Apple changes multitasking bar, MobileMe login in iOS 4.2 GM; asks for iOS 4.2 apps from developers

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 47
    sandausandau Posts: 1,230member
    I just want to airplay Angry Birds on my 52" TV, is that too much to ask?
  • Reply 22 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sandau View Post


    I just want to airplay Angry Birds on my 52" TV, is that too much to ask?



    That game drives me nuts. I tell myself this is the last round but if I don’t get all the pigs they laugh and smile in this smug way that makes me have to play again. The only good pig is a dead pig.
  • Reply 23 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by djames4242 View Post


    No, but what is unusual (or at least odd) is the fact that I tried to update my Apple ID to my MobileMe address and was unable to. Apparently this is not allowed despite the assertion in this article that Apple is trying to somehow merge these.



    I was able to go to http://myinfo.apple.com/ and modify my Apple ID to be a simple login name. It's odd now seeing me logged into iTunes using a login name that does not include an email address...



    I wish Apple would let you merge an old Apple I.D. with Mobile Me. I have an old Apple I.D. that runs off a Gmail account that is no longer active. I dislike having to sign in with two I.D.'s to find update for my apps.
  • Reply 24 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    To continue on with your point in an attempt to make it even more clear? The apps you see in Fast App Switching are not necessarily running in the background. These are just the last apps you had active on your screen listed in descending chronological order from left to right.



    I dont think it matters that they are not running processes. It is a pain in the but to clear them out one-by-one. I think for the sake of reducing clutter in the multitasking bar, it would be great to have a "Clear All" button or at least limit the bar to keeping the last 8-10 apps there, and make this number user defineable in the prefs. If you dont periodically clear them out, there is a long list of apps in the multitasking bar, hence makes it very inconvenient to have to scroll through them all to find the one you want.
  • Reply 25 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smartin684 View Post


    I dont think it matters that they are not running processes. It is a pain in the but to clear them out one-by-one. I think for the sake of reducing clutter in the multitasking bar, it would be great to have a "Clear All" button or at least limit the bar to keeping the last 8-10 apps there, and make this number user defineable in the prefs. If you dont periodically clear them out, there is a long list of apps in the multitasking bar, hence makes it very inconvenient to have to scroll through them all to find the one you want.



    You’ve missed the point. It’s not a “Multitasking Bar” it’s the “Fast App Switcher”. The list of icons are not all running in the background, using your RAM and slowing your device down. There is no reason to want to remove them all unless you a) still don’t understand the purpose of Fast App Switching, or b) are anal retentive. I suggest just not using the Fast App Switcher since each app you use will end up in that list in the order in which you last used it which makes your point about only listing the last 8-10 moot since that’s by design the first apps you’ll see when you access the feature and start scrolling.
  • Reply 26 of 47
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    You?ve missed the point. It?s not a ?Multitasking Bar? it?s the ?Fast App Switcher?. The list of icons are not all running in the background, using your RAM and slowing your device down. There is no reason to want to remove them all unless you a) still don?t understand the purpose of Fast App Switching, or b) are anal retentive. I suggest just not using the Fast App Switcher since each app you use will end up in that list in the order in which you last used it which makes your point about only listing the last 8-10 moot since that?s by design the first apps you?ll see when you access the feature and start scrolling.



    Exactly.



    Now the situation would be different if the beginning and end of that list looped around to each other. But they don't. When you get to the end of the list, it just ends. It doesn't loop back to the beginning.



    Hence there is no reason not to make the entire list of most recently used apps available. If someone doesn't want to see the 25th to 28th most recently used apps, they simply don't scroll to the 7th screen of apps.



    With that said, I can't imagine a purpose for needing to see apps that far back. But removing it would be pointlessly obfuscating.
  • Reply 27 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    You?ve missed the point. It?s not a ?Multitasking Bar? it?s the ?Fast App Switcher?. The list of icons are not all running in the background, using your RAM and slowing your device down. There is no reason to want to remove them all unless you a) still don?t understand the purpose of Fast App Switching, or b) are anal retentive. I suggest just not using the Fast App Switcher since each app you use will end up in that list in the order in which you last used it which makes your point about only listing the last 8-10 moot since that?s by design the first apps you?ll see when you access the feature and start scrolling.



    I agree not to worry about the bar. It's up to the app to let you know if there will be an issue. If an app, for example, a navigation app is consuming battery in background, there is a chance that you want it closed. If TomTom app is not active, but still in use, it warns you with a alert box that allows you to close it if you feel you don't need it anymore.
  • Reply 28 of 47
    What about Find My iPhone multiple user functionality?



    I still find it funny that I can run Find My iPhone...on my iPhone.



    My wife also has Mobile Me and it would be cool if I could punch in her Apple ID to find out where she's at. (But she should add me to an approved finders' list on her end, however.)



