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?
I'm pretty sure this is up to the developer of the memo app.
The way I read it, the system provides for services that apps can run in the background now, but which developers still have to code into their apps (they don't currently have it.) The only services they can use are the seven provided, but one of these is "fast app switching" where the save state of app has been considerably improved.
Therefore, if your memo app has been recoded to take advantage of iPhone OS 4.0, it will likely just save it's state, but by means of the new feature, leave the user in the exact same place, right down to the cursor position. Unless the app is busy reading or writing a file when you switch away, it won't really have a use for any of the other six backgrounding services.
IMO it probably won't appear in the list of running apps you get on a double-tap of the home button, so finding the app and re-launching it (albeit probably faster and restored to the exact same state), would be the way you switch back to the app.
It might be however, that simply by using that "fast app switching" multi-tasking feature, the app obtains a position in the dock of icons of currently running apps. However, if all programs that use "fast app switching" end up in that list, it kind of implies that every app will eventually end up in that list.
This kind of describes a system where all app management would be directly handled by the OS. Apps would be forced to quit only when resources got too compromised. Apple has already said that the user can't actively quit running apps unless the app itself provides it.
For that reason, I think that apps that only use the fast app switching aspect of the new multi-tasking, will still basically be quitting and re-starting, and not running in the background at all. Even if it's in an "enhanced" hard-to-tell-the-difference kind of way.
Anyone know if this double press Home button for dock, will be added as an option to the current Settings > General > Home settings or will it replace it altogether? Did they mention that?
They really didn't go into that much detail from what I've read.
Your effort is sincerely appreciated, but the discrepancy that you noted is simply not enough to account for the dramatic difference between the the display device featured on the slides, and the iPod 3GS sitting right in front of.
We'll See Soon Enough... until then let's just agree to disagree
Just curious, but do you think that Apple just totally screwed up and accidentally used a graphic of their soon-to-be-announced widescreen iPhone, or do you think they did it on purpose to see if anyone would notice?
To claim having multiple apps running will never result in more CPU usage in just silly. On your desktop, opening a page with flash in your browser, load up a couple movies in Quicktime and rip a DVD in the background while you work on your word processor. Those background apps will keep on using the CPU. Sure you could find examples that would just idle in the background, but it is just as easy to find examples that wouldn't.
TextEdit is probably pretty idle in the background.
I bet you are correct. Although having every app's state saved would tend to chew up a lot of storage if you have a lot of apps.
I would guess the app state is only stored in RAM. Basically the app gets no more processor time allocated to it. Then when it is switched to the foreground the OS starts allocating CPU to the app. Maybe they implement some new API for this, but I can't see why. You can do it just by blocking all the app threads. And that at least keeps all existing applications compatible with it. And any app that is using too much RAM in the background gets killed just like they do now.
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 on earth are you on about? It's not the radio. If the cellular radio of iPhone 1.0 could do cellular data, it could do MMS. MMS is retrieved as a regular data download after being notified of its existance via SMS. Technically it could even be done via WiFi or LAN as long as the SMS notification is tranferred first. The fact that it didn't is entirely software related.
Don't try overly hard to find reasons for features not being there. It's propably muchmuch simpler. It is more likely one of a) not enough time to implement or b) arrogantly thinking "nobody wants/needs it if I don't use it" or both. Think about good to-do list handling vs. emailing your to-do tasks to yourself as another example.
Same with multitasking. If you look at competing implementations, this particular implementation of Apple's as currently presented didn't bring anything really different to the table. Sure the marketing claims so, but the lack of detail doesn't convice (yet). Yet many are drawing conclusions that it must be without a) seeing it in action and b) having the possibility to compare and properly analyse for example battery consumption. A really big part of battery consumption btw is data traffic (over 200mA vs. under 5mA).
The "dock" is very very similar to implementations found in other phones for years (the often cursed Symbian for example). Until more technical details become available, I wouldn't be swallowing the fish Steve is offering without first chewing on it for a while. It looks interesting, but I want the details behind the marketing BS and real comparisons instead of wishful thinking (that it is more than multitasking with eye candy and good marketing). That'll propably have to wait until summer.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted them to bring something really new and innovative. At the moment I just don't see too much of it (though multitasking in itself is a good addition). That may just as well be a limit of my eyesight or the lack of technical detail given.
Just curious, but do you think that Apple just totally screwed up and accidentally used a graphic of their soon-to-be-announced widescreen iPhone, or do you think they did it on purpose to see if anyone would notice?
