Im by no means "tech savvy" but after watching the blog i cant help but feel that there must still be a lot of un-announced features on OS 4.0 that would be related to the possible new hardware features of the next gen iphone (if indeed it is coming). Would this be a fair comment?
Also i have an iphone 3G and im in no way disappointed at the announcement that the 3G wont have multitasking. I fully know that the phone would grind to a halt. Anyway im more excited about the possible new hardware which will make any disappointment irrelevant and anyone who has a 3G or earlier should be due their upgrade anyway.
P.S Would you expect windows 7 to work on your 3 year old PC running XP?
Before the sarcasm begins: what Apple has done to make this different from every other phones multitasking, is to provide API's that allow the app to only use the resources that it requires. So that app doesn't hog up more than it needs.
That is totally ridiculous.
No app on any multitasking platform like Windows or OSX, or Symbian or Android uses up resources when in the background apart from RAM.
Any modern application is purely event driven. Unless they are receiving input from something the apps are doing absolutely nothing. They will all be blocked on some event, mutex, or kernel signal. Anyone who believes this doesn't know anything about programming or pre-emptive multitasking.
So how does this make it any different than what any other phone platform offers? If I put an app in the background in Symbian or Android it isn't doing a damn thing unless it is streaming music or following the GPS and this is exactly what Apple is going to have.
What does kill a phone battery is having the wireless transceivers going. Any app (like Skype) that is constantly keeping a network connection alive is going to eat your battery like nothing else. Also streaming over 3G is an absolute battery killer. And so how is this now different than anyone else again?
Gaming API that allows for touch controls on screen that can be instantly linked to a HW D-pad accessory. Making it easy for developers to make this virtual to physical connection via the 30-pin connector without having to build for a specific HW vendor making the D-Pad. This would open up the gaming accessory market by standardizing the developers efforts while making it simple to do. It would also help bring more and better games to the platform and hardcore mobile gamers wouldn?t feel be afraid that they?d have to buy multiple HW D-pads for different game vendors.
Lockscreen that allows for Widgets, like weather, stocks, rich notifications, whatever.
Allow for default page when entering iPhone to show running widgets (or mini-apps) instead of the top 16 apps (only showing bottom row apps).
New Homepage Widget API so that devs can sell really cool Widgets on the App Store.
Detailed history of ALL notifications, making it searchable and accessible nearly everywhere you are in the system.
Ability to search pages in Safari.
Smart Folders on Home Screen. (some potential Smart Folder categories are Recently Added apps, Apps used more than x-days ago, Games folder)
I'd like the OS to send app usage data to iTunes so you can see which apps you haven't used or used least so you can clean out the "forgotten apps".
Smart mailboxes & mail rules in Mail
Fix the way Find My iPhone is turned on and off on the iPhone so if someone is in your phone they need the MobileMe password or phone PIN to disable FindMyIPhone.
Universal voice-to-text
Ability to remove (hide) some of Apple?s default apps from the Home Screen, then only appearing in Settings
Option to edit of content in iPod app (like you can do with the iPad's iPod app)
Allow developers to offer trial periods of apps (They already offer exploding media in the movie rentals so the technology is already there)
Disk Mode
Some of that stuff is probably included, even if they didn't mention it.
yeah, but how do you get an app on the multitask dock? Either there is someway to not quit an app and keep it in dock when you run the app or the multitask dock is simply a list of every 2000 apps running. confused..
Quote:
Originally Posted by NasserAE
Well, they didn't call it a dock. I called it a dock because I didn't know what to call it! It shows up when you double press the Home button. It contains all the opened apps. It can hold more than four apps by the way.
Much. However, there were free applications before there was even a concept of adware. Somehow those developers managed to survive. Don't represent ad-support for "freeware" as somehow suddenly necessary.
I don't know if shareware really survived except maybe as open source, but open source usually doesn't have a single developer that's trying to do the whole app all by themselves. Shareware people took donations, but I don't think a lot of them were day time developers. Nagware has been around forever though, and ads have been in iPhone apps since the app store opened. The ones that made totally free apps (no nags, ads, etc.) might have just been enthusiastic hobbyists, but it's not a sustainable model.
The use of ads is up to the developer, and I've only found ads in apps that have no up-front price, most paid apps don't have ads. If you can afford an iDevice, then complaining about having to pay for the apps on it seems a bit much.
If you don't like it, you can just delete the app and find another one. Otherwise, I think it's a bit much to complain that people aren't giving away their time and work for free. Pointing to a practice that's generally faded out doesn't really help your case in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcotten
What a complete JOKE. I have been a loyal apple'ist for ages... but this is the final straw. SCREW IT
I don't think the 2G/3G phones can do it well. They can barely single task well, I feel like I'm limping along with my 3G. I can't wait to get the 3GT or whatever the next model will be.