    Such a feature would make that show 'Cheaters' much more appealing. And do away with having to hire a PI. Not that I would know.
  • Reply 29 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eh270 View Post


    Ugh, when i saw 'update to multitasking bar' i was so hoping they added a "quit all applications" button/feature.



    Hopefully Apple "a quit all applications feature" somewhere in the update as its annoying to close these to save battery power.
  • Reply 30 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post


    What about Find My iPhone multiple user functionality?



    I still find it funny that I can run Find My iPhone...on my iPhone.



    My wife also has Mobile Me and it would be cool if I could punch in her Apple ID to find out where she's at. (But she should add me to an approved finders' list on her end, however.)



    Such a feature would make that show 'Cheaters' much more appealing. And do away with having to hire a PI. Not that I would know.



    Are you asking for a Find My iPhone update that will allow you to input other people?s IDs and passwords so you can keep tabs on them at all times? Would you really want to lose your iPhone and then use someone else?s device to input your ID so you can locate your phone in a pinch, then wonder if your username and password was now saved on their device? I wouldn?t.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BUSHMAN4 View Post


    Hopefully Apple "a quit all applications feature" somewhere in the update as its annoying to close these to save battery power.



    :sigh:
  • Reply 31 of 47
    thomprthompr Posts: 1,521member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    That game drives me nuts. I tell myself this is the last round but if I don?t get all the pigs they laugh and smile in this smug way that makes me have to play again. The only good pig is a dead pig.



    "I popped a pig... and I liked it."



    Read that somewhere, and now I've forgotten where.



    Thompson
  • Reply 32 of 47
    thomprthompr Posts: 1,521member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post


    What about Find My iPhone multiple user functionality?



    I still find it funny that I can run Find My iPhone...on my iPhone.



    My wife also has Mobile Me and it would be cool if I could punch in her Apple ID to find out where she's at. (But she should add me to an approved finders' list on her end, however.)



    Such a feature would make that show 'Cheaters' much more appealing. And do away with having to hire a PI. Not that I would know.



    To add the capability you request (i.e. easily enter some other MobileMe account) could obviously be exploited in the way you describe and Apple would likely view that as an action that they would rather not be "enablers" for.



    In our household, we simply use the same MobileMe account for all of our mobile devices (three iPhones and two iPads). So I can locate any one of them from any of the others. And might I add that I have informed the other family members about the capability on their devices as well, so that there's not this concept of me being able to track them (without their knowledge) and them not being able to do likewise. We basically use it for location purposes when separately out and about, as opposed to surreptitious tracking. We trust each other.



    Thompson
  • Reply 33 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Are you asking for a Find My iPhone update that will allow you to input other people?s IDs and passwords so you can keep tabs on them at all times? Would you really want to lose your iPhone and then use someone else?s device to input your ID so you can locate your phone in a pinch, then wonder if your username and password was now saved on their device? I wouldn?t.



    All of your security fears could easily be addressed. No need to get into them, but I thought such functionality would be cool and useful.



    "Here Johnny, take daddy's iPhone and go walk around the mall. I'll sit here with my iPad and keep an eye on you."
  • Reply 34 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Are you asking for a Find My iPhone update that will allow you to input other people’s IDs and passwords so you can keep tabs on them at all times? Would you really want to lose your iPhone and then use someone else’s device to input your ID so you can locate your phone in a pinch, then wonder if your username and password was now saved on their device? I wouldn’t ...



    I think this is an overly paranoid point of view (as is Apple's point of view on disallowing this feature.)



    It's something that occurs to every couple, or every group of friends that all own Apple equipment like iPhones and I've seen it come up again and again on many forums. There doesn't seem to be any good reason why (with the appropriate safeguards and permissions), people can't share their location info with others if they want to. Apple hasn't enabled it, but I don't see any valid security reason why not and I've never heard one from anyone else either.



    Families actually do this all the time by using family accounts and it's a very valuable thing to know where your kids or your partner is. To tell people who don't happen to have their account setup that way that they don't deserve or can't have the same function is nonsensical to me.
  • Reply 35 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post


    All of your security fears could easily be addressed. No need to get into them, but I thought such functionality would be cool and useful.



    "Here Johnny, take daddy's iPhone and go walk around the mall. I'll sit here with my iPad and keep an eye on you."



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    I think this is an overly paranoid point of view (as is Apple's point of view on disallowing this feature.)



    It's something that occurs to every couple, or every group of friends that all own Apple equipment like iPhones and I've seen it come up again and again on many forums. There doesn't seem to be any good reason why (with the appropriate safeguards and permissions), people can't share their location info with others if they want to. Apple hasn't enabled it, but I don't see any valid security reason why not and I've never heard one from anyone else either.



    Families actually do this all the time by using family accounts and it's a very valuable thing to know where your kids or your partner is. To tell people who don't happen to have their account setup that way that they don't deserve or can't have the same function is nonsensical to me.