I'm pretty sure it was done intentionally... you know how Apple loves to keep the gadget-masses talking
Your effort is sincerely appreciated, but the discrepancy that you noted is simply not enough to account for the dramatic difference between the the display device featured on the slides, and the iPod 3GS sitting right in front of.
We'll See Soon Enough... until then let's just agree to disagree
They did explain it. The apps use built in API's that only allow the apps to use minimum system resources to perform its job.
So when Pandora is playing in the background its using an audio API that only allows Pandora to stream and play audio, the OS does not allow Pandora to waste system resources performing any other superfluous tasks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B.
I perked right up when Steve started in on battery life and sluggish performance. I thought the next guy was going to explain how they avoid it while multitasking. But he never went into it in any depth. Indeed, he never once mentioned those topics.
Maybe the message was implicit in the demos, but I'd appreciate it if somebody could explicate things.
Windows Phone 7 isn't out yet so there is no applicable OS from MS to compare. So far, they don't even have a traditional copy/paste design for WP7, it simply forces you to move the content to the next app bypassing the clipboard altogether. Despite this limitation it's more intuitive and complete than anything Android or WebOS are shipping.
Well I'm speaking of WM 6.5.
If what MS says is true, where the OS predicts what you'll do with something you otherwise would copy and paste, then they are thinking REALLY outside the box, or they are thinking up their own asses. For instance, while browsing the web, checking email, or if I get a text message and I see an address I want to plug into another app (like navigation for instance) will the OS list all the possible apps I'd want to paste this information into? It's a bit confusing to me. It doesn't need to be limited to navigation. What if I see a song name, album title, and artist name and want to copy it into a grooveshark app? See what I mean?
I can see phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses being recognized using regular expressions, but for other stuff, I just don't see how copy and paste can be tossed.
They still sell the iPhone 3G on their website TODAY. If it's such a dusty old POS, then quit selling it, instead of selling it to the masses and limiting, via your software, what the device can and cannot do.
I was talking about the original EDGE phone, which would be three years old later this year when the next one is announced. My understanding is that this is the only iPhone model on which this new software version won't run.
The other phones have hardware limitations that mean some small amount of features won't work. Mostly multi-tasking on the 3G because it only has half the memory. This is pretty much the same way it always is in consumer devices and always has been. Well with the exception of the fact that most consumer devices don't provide upgrades to their software at all.
I've bought a lot of mobile devices over the years and I've never had one that provided regular frequent software upgrades that delivered new functionality to the device for free as Apple does.
I'm not sure about you, son, but my time is worth money. I get irritated when people steal it.
maybe you are on the wrong page here. If you are spending time writing about your dislikes on a site for enthusiasts YOU are really wasting time. Why not vent to a therapist and maybe get the help you need?
besides that, it is nice to read text that has some value.. added.. information.. sorry mister Horse, but your saddle is sagging..
I'm pretty sure this is up to the developer of the memo app.
The way I read it, the system provides for services that apps can run in the background now, but which developers still have to code into their apps (they don't currently have it.) The only services they can use are the seven provided, but one of these is "fast app switching" where the save state of app has been considerably improved.
Therefore, if your memo app has been recoded to take advantage of iPhone OS 4.0, it will likely just save it's state, but by means of the new feature, leave the user in the exact same place, right down to the cursor position. Unless the app is busy reading or writing a file when you switch away, it won't really have a use for any of the other six backgrounding services.
IMO it probably won't appear in the list of running apps you get on a double-tap of the home button, so finding the app and re-launching it (albeit probably faster and restored to the exact same state), would be the way you switch back to the app.
It might be however, that simply by using that "fast app switching" multi-tasking feature, the app obtains a position in the dock of icons of currently running apps. However, if all programs that use "fast app switching" end up in that list, it kind of implies that every app will eventually end up in that list.
This kind of describes a system where all app management would be directly handled by the OS. Apps would be forced to quit only when resources got too compromised. Apple has already said that the user can't actively quit running apps unless the app itself provides it.
For that reason, I think that apps that only use the fast app switching aspect of the new multi-tasking, will still basically be quitting and re-starting, and not running in the background at all. Even if it's in an "enhanced" hard-to-tell-the-difference kind of way.
Right, it's all services and it's up to the dev to implement.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else is just a passing line from the Ars coverage:
Quote:
icons are along the bottom like the home row, and you can flick through them
which suggests you can have more than 4 apps being explicitly "backgrounded."
What on earth are you on about? It's not the radio. If the cellular radio of iPhone 1.0 could do cellular data, it could do MMS. MMS is retrieved as a regular data download after being notified of its existance via SMS. Technically it could even be done via WiFi or LAN as long as the SMS notification is tranferred first. The fact that it didn't is entirely software related.
