iPad = no multitasking; iPhone 4G = ?

[arctic]

Okay, put yourself in the shoes of Apple. Why didn't you put multitasking on the iPad? Will you put it in the upcoming iPhones? Why? Should you first solve the battery life issue above this?

I want multitasking. But I'm getting skeptical thinking about this scenario. I believe this new A4 chip is more on power consumption above anything else. If we'd see a multitasking iPhone, why didn't the iPad have this in the first place? Apple might solve the battery life issues first. Sad to say, we'll be disappointed again this July. At least for this year.

As far as I'm concerned and hate to admit, this 4.0-multitasking rumor is only that, fanboy rumor without solid ground.

 

[MacDawg]

New hardware and software releases hardly ever live up to the level of expectation created by rabid users, so I agree, there will likely be disappointments in any 4.0 release for the iPhone

Will it have multi-tasking?
In my opinion, probably not

But it may be as much a conscious user experience decision as it is a battery issue

 

[niuniu]

I can't see multitasking coming personally. Why would Apple open themselves up to criticism for releasing a tablet without it, IF they had an OS update just around the corner for the iPhone 4.0 and iPad.

Unless of course this is going to be a carrot dangling session like the iPhone was..

 

[GoCubsGo]

I can't see multitasking coming personally. Why would Apple open themselves up to criticism for releasing a tablet without it, IF they had an OS update just around the corner for the iPhone 4.0 and iPad.

Unless of course this is going to be a carrot dangling session like the iPhone was..

^This. Before the iPad announcement I would have said it seemed like the likely enhancement. Now, not so much.

Remember, this is the company that got away with NOT including the simple feature of copy/paste from the beginning and when they gave it to us many cheered for Apple.

 

[arctic]

For arguments' sake, what if Apple says:

"Well, we can put multitasking on the iPhone alone and not on the iPad and the iPod touches because it's a phone and we want to make this a distinct feature for this device above our other mobile portables."

 

[lemonademaker]

i'm not expecting it....

but wish they could figure out a way to let gps programs open and "extra" app and let streaming radio apps open and "extra" app......
don't know if they can limit the amount of open apps? it would kill the battery but yes i wish that could be OUR choice..... (seems like 80% of the time i'm around power)
but i have gotten used to it and in wifi i have a Touch for multitasking...

 

[TeamDNA]

You want multitasking ? Jailbreak your iPhone. Problem solved. It amazes me how many people complain about a feature the iPhone doesn't have vanilla. And does if you jailbreak why wait for apple when you can do it yourself

 

[kernkraft]

You want multitasking ? Jailbreak your iPhone. Problem solved. It amazes me how many people complain about a feature the iPhone doesn't have vanilla. And does if you jailbreak why wait for apple when you can do it yourself

Jailbraking is getting more difficult by every update. I did my 3G and I have multitasking set up but it's not the same as having the feature run natively with Apple's support.

With the tablet, I don't bitch about not having a full OS. In fact, I'm not bothered at all I can understand why it is so. But I believe that the iPad really needs the ability to set third-perty apps running simultaneously.

The power is there, the battery capacity is there... it's only Apple's stubbornness that stops them accepting that sometimes people want to use their devices differently to some developer in Cupertino.

 

[countrydweller]

I'd guess 90% chance they'll have multi-tasking. If they don't many will go elsewhere for a phone. IMO

 

[Carniphage]

We need to wait for OS4.0

Then we will see what new features Apple is bringing to the iPhone OS.

I think it is very unlikely that the iPad will launch with OS3.2

C.

 

[kernkraft]

I'd guess 90% chance they'll have multi-tasking. If they don't many will go elsewhere for a phone. IMO

Or for a tablet... It's acceptable not to have multitasking on a phone, people don't compare smartphones to computers as they would do it with a tablet.

 

[hchavarria]

Or for a tablet... It's acceptable not to have multitasking on a phone, people don't compare smartphones to computers as they would do it with a tablet.

Except I wouldn't concider this a tablet but rather an extension to your i-device. I don't see them launching multitasking and the whole battery crap is just that crap. My windows phones with multitasking last just as long as the iPhone without it. They simply need better batteries.