    You guys are talking about different things than what I stated. The Find My iPhone app is to locate a lost or stolen iOS-based iDevice, not to use to spy on people?s locations. The point is you can use someone else?s device in a pinch to locate your iOS-based iDevice.



    There are already services that allow you to spy on people the way you want to, but that is not the reason this app was created.
  • Reply 36 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    You guys are talking about different things than what I stated. The Find My iPhone app is to locate a lost or stolen iOS-based iDevice, not to use to spy on people?s locations. The point is you can use someone else?s device in a pinch to locate your iOS-based iDevice.



    There are already services that allow you to spy on people the way you want to, but that is not the reason this app was created.



    I think you're kind of splitting hairs here, but point taken anyway.



    I would argue that your repeated use of the word "spy" and talk about "spying on people" kind of reveals your true feelings about this kind of tech though.
  • Reply 37 of 47
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    You?ve missed the point. It?s not a ?Multitasking Bar? it?s the ?Fast App Switcher?. The list of icons are not all running in the background, using your RAM and slowing your device down. There is no reason to want to remove them all unless you a) still don?t understand the purpose of Fast App Switching, or b) are anal retentive. I suggest just not using the Fast App Switcher since each app you use will end up in that list in the order in which you last used it which makes your point about only listing the last 8-10 moot since that?s by design the first apps you?ll see when you access the feature and start scrolling.



    I agree with your point, although, I would point out that, if they support fast app switching, these apps (or the OS for them) are consuming some resources even though they aren't "running" since their state information is being saved/archived. I sometimes quit some apps and relaunch them fresh -- like the NPR app by Rocket Bottle, which doesn't seem to ever fully refresh the "Latest" section unless you do so.
  • Reply 38 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    I think you're kind of splitting hairs here, but point taken anyway.



    I would argue that your repeated use of the word "spy" and talk about "spying on people" kind of reveals your true feelings about this kind of tech though.



    So paranoid and yet I use this tech daily. I haven?t disabled my GPS, I do my FourSquare checkins for friends and family, and use other apps for this type of service. What I?m not going to do is use a strangers iDevice to log my AppleID info into their phone and have the data saved if I misplace my device. That?s just stupid.



    B]macinthe408[/B] bought up the spying, I merely pointed out what the app is for as his post noted that it was ?funny? the app existed in the first place, why Apple wouldn?t do what he asked (along with Thompson) and the fact that there are other ways to do your clandestine snooping without Apple feeling culpable.
  • Reply 39 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    I agree with your point, although, I would point out that, if they support fast app switching, these apps (or the OS for them) are consuming some resources even though they aren't "running" since their state information is being saved/archived. I sometimes quit some apps and relaunch them fresh -- like the NPR app by Rocket Bottle, which doesn't seem to ever fully refresh the "Latest" section unless you do so.



    Again, being in Fast App Switching doesn?t mean they are using RAM. iOS apps by design auto save data. This was an important aspect to the recent Mac OS X 10.7 demo.



    Some apps that have recently run will still be in RAM if the developer enabled that option so you can reluanch it. Words With Friends is one such example that now retains itself in RAM (I think 120 seconds) so you can instantly jump back into it again Note: You don?t need to launch it from Fast App Switcher to jump back into the app.



    if you restart your iOS device and then access Fast App Switcher these apps will all listed in the same order they were before your turned off the device. Unless one wants to foolishly argue that all those apps are pushed back into RAM after a restart it?s clear they are not running in RAM.



    The only thing I?d like to see is a badge appended to apps in Fast App Switcher and on the Home Screen when they are still running in the background. This would alleviate this inability to understand what Fast App Switching is, but it would take away from the seamless nature of Apple?s background processes which they aren?t likely to do. I guess people will have to learn not to be anal retentive about seeing icons in Fast App Switcher or move to Android.
  • Reply 40 of 47
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Again, being in Fast App Switching doesn?t mean they are using RAM. iOS apps by design auto save data. This was an important aspect to the recent Mac OS X 10.7 demo.



    Some apps that have recently run will still be in RAM if the developer enabled that option so you can reluanch it. Words With Friends is one such example that now retains itself in RAM (I think 120 seconds) so you can instantly jump back into it again Note: You don?t need to launch it from Fast App Switcher to jump back into the app.



    if you restart your iOS device and then access Fast App Switcher these apps will all listed in the same order they were before your turned off the device. Unless one wants to foolishly argue that all those apps are pushed back into RAM after a restart it?s clear they are not running in RAM. ...



    That last bit is interesting, I hadn't really paid attention to that, not that I use the FAS all that often to access apps. (I usually just get to them the old-fashioned way.)



    But, even if enabled apps aren't running, their state information is archived (which is what allows them to resume where they were) and, obviously, takes up space somewhere: RAM, Flash memory, I'm not sure where. However, the point I was making is that sometimes you do want to quit and relaunch an app to get it to completely reinitialize itself. That's really an issue with the app, but there are cases like the NPR app example I gave where it can be desirable to do this.
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