Am I the only one that doesn't understand how multitasking works on the iPhone? How do you launch an app and keep it running without quitting it? For example, if I launch the memo app, how do I keep it available so when I want to multitask - I can go back to it?
You do nothing, seriously. That's how this multitasking works.
Nope. Not enough memory. Not sure why this was a surprise to anyone, unless you just don't understand what multitasking is and how it works.
It can only be memory related since everyone else can multitask using the same ARM processors that are in the 2G and 3G. What were the original models, 128MB instead of 256MB like now?
Hard to believe it is that much of an issue, but Apple is Apple and does whatever they like.
I launch the memo app. I quit the memo app pressing the home button. I go to 5 different apps in the meantime but I want to keep memos running so I can make a quick note when I need to. Now I'm in the browser and I want to quickly go to memo app so I double tap the home button..
Now I have to go through all 2000 apps in the multitask dock to find memo since there was no way to tell the iphone that I didn't want to quit it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmf2
You do nothing, seriously. That's how this multitasking works.
I thought they did a pretty good job, with in the time constraints, of explaining why their implementation of multitasking would be less resource hungry. The single biggest being that it is not true multitasking in the traditional sense. It is a simulation of multitasking, which if done right, looks like a great balance between user needs and resource conservation.
Actually, it seems to me like a mix of "traditional multitasking" (e.g., background audio) and some tricks (like local notifications and fast app switching) to simulate behaviors that don't really require "traditional multitasking", but can be handled in more efficient ways.
You shouldn't speak about things you know nothing about. I never said it had zero increase in power consumption, but I am saying it's nowhere NEAR the amount Jobs would have you believe. Me and solipsism got into this and I loaded up a great deal of apps to run in the background all day as I used my phone with normal use. At the end of the day it had consumed just 10% more battery than I was used too, leaving me with 60% instead of 70. Does this sound like what Jobs has been saying to be true? Oh, wait, he's implemented true multitasking with zero increase in power consumption.
The problem is that no one here actually understands multitasking at all. They all seem to have this dream that apps in the background are stuck in some for loop all the time using 100% of CPU. Obviously no one ever looks at the task manager on their Mac or PC and notices that 99% of all processes are actually using 0% of CPU.
With the introduction of this "multitasking" in 4.0 Apple just opened up the iPhone to all the same battery sucking problems all other phones have. Keeping network connections alive, especially over 3G, is what kills your battery.
I didn't catch all of the part where they were explaining this "other" dock. What is it's purpose other than to show what apps are still running?
It's like OS X's application switcher that comes up when you hit command-tab. It's not a process manager so you can't manually quit apps - it's just a way to quickly jump between apps that stay open. The OS will manage which apps get to stay in memory.
It's interesting that iPad owners won't get to use this for about 4 months after iPhone users given that it's pretty much the same OS - I guess they'll have to do extra testing. The iPhone is getting iBooks too, I expected them to use that as a unique selling point for the iPad.
yeah, but how do you get an app on the multitask dock? Either there is someway to not quit an app and keep it in dock when you run the app or the multitask dock is simply a list of every 2000 apps running. confused..
It is not confusing at all. There is no such thing as terminating an app when you press the Home button. When you press the Home button the app will save its state and disappear. When you open this app from the home screen it will open to its last saved state. If you are in another app and want to open the previous app then you double press the Home button, which will bring the app you last used at the button of the display.
That group of icons at the button of the display are used for fast switching between apps so you don't have to go to the home screen if you need to switch to another app you used earlier.
PS. I really doubt you will be using 2000 apps. There must be a limit on the number of apps that can be placed on that fast switching area.
Well, they didn't call it a dock. I called it a dock because I didn't know what to call it! It shows up when you double press the Home button. It contains all the opened apps. It can hold more than four apps by the way.
Tasks-switching appears to work much the same way as it does on the Android platform, except I gather that instead of holding the home button, the iPhone OS requires the user to double-click the home button to bring up all currently running apps.
As far as there being only 4 apps displayed in the 'task managing dock', maybe that's all Apple allows, which would explain the 'we take of that for you statement' (?).
Additionally: This picture clears show that the example 'device' has a (near) 16:9 display, as neither the home button, nor any of the icons show any form of distortion, yet the display works out to approximately 16:9 when measured in Photoshop.
Im by no means "tech savvy" but after watching the blog i cant help but feel that there must still be a lot of un-announced features on OS 4.0 that would be related to the possible new hardware features of the next gen iphone (if indeed it is coming). Would this be a fair comment?
Also i have an iphone 3G and im in no way disappointed at the announcement that the 3G wont have multitasking. I fully know that the phone would grind to a halt. Anyway im more excited about the possible new hardware which will make any disappointment irrelevant and anyone who has a 3G or earlier should be due their upgrade anyway.
P.S Would you expect windows 7 to work on your 3 year old PC running XP?