 

[Lightbrazer]

Except I wouldn't concider this a tablet but rather an extension to your i-device. I don't see them launching multitasking and the whole battery crap is just that crap. My windows phones with multitasking last just as long as the iPhone without it. They simply need better batteries.

I agree, the Palm Pre, Android and windows mobile all allow multitasking and they battery lasts just fine on all of them, I call bs on this argument. I also agree that while many will accept it on a phone a tablet is quite a different beast. I mean really you're going to type a paper on pages and your NOT going to be going back and forth on the web for references to copy and paste? Gimme a break. And no, quitting and reloading Safari and pages does not work "just as well" as having them both open, not by a long shot.

 

[arctic]

If they don't many will go elsewhere for a phone. IMO

Watch and learn what happens to the iPhone sales figures when the iPhone is finally available to Verizon and other carriers. The average Joe will buy an iPhone for usability and that fruit symbol, not the features that we crave for.

 

[countrydweller]

Watch and learn what happens to the iPhone sales figures when the iPhone is finally available to Verizon and other carriers. The average Joe will buy an iPhone for usability and that fruit symbol, not the features that we crave for.

I don't need the fruit symbol in my underwear or on my phone. If and when the iPhone becomes available on Verizon, they will gain sales, but if they don't ramp up the iPhone, they will lose some sales. I personally think Apple will meet or beat the other phones available now, time will tell.

 

[Outrigger]

I'd guess 90% chance they'll have multi-tasking. If they don't many will go elsewhere for a phone. IMO

They didn't have basic functions like copy and paste and video recording for the first 2 years, I didn't see people going anywhere else for a phone. Bottom line, Apple can take away copy and paste and video recording in the next gen iphone and they won't lose any fans. This board does not represent what the majority of the iphone users, not even 1%. Most iphone users don't care about the techy stuff or jail break or any of that thats discussed here, they just care about useability and simplicity. Apple has never been about hardware and bleeding edge tech. There are plenty of phones out there that trumphs the iphone in terms of hardware, but yet will never be as popular simply because most people don't care about that, its not what sells.

 

[countrydweller]

They didn't have basic functions like copy and paste and video recording for the first 2 years, I didn't see people going anywhere else for a phone. Bottom line, Apple can take away copy and paste and video recording in the next gen iphone and they won't lose any fans. This board does not represent what the majority of the iphone users, not even 1%. Most iphone users don't care about the techy stuff or jail break or any of that thats discussed here, they just care about useability and simplicity. Apple has never been about hardware and bleeding edge tech. There are plenty of phones out there that trumphs the iphone in terms of hardware, but yet will never be as popular simply because most people don't care about that, its not what sells.

The iPhone users I know that don't frequent this site aren't as diehard apple fans as the people here. Many say they are tiring of the iPhone's lag in keeping up with other phones. You can't make a phone that is top of the line and sit on it for five years and still expect it to be top of the line, Apple needs to catch up if they want to stay on top. There will still be plenty of iPhone fans, but Apple will lose sales if they don't ramp up the iPhone.

 

[Michael CM1]

I saw a story about this somewhere yesterday, and it made good points. One that stuck out was security. Without multitasking, you don't have to worry about spyware secretly running in the background. That's a huge task to tackle before releasing any sort of multitasking. I'm betting 4.0 will have some sort of multitasking, but I don't know what the implementation will be.

 

[Small White Car]

I suspect that Apple is going to quietly back into several things that replace the need for full multitasking.

They took the first step with push notifications. What's next? Well, people talk about Pandora. I suspect we'll next see some sort of "mini-code" API that let progams like that run some mini-program in the background that only does one or two things. So, mini-Pandora could allow music playback and allow the user to skip tracks, but it would do nothing else. So you wouldn't have all of Pandora running back there, but you would have the part you care about.

Developers would have to make that mini-program within their own program. Another example: runners' GPS tracking programs could have mini-code that only records the GPS signal while the program is closed, but does nothing more. So you listen to your iPod while you're jogging, then open the running-app up once you're done and it reads the gathered data and THEN processes it and gives you your map and calories burned and whatnot.

So that's not exactly real multitasking, but it gets the job done.

I challenge you: If you have push notifications AND some kind of background-mini-programs like I've described here, is there ANY reason you need full, real multitasking on your iPhone?