Don't try overly hard to find reasons for features not being there. It's propably muchmuch simpler. It is more likely one of a) not enough time to implement or b) arrogantly thinking "nobody wants/needs it if I don't use it" or both. Think about good to-do list handling vs. emailing your to-do tasks to yourself as another example.
Same with multitasking. If you look at competing implementations, this particular implementation of Apple's as currently presented didn't bring anything really different to the table. Sure the marketing claims so, but the lack of detail doesn't convice (yet). Yet many are drawing conclusions that it must be without a) seeing it in action and b) having the possibility to compare and properly analyse for example battery consumption. A really big part of battery consumption btw is data traffic (over 200mA vs. under 5mA).
The "dock" is very very similar to implementations found in other phones for years (the often cursed Symbian for example). Until more technical details become available, I wouldn't be swallowing the fish Steve is offering without first chewing on it for a while. It looks interesting, but I want the details behind the marketing BS and real comparisons instead of wishful thinking (that it is more than multitasking with eye candy and good marketing). That'll propably have to wait until summer.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted them to bring something really new and innovative. At the moment I just don't see too much of it (though multitasking in itself is a good addition). That may just as well be a limit of my eyesight or the lack of technical detail given.
Regs, Jarkko
It makes a change to read something from someone with a clue here.
Symbian also has interesting things such as their location service that will notify your app, even it if is not running, when your location is within a preset zone. So, in theory that should be even better.
They did explain it. The apps use built in API's that only allow the apps to use minimum system resources to perform its job.
So when Pandora is playing in the background its using an audio API that only allows Pandora to stream and play audio, the OS does not allow Pandora to waste system resources performing any other superfluous tasks.
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".
I would guess the app state is only stored in RAM. Basically the app gets no more processor time allocated to it. Then when it is switched to the foreground the OS starts allocating CPU to the app. Maybe they implement some new API for this, but I can't see why. You can do it just by blocking all the app threads. And that at least keeps all existing applications compatible with it. And any app that is using too much RAM in the background gets killed just like they do now.
I don't think so. I would bet that it gets swapped out to the flash memory.
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.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jodyfanning
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?
Comments
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?
I'm pretty sure this is up to the developer of the memo app.
The way I read it, the system provides for services that apps can run in the background now, but which developers still have to code into their apps (they don't currently have it.) The only services they can use are the seven provided, but one of these is "fast app switching" where the save state of app has been considerably improved.
Therefore, if your memo app has been recoded to take advantage of iPhone OS 4.0, it will likely just save it's state, but by means of the new feature, leave the user in the exact same place, right down to the cursor position. Unless the app is busy reading or writing a file when you switch away, it won't really have a use for any of the other six backgrounding services.
IMO it probably won't appear in the list of running apps you get on a double-tap of the home button, so finding the app and re-launching it (albeit probably faster and restored to the exact same state), would be the way you switch back to the app.
It might be however, that simply by using that "fast app switching" multi-tasking feature, the app obtains a position in the dock of icons of currently running apps. However, if all programs that use "fast app switching" end up in that list, it kind of implies that every app will eventually end up in that list.
This kind of describes a system where all app management would be directly handled by the OS. Apps would be forced to quit only when resources got too compromised. Apple has already said that the user can't actively quit running apps unless the app itself provides it.
For that reason, I think that apps that only use the fast app switching aspect of the new multi-tasking, will still basically be quitting and re-starting, and not running in the background at all. Even if it's in an "enhanced" hard-to-tell-the-difference kind of way.
Anyone know if this double press Home button for dock, will be added as an option to the current Settings > General > Home settings or will it replace it altogether? Did they mention that?
They really didn't go into that much detail from what I've read.
Your effort is sincerely appreciated, but the discrepancy that you noted is simply not enough to account for the dramatic difference between the the display device featured on the slides, and the iPod 3GS sitting right in front of.
We'll See Soon Enough... until then let's just agree to disagree
Just curious, but do you think that Apple just totally screwed up and accidentally used a graphic of their soon-to-be-announced widescreen iPhone, or do you think they did it on purpose to see if anyone would notice?
They really didn't go into that much detail from what I've read.
Yeah, I'm hoping they post the announcement in iTunes or something quick so I can watch it for myself.
To claim having multiple apps running will never result in more CPU usage in just silly. On your desktop, opening a page with flash in your browser, load up a couple movies in Quicktime and rip a DVD in the background while you work on your word processor. Those background apps will keep on using the CPU. Sure you could find examples that would just idle in the background, but it is just as easy to find examples that wouldn't.