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.
It's like OS X's application switcher that comes up when you hit command-tab. It's not a process manager so you can't manually quit apps - it's just a way to quickly jump between apps that stay open. The OS will manage which apps get to stay in memory.
And when you double tap the Home button, do you stay in the current app and the "dock" pops up or something? The screen shot that is being posted looks like a "dimmed" view of the Home screen (with water droplets?), but I'm assuming you can pull up this dock within an application.
We should know soon, when the updated 4.0 SDK docs get digested. But I'm definitely confused for now. How will the OS "just know" which app I want to keep available for fast switching and which ones I don't?
And I fail to see (at least at this point) how the bad! bad! you blew it! task manager is different than the good! good! dock full of running apps' icons, other than one is usually vertical and this one is horizontal.
Comments
Right, but for what purpose? Is it to switch between them?
Yes. It used for "Fast Switching" as well.
Also i have an iphone 3G and im in no way disappointed at the announcement that the 3G wont have multitasking. I fully know that the phone would grind to a halt. Anyway im more excited about the possible new hardware which will make any disappointment irrelevant and anyone who has a 3G or earlier should be due their upgrade anyway.
P.S Would you expect windows 7 to work on your 3 year old PC running XP?
Before the sarcasm begins: what Apple has done to make this different from every other phones multitasking, is to provide API's that allow the app to only use the resources that it requires. So that app doesn't hog up more than it needs.
That is totally ridiculous.
No app on any multitasking platform like Windows or OSX, or Symbian or Android uses up resources when in the background apart from RAM.
Any modern application is purely event driven. Unless they are receiving input from something the apps are doing absolutely nothing. They will all be blocked on some event, mutex, or kernel signal. Anyone who believes this doesn't know anything about programming or pre-emptive multitasking.
So how does this make it any different than what any other phone platform offers? If I put an app in the background in Symbian or Android it isn't doing a damn thing unless it is streaming music or following the GPS and this is exactly what Apple is going to have.
What does kill a phone battery is having the wireless transceivers going. Any app (like Skype) that is constantly keeping a network connection alive is going to eat your battery like nothing else. Also streaming over 3G is an absolute battery killer. And so how is this now different than anyone else again?
Things I didn't see, but wanted to see...
Some of that stuff is probably included, even if they didn't mention it.
Well, they didn't call it a dock. I called it a dock because I didn't know what to call it! It shows up when you double press the Home button. It contains all the opened apps. It can hold more than four apps by the way.
Much. However, there were free applications before there was even a concept of adware. Somehow those developers managed to survive. Don't represent ad-support for "freeware" as somehow suddenly necessary.
I don't know if shareware really survived except maybe as open source, but open source usually doesn't have a single developer that's trying to do the whole app all by themselves. Shareware people took donations, but I don't think a lot of them were day time developers. Nagware has been around forever though, and ads have been in iPhone apps since the app store opened. The ones that made totally free apps (no nags, ads, etc.) might have just been enthusiastic hobbyists, but it's not a sustainable model.
The use of ads is up to the developer, and I've only found ads in apps that have no up-front price, most paid apps don't have ads. If you can afford an iDevice, then complaining about having to pay for the apps on it seems a bit much.
If you don't like it, you can just delete the app and find another one. Otherwise, I think it's a bit much to complain that people aren't giving away their time and work for free. Pointing to a practice that's generally faded out doesn't really help your case in my opinion.
What a complete JOKE. I have been a loyal apple'ist for ages... but this is the final straw. SCREW IT
I don't think the 2G/3G phones can do it well. They can barely single task well, I feel like I'm limping along with my 3G. I can't wait to get the 3GT or whatever the next model will be.
Am I the only one that doesn't understand how multitasking works on the iPhone? How do you launch an app and keep it running without quitting it? For example, if I launch the memo app, how do I keep it available so when I want to multitask - I can go back to it?
You do nothing, seriously. That's how this multitasking works.
Nope. Not enough memory. Not sure why this was a surprise to anyone, unless you just don't understand what multitasking is and how it works.
It can only be memory related since everyone else can multitask using the same ARM processors that are in the 2G and 3G. What were the original models, 128MB instead of 256MB like now?
Hard to believe it is that much of an issue, but Apple is Apple and does whatever they like.
You do nothing, seriously. That's how this multitasking works.
What was the Settings screen where you enabled something (multi-tasking) for each application? I thought I saw something like that.
I launch the memo app. I quit the memo app pressing the home button. I go to 5 different apps in the meantime but I want to keep memos running so I can make a quick note when I need to. Now I'm in the browser and I want to quickly go to memo app so I double tap the home button..
Now I have to go through all 2000 apps in the multitask dock to find memo since there was no way to tell the iphone that I didn't want to quit it?
You do nothing, seriously. That's how this multitasking works.