I can't think of anything. Please tell me your ideas if you can think of something that this wouldn't solve.

 

[countrydweller]

I suspect that Apple is going to quietly back into several things that replace the need for full multitasking.

They took the first step with push notifications. What's next? Well, people talk about Pandora. I suspect we'll next see some sort of "mini-code" API that let progams like that run some mini-program in the background that only does one or two things. So, mini-Pandora could allow music playback and allow the user to skip tracks, but it would do nothing else. So you wouldn't have all of Pandora running back there, but you would have the part you care about.

Developers would have to make that mini-program within their own program. Another example: runners' GPS tracking programs could have mini-code that only records the GPS signal while the program is closed, but does nothing more. So you listen to your iPod while you're jogging, then open the running-app up once you're done and it reads the gathered data and THEN processes it and gives you your map and calories burned and whatnot.

So that's not exactly real multitasking, but it gets the job done.

I challenge you: If you have push notifications AND some kind of background-mini-programs like I've described here, is there ANY reason you need full, real multitasking on your iPhone?

I can't think of anything. Please tell me your ideas if you can think of something that this wouldn't solve.

This would work, but then we're at the mercy of the developers. They may fix their's or not. Full multitasking would be better.

 

[nehunte]

I agree, the Palm Pre, Android and windows mobile all allow multitasking and they battery lasts just fine on all of them, I call bs on this argument. I also agree that while many will accept it on a phone a tablet is quite a different beast. I mean really you're going to type a paper on pages and your NOT going to be going back and forth on the web for references to copy and paste? Gimme a break. And no, quitting and reloading Safari and pages does not work "just as well" as having them both open, not by a long shot.

No offense to you, but I have to disagree. The Palm Pre does wonders with multitasking because of it's patented "card view." You always know what applications are running because the cards are always being shown. With Android and WinMo, people do have issues with battery life because apps will run in the background and they don't remember they have them running. The people in this forum will remember them running but Average Joe won't. They'll let them run in the background all day and complain their battery life is totally dead, such as they do now with WinMo and Android. And Apple can't simply rip off the WebOs design with card view.

What I think will likely happen is that they'll let native apps run in the background, but won't allow third-party apps to run in the background. Currently, native apps can run in the background, but there is no true multi-tasking feel to it. I think they'll add the multi-tasking feel with it. Who knows though. We'll see what happens when it happens.

 

[Small White Car]

This would work, but then we're at the mercy of the developers. They may fix their's or not. Full multitasking would be better.

You know, I don't think this will be a problem.

I'll re-use use my GPS-exercise-program example. Let's pretend there are 6 popular apps that do this. Let's imagine that 4 of them add this feature. What do you think will happen to the sales of those other 2 apps?

Hmm...problem solved, I think! Either they catch up or just go away entirely.

So I don't think you'll have much trouble finding apps that do this.

 

[NorrisKillsKids]

I think the multitasking issue will be solved one way or another with the next update. With 4.0 who knows what apple will do, but I think at this point in time, at least business wise, there are a few things that they know they just have to cover even if they don't think it's important to them.

5mp cameras seem to be the new standard, so apple will throw that in, oled screens seem to be becoming a new standard, so apple will throw that in, multitasking seems to be becoming a new standard (at least for the competition lately) and I personally think they'll add it or address it in some way.

Then they'll do something else that will put them ahead, and then the competition will catch up and expand, then the pattern will continue. That's my theory...might be a bit optimistic but meh. Oh and as for the iPad not having it, I think someone could almost make the argument that it makes multitasking even more likely because it gives Apple yet another opportunity to put some attention on the iPad a few months after it is unveiled. People talked and will talk about it for a little while to come, then they announce 4.0 with new features for the iPad/iPhone/iPod touch and then it gets even more attention.

 

[matttye]

I've narrowed my next choice of phone down to either the HTC desire or the new iPhone, unless anything spectacular comes between now and July, which I doubt.

If the iPhone doesn't have multitasking it can pee off

 

[NorrisKillsKids]

I'd consider a good Android phone if google/htc gave a **** about Canada. Shame they don't. So till they do the new iPhone will probably be my choice.