Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why doesn't iOS allow multiple apps to run
- Thread starter 2010madone
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I personally don't feel that being able to do more meaningless things on a phone at once really makes my life any better. That said, I try to avoid using my phone as much as possible (meaning I spend about an hour of time if all added up in a day) because its distracting.
I have my laptop and an iPad if I want productivity or reading, so maybe I'm not the right user case, but theres really nothing but headaches and stressed to be gained for me through "true" multitasking.
We'll leave the fact alone that apple has specific APIs available for the majority of things you need done in the background (like audio streaming).
I think people are just sick of the whiney "I hate apple it suxors because it doesn't do what I want I'm leaving boo hoo hoo" posts.
No offense OP but thats exactly what your post is. You're way off the mark here. iOS does multitask. Read Intell's post. He's very knowledgable about iOS.
So, you don't need multitasking on the phone because you use your iPad for productivity?
You realize it's the same OS, right?
What practical difference does it make that iOS "froze" my game while I surfed the web for a couple minutes then returned me to the exact same place when I opened the game again? Again, nothing in your post describes anything that iOS doesn't already do.
The post was claiming that iOS doesn't allow you to run multiple apps. It clearly does. If the developer doesn't use the appropriate APIs that isn't a flaw of the OS.
Perhaps the OP meant literal multitasking, like this.
http://androidheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/multiwindow.jpg
http://ssheltonimages.com/img/03/03b/Galaxy_Note_2_multi_window.jpg
http://androidheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/multiwindow.jpg
http://ssheltonimages.com/img/03/03b/Galaxy_Note_2_multi_window.jpg
So, you don't need multitasking on the phone because you use your iPad for productivity?
You realize it's the same OS, right?
Order is everything my friend. The iPad is for reading.
Take a second to reread my sentence in the post you quoted.
No. What you wrote means that you use the iPad (and laptop) for both productivity AND reading. Otherwise, you should have written that you use the laptop for productivity and the iPad for reading.
It IS a flaw of the OS if those APIs don't exist to begin with.
Apple only allows the following things to actually happen in the background:
VOIP Calls
Audio Playback
Location updating
Task Completion (within limited bounds, an App can continue to run for a maximum of 10 minutes to finish off a "task" - e.g. uploading a photo to Facebook).
While that covers a lot of things, there are many more that would be possible if iOS was less restrictive.
I did exactly what he asked me to do, with the game Lili, and nothing reloaded. Multitasking simply dropped me back exactly where I was.
I experience plenty of refreshing on the iPhone and ipad with browsing, whether it's safari or other browsers. Sometimes it gets annoying, especially if your typing a post in a forum and check another app real quick only to come back to a refreshing browser that loses what you typed. If I'm typing a long post, I will copy it so I can paste it back if it refreshes. I've never experienced this on any Android phone/tablet.
Andriod multitasks more like a desktop while with iOS it depends on the specific app. Some apps and games on iOS will keep it's state, while others will reload. I've also noticed some will keep it's state, but if left to long will reload. With Android every app is ongoing basically forever until you manually close or reboot.
Sure iOS has multitasking, but people are right to say it's not "true" multitasking. It sure is not the type of multitasking you have any real control of.
Andriod multitasks more like a desktop while with iOS it depends on the specific app. Some apps and games on iOS will keep it's state, while others will reload. I've also noticed some will keep it's state, but if left to long will reload. With Android every app is ongoing basically forever until you manually close or reboot.
Sure iOS has multitasking, but people are right to say it's not "true" multitasking. It sure is not the type of multitasking you have any real control of.
No I'm not.
The things you list are either not technically multitasking or are niche features.
How is a newsstand App updating content a multitasking feature? I can't use it unless I'm writing a newsstand App. Even then it's very basic
I already mentioned:
Audio
VOIP
Location
Task Completion
"Freezing" is not multitasking
Local and Push notifications are not multitasking. The developer cannot write code that is triggered when a notification is received by the device - only if the user presses a button to open the App
Accessories that work with Apps are incredibly rare and not worth talking about
You stated that Apple only allows a select few APIs to call upon multitasking. I was merely pointing out that you were incorrect. The Push APIs are not niche or basic. They are used in a wide range of apps and can be complex to implement without clogging up the system. When used with the task completion API or the freeze API, they can do things without user input. Even if the things the process does is limited to backgrounding APIs. The Newsstand API is a good example of cross app integration. While not everyone would write an app that invokes it, the few who do use it quite often. The freezing API is the most used of them all. Without it, apps would simply kill all of their processes. But because of it, users get the best possible multitasking experience. Microsoft even has this API available for Windows Phone. Accessory apps are not that rare. I have plenty of accessory apps, some of which get used daily. They are indeed worth talking about because the large amount of devices able to interface with them makes iOS accessories a good market.