I thought they did a pretty good job, with in the time constraints, of explaining why their implementation of multitasking would be less resource hungry. The single biggest being that it is not true multitasking in the traditional sense. It is a simulation of multitasking, which if done right, looks like a great balance between user needs and resource conservation.
Actually, it seems to me like a mix of "traditional multitasking" (e.g., background audio) and some tricks (like local notifications and fast app switching) to simulate behaviors that don't really require "traditional multitasking", but can be handled in more efficient ways.
No - I mean completely and totally free. No ads. No money. No nagging. Nothing. FREE. Such things once existed. Maybe I'm just a dinosaur...
Well, you can be a dinosaur without being JUST a dinosaur...
Freeware is alive and well. I dunno how much of it runs on Apple products, but there's plenty of freeware out there.
You shouldn't speak about things you know nothing about. I never said it had zero increase in power consumption, but I am saying it's nowhere NEAR the amount Jobs would have you believe. Me and solipsism got into this and I loaded up a great deal of apps to run in the background all day as I used my phone with normal use. At the end of the day it had consumed just 10% more battery than I was used too, leaving me with 60% instead of 70. Does this sound like what Jobs has been saying to be true? Oh, wait, he's implemented true multitasking with zero increase in power consumption.
The problem is that no one here actually understands multitasking at all. They all seem to have this dream that apps in the background are stuck in some for loop all the time using 100% of CPU. Obviously no one ever looks at the task manager on their Mac or PC and notices that 99% of all processes are actually using 0% of CPU.
With the introduction of this "multitasking" in 4.0 Apple just opened up the iPhone to all the same battery sucking problems all other phones have. Keeping network connections alive, especially over 3G, is what kills your battery.
I didn't catch all of the part where they were explaining this "other" dock. What is it's purpose other than to show what apps are still running?
It's like OS X's application switcher that comes up when you hit command-tab. It's not a process manager so you can't manually quit apps - it's just a way to quickly jump between apps that stay open. The OS will manage which apps get to stay in memory.
It's interesting that iPad owners won't get to use this for about 4 months after iPhone users given that it's pretty much the same OS - I guess they'll have to do extra testing. The iPhone is getting iBooks too, I expected them to use that as a unique selling point for the iPad.
yeah, but how do you get an app on the multitask dock? Either there is someway to not quit an app and keep it in dock when you run the app or the multitask dock is simply a list of every 2000 apps running. confused..
It is not confusing at all. There is no such thing as terminating an app when you press the Home button. When you press the Home button the app will save its state and disappear. When you open this app from the home screen it will open to its last saved state. If you are in another app and want to open the previous app then you double press the Home button, which will bring the app you last used at the button of the display.
That group of icons at the button of the display are used for fast switching between apps so you don't have to go to the home screen if you need to switch to another app you used earlier.
PS. I really doubt you will be using 2000 apps. There must be a limit on the number of apps that can be placed on that fast switching area.
Well, they didn't call it a dock. I called it a dock because I didn't know what to call it! It shows up when you double press the Home button. It contains all the opened apps. It can hold more than four apps by the way.
Tasks-switching appears to work much the same way as it does on the Android platform, except I gather that instead of holding the home button, the iPhone OS requires the user to double-click the home button to bring up all currently running apps.
As far as there being only 4 apps displayed in the 'task managing dock', maybe that's all Apple allows, which would explain the 'we take of that for you statement' (?).
Additionally: This picture clears show that the example 'device' has a (near) 16:9 display, as neither the home button, nor any of the icons show any form of distortion, yet the display works out to approximately 16:9 when measured in Photoshop.
Im by no means "tech savvy" but after watching the blog i cant help but feel that there must still be a lot of un-announced features on OS 4.0 that would be related to the possible new hardware features of the next gen iphone (if indeed it is coming). Would this be a fair comment?
Also i have an iphone 3G and im in no way disappointed at the announcement that the 3G wont have multitasking. I fully know that the phone would grind to a halt. Anyway im more excited about the possible new hardware which will make any disappointment irrelevant and anyone who has a 3G or earlier should be due their upgrade anyway.
P.S Would you expect windows 7 to work on your 3 year old PC running XP?
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.
It's like OS X's application switcher that comes up when you hit command-tab. It's not a process manager so you can't manually quit apps - it's just a way to quickly jump between apps that stay open. The OS will manage which apps get to stay in memory.
And when you double tap the Home button, do you stay in the current app and the "dock" pops up or something? The screen shot that is being posted looks like a "dimmed" view of the Home screen (with water droplets?), but I'm assuming you can pull up this dock within an application.
Also, is that a 3D dock similar to Mac OSX?
And I fail to see (at least at this point) how the bad! bad! you blew it! task manager is different than the good! good! dock full of running apps' icons, other than one is usually vertical and this one is horizontal.