPhone was crap, and in my opinion no number of claims that Apple were right to take their time to implement it right changes the fact that it really should have been included to start with.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    After 15 minutes of testing:
    1. iPod app allows you to create playlists.




    Really pleased about that one.
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  • Reply 198 of 273
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    19. You can turn off Cellular Data access and just have the phone on. I am thinking Unlimited Data might not be in the next AT&T iPhone plan or at least metered data usage may be an option.
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  • Reply 199 of 273
    cgc0202cgc0202 Posts: 624member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cavallo View Post


    I'm not sure about you, son, but my time is worth money. I get irritated when people steal it.



    Wow! And how do you separate the good from the bad without as you say "wasting" your time?



    Do you search using Google? Or other search engines? Or you have this gift of prescience to know without searching what you already want -- so as not to waste time?



    Why do you even download free Apps?



    If you really believe what you preach what sort of commercial massmedia products do you access?



    Newspapers, magazines, radio and television shows, many internet sites, etc. would be out.



    And how much time have you wasted posting here? Posts that would likely be ignored by most of the readers of Apple Insider.



    I do not use MS-centric machines if I can avoid them because they are not the best for me. However, I do not waste my time trying to share my views to those who chose MS-centric computers. It would be a waste of my time, apart from losing people who are friendly to me in many other respects.



    And now that you found out the diabolical scheme of Apple all along, you know what tod with your iPhone (and related products) and perhaps your membership here, so that you will not waste anymore of your time.



    One other thing... "Apple Insider" has ads.



    CGC
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  • Reply 200 of 273
    bcottenbcotten Posts: 11member
    WHAT?! seriously? 2G & 3G are identical in hardware, except for the 3G/edge components. any apple apologist want to rationalize why there isn't support for 2G in 4.0?
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