Will Apple ever let Pandora/etc. run in bground?

[spscott]

Do you guys think Apple will ever let apps like Pandora run in the background? Or Public Radio apps? That's one thing I loved about the black berry...

Really frustrated it's not possible on the iPhone. Why is this the case? Will it ever change?! thanks!

Spence

 

[ruinfx]

if apple doesnt bring background tasks next year in 4.0 i will be suprised.

 

[matttye]

Not in the near future... they've just invested a lot of money in their push notification servers.

 

[rhett7660]

Not in the near future... they've just invested a lot of money in their push notification servers.

What does this have to do with Pandora running in the background? Are you thinking this would be used like a push service?

 

[wingsabr]

What does this have to do with Pandora running in the background? Are you thinking this would be used like a push service?

Absolutely nothing. I use backgrounder on my JB 3GS and it works fine with no push involved at all.

 

[themoonisdown09]

Not in the near future... they've just invested a lot of money in their push notification servers.

Push notifications and applications running in the background have two completely different purposes.

I do wish that Apple would allow certain applications to run in the background (specifically Pandora). I don't think this is far off, but I'm curious as how this will be implemented.

Will they only allow certain "approved" applications to run in the background or will all applications be able to do this? I tend to lean towards the former... at least to start with.

 

[nehunte]

I would think they would have to do it by 4.0. The 3Gs has so much unused RAM in the background, that it would be silly not to utilize it. For the time being though, just jailbreak it and run Backgrounder. It works great. That is of course you don't have a 3Gs with 3.1 already installed. Then, jailbreaking gets pretty hard.

 

[jav6454]

As soon as Apple allows multitasking on the iPhone. Which should be in OS 5.

In all seriousness, the hardware capability is there, but the battery juice to keep multi apps running is not. If Apple allows this, there will be a flood of people bitching about poor battery life, so in order to save them from that, Apple restricts background usage.

 

[bytethese]

What does this have to do with Pandora running in the background? Are you thinking this would be used like a push service?

Exactly. Apple just invested money in a solution to offer something instead of having background apps. In other words, why look into making processes run in the background after investing heavily in another solution? Granted this won't work for apps like Pandora but "thems the breaks".

 

[thelatinist]

Let me get out my crystal ball...

The spirits say that 4.0 will allow backgrounding of certain approved applications (probably not including IM, since Push notifications are a good solution, but probably including streaming audio, GPS apps, etc) on the 3GS+ only. People on 2G and 3G will be out of luck.

 

[jav6454]

Let me get out my crystal ball...

The spirits say that 4.0 will allow backgrounding of certain approved applications (probably not including IM, since Push notifications are a good solution, but probably including streaming audio, GPS apps, etc) on the 3GS+ only. People on 2G and 3G will be out of luck.

Since I really like your post and made laugh, you sir win this.

 

[spscott]

4.0 meaning...

When we say 4.0... we mean OS 4, yes? I'd hope that backgrounding other applications won't be limited to new hardware... I have a 3GS.

What about battery power tho.. That won't change except with hardware. Does the 3GS have enuf battery to run pandora in bg? Or will they make it so those functions use less batt power? hum.

 

[themoonisdown09]

What about battery power tho.. That won't change except with hardware. Does the 3GS have enuf battery to run pandora in bg? Or will they make it so those functions use less batt power? hum.

I don't see why it wouldn't. I run Pandora for hours at work and my battery is fine. I just want to be able to play Solitaire while listening to Pandora!!!

 

[kas23]

If Apple allows this, there will be a flood of people bitching about poor battery life, so in order to save them from that, Apple restricts background usage.

I don't think a potential "flood of bitching" is why Apple is hesitant to introduce true multitasking. People are always going to bitch. There was no MMS, people bitched in the thousands. This didn't seem to bother Apple for 3 long years. There is no tethering, which is a basic feature of a smartphone, and people are bitching. Apple/AT&T (when it comes to developing the iPhone, I don't see the distinction between these corporations - they work closely together) still does react. And, regardless, people currently bitch about the iPhone's battery life. Adding true multitasking will not change this.

 

[IBradMac]

As soon as Apple allows multitasking on the iPhone. Which should be in OS 5.

In all seriousness, the hardware capability is there, but the battery juice to keep multi apps running is not. If Apple allows this, there will be a flood of people bitching about poor battery life, so in order to save them from that, Apple restricts background usage.

True, but they also were not afraid to tell us that 3G will drain the battery twice as fast...

I'd hope they could just say "Background processes allow you to run multiple applications at once, but in doing so there could be major battery drain."

No?

When we say 4.0... we mean OS 4, yes? I'd hope that backgrounding other applications won't be limited to new hardware... I have a 3GS.

What about battery power tho.. That won't change except with hardware. Does the 3GS have enuf battery to run pandora in bg? Or will they make it so those functions use less batt power? hum.

OS 4- Yes.

On Pandora- It just depends on your usage and how long you run an application in the background.

 

[ghayenga]

Push notifications and applications running in the background have two completely different purposes.

No, several of their purposes overlap. The most obvious being the chat application that will continue to receive messages while you've switched to the mail app. Push notifications solve that problem instead of running the app in the background but aren't sufficient for people who want their third party apps to play music in the background or send or receive continuous updates while the user is able to use other applications.