TextEdit is probably pretty idle in the background.
I bet you are correct. Although having every app's state saved would tend to chew up a lot of storage if you have a lot of apps.
I would guess the app state is only stored in RAM. Basically the app gets no more processor time allocated to it. Then when it is switched to the foreground the OS starts allocating CPU to the app. Maybe they implement some new API for this, but I can't see why. You can do it just by blocking all the app threads. And that at least keeps all existing applications compatible with it. And any app that is using too much RAM in the background gets killed just like they do now.
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 on earth are you on about? It's not the radio. If the cellular radio of iPhone 1.0 could do cellular data, it could do MMS. MMS is retrieved as a regular data download after being notified of its existance via SMS. Technically it could even be done via WiFi or LAN as long as the SMS notification is tranferred first. The fact that it didn't is entirely software related.
Don't try overly hard to find reasons for features not being there. It's propably muchmuch simpler. It is more likely one of a) not enough time to implement or b) arrogantly thinking "nobody wants/needs it if I don't use it" or both. Think about good to-do list handling vs. emailing your to-do tasks to yourself as another example.
Same with multitasking. If you look at competing implementations, this particular implementation of Apple's as currently presented didn't bring anything really different to the table. Sure the marketing claims so, but the lack of detail doesn't convice (yet). Yet many are drawing conclusions that it must be without a) seeing it in action and b) having the possibility to compare and properly analyse for example battery consumption. A really big part of battery consumption btw is data traffic (over 200mA vs. under 5mA).
The "dock" is very very similar to implementations found in other phones for years (the often cursed Symbian for example). Until more technical details become available, I wouldn't be swallowing the fish Steve is offering without first chewing on it for a while. It looks interesting, but I want the details behind the marketing BS and real comparisons instead of wishful thinking (that it is more than multitasking with eye candy and good marketing). That'll propably have to wait until summer.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted them to bring something really new and innovative. At the moment I just don't see too much of it (though multitasking in itself is a good addition). That may just as well be a limit of my eyesight or the lack of technical detail given.
Regs, Jarkko
Just curious, but do you think that Apple just totally screwed up and accidentally used a graphic of their soon-to-be-announced widescreen iPhone, or do you think they did it on purpose to see if anyone would notice?
I'm pretty sure it was done intentionally... you know how Apple loves to keep the gadget-masses talking
Your effort is sincerely appreciated, but the discrepancy that you noted is simply not enough to account for the dramatic difference between the the display device featured on the slides, and the iPod 3GS sitting right in front of.
We'll See Soon Enough... until then let's just agree to disagree
It's called perspective.
We'll see.
So when Pandora is playing in the background its using an audio API that only allows Pandora to stream and play audio, the OS does not allow Pandora to waste system resources performing any other superfluous tasks.
I perked right up when Steve started in on battery life and sluggish performance. I thought the next guy was going to explain how they avoid it while multitasking. But he never went into it in any depth. Indeed, he never once mentioned those topics.
Maybe the message was implicit in the demos, but I'd appreciate it if somebody could explicate things.
Windows Phone 7 isn't out yet so there is no applicable OS from MS to compare. So far, they don't even have a traditional copy/paste design for WP7, it simply forces you to move the content to the next app bypassing the clipboard altogether. Despite this limitation it's more intuitive and complete than anything Android or WebOS are shipping.
Well I'm speaking of WM 6.5.
If what MS says is true, where the OS predicts what you'll do with something you otherwise would copy and paste, then they are thinking REALLY outside the box, or they are thinking up their own asses. For instance, while browsing the web, checking email, or if I get a text message and I see an address I want to plug into another app (like navigation for instance) will the OS list all the possible apps I'd want to paste this information into? It's a bit confusing to me. It doesn't need to be limited to navigation. What if I see a song name, album title, and artist name and want to copy it into a grooveshark app? See what I mean?
I can see phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses being recognized using regular expressions, but for other stuff, I just don't see how copy and paste can be tossed.
I'm ranting now lol
They still sell the iPhone 3G on their website TODAY. If it's such a dusty old POS, then quit selling it, instead of selling it to the masses and limiting, via your software, what the device can and cannot do.
I was talking about the original EDGE phone, which would be three years old later this year when the next one is announced. My understanding is that this is the only iPhone model on which this new software version won't run.
The other phones have hardware limitations that mean some small amount of features won't work. Mostly multi-tasking on the 3G because it only has half the memory. This is pretty much the same way it always is in consumer devices and always has been. Well with the exception of the fact that most consumer devices don't provide upgrades to their software at all.
