OK, so this one is not a brand new rumor – but it is one that gains some momentum with a report today at Apple Insider. It’s also the one rumor about the next major new iPhone OS that I’d most like to see come true – that OS 4.0 will give us ‘full on’ multitasking on the iPhone.
Apple this summer will go a long way towards silencing critics and catering to one of the most prevalent demands of its iPhone user base, when it introduces a multitasking solution through the handset’s 4.0 software update that will finally allow several third party apps to run concurrently and in the background.
The iPhone already does mutlitasking – that’s why the iPod app, for instance, can run in the background. What it does not do is allow any third party apps to run in the background.
Here’s a little more from the Apple Insider report:
People with a proven track record in predicting Apple’s technological advances tell AppleInsider that the Cupertino-based company has developed a "full-on solution" to multitasking on the iPhone OS but offered no specifics on how the technology would optimize resource conservation and battery life — two of the most critical issues surrounding the matter, alongside security.
From a user-facing perspective, Apple plans to deliver a multi-tasking manager that leverages interface technology already bundled with its Mac OS X operating system, according to those same people. It was requested that specifics be withheld at this time, as the iPhone Software 4.0 remains under development and reportedly has a quite ‘way to go’ before it’s ready for prime time.
So there’s no real detail on how multitasking will be extended on the iPhone as yet. To be honest, at this stage just the idea that some extension of multitasking is coming with OS 4.0 is music to my ears.
I’ve felt for a while that Apple is very likely to deliver this in OS 4.0. It just seems foolish not do something about this by now – even if it is a solution that only extends true multitasking a little bit, but provides an elegant way to do rapid app switching.
We already know that a jailbroken iPhone 3GS handles backgrounded apps, rapid app switching, and multitasking like a champ. If Apple gives us a typically well executed implementation of most or all of what we can do on a jailbroken 3GS now, I think an awful lot of users will be thrilled with it.
I firmly believe this is one lovely iPhone rumor we’ll see come true this summer. What about you? Do you think we’ll see more multitasking for the iPhone in OS 4.0?
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: iPhone app switching app, iPhone OS 4.0, mulittasking on iPhone