 

[Small White Car]

There is no background use for the same reason we got cut-n-paste with version 3.0 instead of version 1.0.

Apple made the iPhone fairly simple and they're SLOWLY adding features so that they can make sure the phone doesn't get too complicated. Once you give a feature, you can't take it back. And once the iPhone is too complicated it's not Apple-like. So they're taking their time adding things so that they're absolutely certain they're doing it the way they want it to be done and don't rush into a mistake.

You can argue that you don't like that approach but you have to agree that that's their reasoning.

So, yeah, I suspect 4.0 will give us background apps simply because it seems like the next 'big' thing they'd choose to work on.

 

[themoonisdown09]

No, several of their purposes overlap. The most obvious being the chat application that will continue to receive messages while you've switched to the mail app. Push notifications solve that problem instead of running the app in the background but aren't sufficient for people who want their third party apps to play music in the background or send or receive continuous updates while the user is able to use other applications.

No, no they don't overlap. Push notifications are just that, notifications for an application that are pushed to the user. It informs you of a new message or alert for a particular application.

Applications running in the program is just that, it is an application that can run in the background while you perform other tasks (such as having Pandora run while you play Solitaire).

I agree that they could "overlap" in that someone could leave AIM running while doing something else, but you would still have to have push notifications to alert the user that a new message has arrived.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

There is no background use for the same reason we got cut-n-paste with version 3.0 instead of version 1.0.

Apple made the iPhone fairly simple and they're SLOWLY adding features so that they can make sure the phone doesn't get too complicated. Once you give a feature, you can't take it back. And once the iPhone is too complicated it's not Apple-like. So they're taking their time adding things so that they're absolutely certain they're doing it the way they want it to be done and don't rush into a mistake.

You can argue that you don't like that approach but you have to agree that that's their reasoning.

So, yeah, I suspect 4.0 will give us background apps simply because it seems like the next 'big' thing they'd choose to work on.

I can think of another reason and it is not about not getting it compllicated. It is about the fact apple can force people to upgrade.
Unless you can give a better reason why the 2G iPhone did not give MMS. I bet the iPhone released next year will be able to do it but 3GS down would not be able to even though there is no hardware limitation that it can not handle background apps.

 

[Dann0]

Actually if Apple were to decide to add background apps it would fit timing-wise if they are in fact going to be adding major enhancements to the UI. I would think supporting background apps would require an entirely new interface element.

 

[Small White Car]

I can think of another reason and it is not about not getting it compllicated. It is about the fact apple can force people to upgrade.
Unless you can give a better reason why the 2G iPhone did not give MMS. I bet the iPhone released next year will be able to do it but 3GS down would not be able to even though there is no hardware limitation that it can not handle background apps.

I suspect you're right that only the new phone can do it.

I also suspect the new phone will have a much better bettery and doing things that give it 6 hours of life would give you 2 hours of life on an older iPhone.

So in a case like that I'd argue that it's 50% "to make you upgrade" and 50% "it's for your own good" kind of thing.

Actually if Apple were to decide to add background apps it would fit timing-wise if they are in fact going to be adding major enhancements to the UI. I would think supporting background apps would require an entirely new interface element.

A huge, HUGE point.

I don't think background apps would work well with the current interface. It would be very hard to know what was running. (What? Cycle through pages to see 'glowing' icons or something like that?)

This is probably the BIGGEST reason we don't have them yet. That sort of re-design will take them far more time than the challenge of making background apps work.

Good call, I bet that's what we're actually waiting for in this discusion.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

Once, ever, but just not today.

 

[bytethese]

I can think of another reason and it is not about not getting it compllicated. It is about the fact apple can force people to upgrade.
Unless you can give a better reason why the 2G iPhone did not give MMS. I bet the iPhone released next year will be able to do it but 3GS down would not be able to even though there is no hardware limitation that it can not handle background apps.

One thing I can think of is the 2G only uses EDGE. What if in their MMS code they don't compress images much, it would work faster on the 3G and 3GS models. Not to say it wouldn't work, but not work as well as it would on the 3G or 3GS. I equate this with my new 13" MBP purchase. Why don't I have a 7200rpm option? One answer is that the battery numbers look better with a slower spinning drive. Larger laptops can have larger batteries and mate this was a way to preset themselves best to the consumer.

 

[jciapara]

As soon as Apple allows multitasking on the iPhone. Which should be in OS 5.

In all seriousness, the hardware capability is there, but the battery juice to keep multi apps running is not. If Apple allows this, there will be a flood of people bitching about poor battery life, so in order to save them from that, Apple restricts background usage.

Multitasking is already there, thirds party apps running on Background is a different thing. But still battery juice will be/is the main issue, hopefully they'll think of something to make it work.

 

[matttye]

What does this have to do with Pandora running in the background? Are you thinking this would be used like a push service?

Apple made a big thing about push notifications being a lot friendlier on the battery than background tasks at their keynote; they clearly see push as a "solution" for background apps.

Push notifications and applications running in the background have two completely different purposes.

I agree, but Apple clearly doesn't see it that way considering people asked for background tasks and they got push