I've bought a lot of mobile devices over the years and I've never had one that provided regular frequent software upgrades that delivered new functionality to the device for free as Apple does.
It's called perspective.
We'll see.
Fact: Visual distortions in perspective are typically represented as trapezoids, not (near) perfect rectangles/squares.
Indeed, We Will See...
I'm not sure about you, son, but my time is worth money. I get irritated when people steal it.
maybe you are on the wrong page here. If you are spending time writing about your dislikes on a site for enthusiasts YOU are really wasting time. Why not vent to a therapist and maybe get the help you need?
besides that, it is nice to read text that has some value.. added.. information.. sorry mister Horse, but your saddle is sagging..
d
I'm pretty sure this is up to the developer of the memo app.
The way I read it, the system provides for services that apps can run in the background now, but which developers still have to code into their apps (they don't currently have it.) The only services they can use are the seven provided, but one of these is "fast app switching" where the save state of app has been considerably improved.
Therefore, if your memo app has been recoded to take advantage of iPhone OS 4.0, it will likely just save it's state, but by means of the new feature, leave the user in the exact same place, right down to the cursor position. Unless the app is busy reading or writing a file when you switch away, it won't really have a use for any of the other six backgrounding services.
IMO it probably won't appear in the list of running apps you get on a double-tap of the home button, so finding the app and re-launching it (albeit probably faster and restored to the exact same state), would be the way you switch back to the app.
It might be however, that simply by using that "fast app switching" multi-tasking feature, the app obtains a position in the dock of icons of currently running apps. However, if all programs that use "fast app switching" end up in that list, it kind of implies that every app will eventually end up in that list.
This kind of describes a system where all app management would be directly handled by the OS. Apps would be forced to quit only when resources got too compromised. Apple has already said that the user can't actively quit running apps unless the app itself provides it.
For that reason, I think that apps that only use the fast app switching aspect of the new multi-tasking, will still basically be quitting and re-starting, and not running in the background at all. Even if it's in an "enhanced" hard-to-tell-the-difference kind of way.
Right, it's all services and it's up to the dev to implement.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else is just a passing line from the Ars coverage:
icons are along the bottom like the home row, and you can flick through them
which suggests you can have more than 4 apps being explicitly "backgrounded."
What on earth are you on about? It's not the radio. If the cellular radio of iPhone 1.0 could do cellular data, it could do MMS. MMS is retrieved as a regular data download after being notified of its existance via SMS. Technically it could even be done via WiFi or LAN as long as the SMS notification is tranferred first. The fact that it didn't is entirely software related.
Don't try overly hard to find reasons for features not being there. It's propably muchmuch simpler. It is more likely one of a) not enough time to implement or b) arrogantly thinking "nobody wants/needs it if I don't use it" or both. Think about good to-do list handling vs. emailing your to-do tasks to yourself as another example.
Same with multitasking. If you look at competing implementations, this particular implementation of Apple's as currently presented didn't bring anything really different to the table. Sure the marketing claims so, but the lack of detail doesn't convice (yet). Yet many are drawing conclusions that it must be without a) seeing it in action and b) having the possibility to compare and properly analyse for example battery consumption. A really big part of battery consumption btw is data traffic (over 200mA vs. under 5mA).
The "dock" is very very similar to implementations found in other phones for years (the often cursed Symbian for example). Until more technical details become available, I wouldn't be swallowing the fish Steve is offering without first chewing on it for a while. It looks interesting, but I want the details behind the marketing BS and real comparisons instead of wishful thinking (that it is more than multitasking with eye candy and good marketing). That'll propably have to wait until summer.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted them to bring something really new and innovative. At the moment I just don't see too much of it (though multitasking in itself is a good addition). That may just as well be a limit of my eyesight or the lack of technical detail given.
Regs, Jarkko
It makes a change to read something from someone with a clue here.
Symbian also has interesting things such as their location service that will notify your app, even it if is not running, when your location is within a preset zone. So, in theory that should be even better.
They did explain it. The apps use built in API's that only allow the apps to use minimum system resources to perform its job.
So when Pandora is playing in the background its using an audio API that only allows Pandora to stream and play audio, the OS does not allow Pandora to waste system resources performing any other superfluous tasks.
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.
I would guess the app state is only stored in RAM. Basically the app gets no more processor time allocated to it. Then when it is switched to the foreground the OS starts allocating CPU to the app. Maybe they implement some new API for this, but I can't see why. You can do it just by blocking all the app threads. And that at least keeps all existing applications compatible with it. And any app that is using too much RAM in the background gets killed just like they do now.
I don't think so. I would bet that it gets swapped out to the flash memory.
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 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.
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?