Yeah sure you're a newbie with decades of Apple experience :roll eyes:
I'm sure you'll be trying to sell me a bridge next.
I'm sure you'll be trying to sell me a bridge next.
My guess is that you are not a developer.
There is no "freezing" API. Processes are not "killed" when you close them. They enter the "suspended" state. They cannot run any code.
This is not multitasking.
That was entirely correct. You don't seem to understand what an API is!
Apple calls it "fast app switching". The colloquial term is "freezing". Microsoft calls it "dehydrating" or something along those lines. No matter what it's called, it's the most used of the multitasking APIs available in iOS. I never said that they run code when the fast app switching API has been engaged. I do indeed know exactly understand what an API is. Maybe my wording of my previous post was a little unclear to you. Here's a corrected statement: You stated that out of the 10 available APIs, as of iOS 5, that Apple gives developers, only four are multitasking. Despite Apple and other developers stating otherwise.
Again, you're failing to understand what it is.
1) It's not multitasking
2) It's not an API
What you're saying is just plain wrong!
That would surely be the definition of Multitasking!
They do not fit the dictionary definition of multitasking. They give the illusion of providing multitasking.
Hence the OP's question.
Other operating systems like Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android and so on, do not have the same restrictive multitasking system.
He's talking about split screen multitasking. The fact that many iPhone users think app switching is the same as multitasking shows how we've been kept in the dark on these features
No he's not. His Android phone CAN'T do split screen. In fact, stock Android doesn't do split screen. Samsung adds the feature to their phones and tablets. LG has a little transparent app form of multitasking. Stock Android does neither.
I found how iOS handled multi-tasking to be mostly ok for me. Most of my apps would instantly start back up where it left off.
My main annoyance was IM+. It would suspend, and when I'd get a message and jump into the app, it would have to "reconnect". The speed of this would depend on the internet speed. If on GPRS it would literally take a minute or 2 to respond to the message. I know that doesnt sound like a lot, but try it yourself, when you're browsing the internet on your computer and you get an IM, open the app, but stare at it for 60 seconds before you can respond, it feels like an eternity.
My main annoyance was IM+. It would suspend, and when I'd get a message and jump into the app, it would have to "reconnect". The speed of this would depend on the internet speed. If on GPRS it would literally take a minute or 2 to respond to the message. I know that doesnt sound like a lot, but try it yourself, when you're browsing the internet on your computer and you get an IM, open the app, but stare at it for 60 seconds before you can respond, it feels like an eternity.
Multitasking: The simultaneous execution of more than one program or task by a single computer processor.
That's the definition of it as per the New Oxford American Dictionary. iOS developers can use any of the resources available to them to have any of their applications fit the definition. They all provide multitasking, with one of them providing true full background abilities. Going by the set forth definition, the Motorola 68000 in the Macintosh 128K gave that machine multitasking abilities. I could watch a clock tick away the time, while having it add 2+2.
You say that the fast app switching API doesn't provide multitasking abilities and that it isn't an API. It isn't an API that needs to be called. Instead it's integrated by default when the app is built. It can be overridden with one of the other multitasking APIs or disabled with the UIApplicationExitsOnSuspend key. But still, what good is it to have a weather app running constantly in the background in a running state? How about a game? There's no reason why those apps need to be in a running state. The fast app switching API provides them with multitasking like abilities so that they don't run in the background doing nothing but showing an idle time animation. I'm not failing to understand what the fast app switching API is or does. I've used it many times in ways that Apple has and a few ways that it has not intended. Apple never stated nor designed it to have the code run in the background, but sometimes an application doesn't listen to iOS and it doesn't pause correctly or at all.
The simple answer to the OP's question will always lead back to one answer, no matter how it's looked at; battery life. Apple doesn't want to sacrifice battery life, which in turn becomes a user's experience of the device, for non-iOS multitasking like process control.