True Multitasking
No.
I'm saying that the way Android talks about multitasking makes it seem like it's a marketing buzzword used by higher ups, and nobody can really tell me what it actually means. As evidenced by this topic.
It's not just a "buzzword" on the part of Android/Google/etc. It's real and several examples in this thread are perhaps not of value to you but they are real. In some cases however, they aren't of value such as downloading a spreadsheet, pdf, MSWord File, etc. because in iOS you really can't download it, edit it and store it in a true file system for later use. You can "park it" in the file system of another 3rd party app but that's just a ridiculous work-around.
I was at the airport recently and while waiting for my flight, wanted to take advantage of the time by multitasking on my phone. There were about a dozen videos (11 GB) worth of Affordable Care Act related videos up on YouTube that I wanted to download and review on a plane ride in efforts to tackle some learning for work, but on an iPhone that wouldn't be possible in several ways. However, with my Note 3 not only could I open a dual screen
answering email (1) while simultaneously searching
downloading multiple videos from YouTube at one time
(2), I could then put both those apps in the background and move onto
something else (3rd thing), all while waiting for my notification that the videos were on board my micro SD Card. At the same time as all of the above,
Google Now was keeping me posted on the status of my flight real-time, including gate changes and delays pushing those notifications to me as well while I was doing something else
(4th thing). While all that's going on, my
weather widget is keeping me updated real time on what the weather was like at my destination.
(5th thing) Before getting on my plane I could swipe over to my 2nd home screen and see my
SalesForce.com Widget and read real-time updated communications from my sales team.
(6th thing)
At the same time Google Now is also reading through my emails, picking up any order confirmations that come to me from vendor. Once it sees it, it begins
tracking my UPS Package from Amazon that I ordered the night before and will notify me of it being delivered without me doing anything, so I can call my neighbor and insure he gets the box off my front porch as I would be in the air. When I land and turn on my phone, it will update me on
traffic and the route/time to my hotel so when I get in my rental car, I'm not caught by a surprise accident delaying me. As I approach my hotel,
Retail me Not will chime in with updates on coupons and specials that are around me and Google Now will read my calender and present me the
directions to the steakhouse I'm having a dinner meeting at and also
present me with their menu. The last few aren't true multitasking but they are an example of great Google Driven features that happen in the background and come through as notifications that I can dismiss individually.
The above is true multitasking. 6 Tasks all being done
simultaneously some in the background and some by me first hand all with the
ability to switch back and forth without interrupting the other.
There are a number of examples whereby Android can use Live Widgets that are active in the background updating and presenting us with real-time information. Not just with
"select-supported" apps either. Sure, Apple has
"supported" apps that can do similar things....but not supporting Dropbox? Really? Users are okay with that? iOS will support. No thanks, I want to be able to choose which apps I want to use and know that if it's my photos, that they will be uploaded in the background while I do other things.
