Multitasking

Question

Multitasking

This may sound like a very r e t a rded question, but can someone explain to me the logic behind multitasking? From what I see, pretty much everything stays open all the time. Whether you want it to or not. (i know you can manually close them, but why bother?) In the few cases that I actually take a look at whats open - its pretty much "everything". So ... whats the point?

I get the added benefit of certain apps being able to stay connected while not in use. But we already had that before multitasking. Some chat apps stayed connected and others didn't. It depended on the app developer. But we didn't need multitasking for that. I notice things like Pandora don't stop playing music now - so that is cool. So that much I understand, but but why not just call the feature "non terminating" or "always on" apps or something. Multitasking is confusing to me on the iPhone.

Open applications basically just pile up... and everything's eventually "open". Guess im not clear what the purpose is. It seems like a duplication of the existing icon screens. Plus - another logic question - is it really multitasking if, when leaving an application, there's no option to close it or leave it open? Like a prompt that asks you if you want to leave the app open, or close it instead. Or a little X ... Odd question I know...

Also - one other question - does having all your applications open (because they never close unless you go in and close them) affect battery life? If so, that would be a major problem with multitasking. Id opt out of the feature entirely as im not seeing a huge benefit of it. But I am probably missing the point.

Anyways - my questions are probably clear as mud because my mind is clear as mud on multitasking as a logical concept on the iPhone. Thanks for any insights.

VAIO

Posted on Jul 25, 2010 12:12 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jul 25, 2010 12:29 PM in response to Community User

Multitasking in iOS4 is not like multitasking in OS X. All applications are not running at the same time. Only the active application in use is running. Any other applications on the multitask list are made inactive until you switch to one of them. It's called cooperative multitasking. This is not the same as pre-emptive multitasking that is used in OS X. In this form of multitasking open applications can switch between active and inactive status automatically as needed and applications can run in the background.

Because the iPhone and iPod Touches hold everything in memory multitasking does not demand much more power.

If you Google search the topic you will find several articles providing explanations of how multitasking works in general, the different types of multitasking, as well as articles specific to iOS 4.

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Answer 2

Jul 25, 2010 12:30 PM in response to Community User

HLT1 wrote:
This may sound like a very r e t a rded question, but can someone explain to me the logic behind multitasking? From what I see, pretty much everything stays open all the time. Whether you want it to or not. (i know you can manually clsoe them, but why bother?) In the few cases that I actually take a look at whats open - its pretty much "everything". So ... whats the point?

The point is that apps are suspended rather than killed when you exit them. This means that they can start where they left off when you select them again, rather than having to reinitialize and reload. It means that apps don't have to save their state before exiting. So apps that have run once will then load faster.

I mean I get the added benefit of certain aps being able to stay connected while not in use. But we already had that before multitasking. Certain chat apps stayed connected even when they were closed beforehand. Others didnt. It was up to the app developer. We didnt need multitasking for that. I notice things like Pandora don't stop playing music now - so that is cool. So that much I understand, but but why not just call the feature "non terminating" or "always on" apps or something. Multitasking is confusing to me on the iPhone.

It wasn't the same without multitasking. No apps stayed connected when closed. What happened was that they could be "notified" by an event sent by the apps server in the cloud, but only to remind you to open them. They couldn't do any real work until you opened them. A multitasking app CAN do work when not the active app. For example, the NY Times app can update stories even when it's not running, so when you open it the content will always be current.

Open applications basically just pile up... and everything's eventually "open". Guess im not clear what the purpose is. It seems like a duplication of the existing icon screens. Plus - another logic question - is it really multitasking if, when leaving an application, there's no option to close it or leave it open? Like a prompt that asks you if you want to leave the app open, or close it instead. Or a little X ... Odd question I know...

There is no reason to close them, except if it's something like Pandora and you no longer want it to run in background.

Also - one other question - does having all your applications open (because they never close unless you go in and close them) affect battery life? If so, that would be a major problem with multitasking. Id opt out of the feature entirely as im not seeing a huge benefit of it. But I am probably missing the point.

It only affects battery life if they are actually working (like Pandora or the NY Times). If you don't want the Times to update in background you can turn off the feature in the app's settings (Settings app/NY Times).

Anyways - my questions are probably clear as mud because my mind is clear as mud on multitasking as a logical concept on the iPhone. Thanks for any insights.

I hope this was helpful. Please ask for anything that isn't clear.

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Answer 3

Jul 25, 2010 12:36 PM in response to Community User

You can read Apple's explanation here:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/multitasking.html

Also, worth noting that apps must be written to take advantage of multitasking.

Matt

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Answer 4

Aug 27, 2010 4:40 PM in response to Community User

I've seen this row of apps that appears when you double-click the Home button referred to as a 'multitask list' in this and many other threads, but the iPhone manual says the apps that appear there are 'recently used' apps, not necessarily 'running apps' like I'd expect in a multitask list. Maybe this is just semantics but it does still leave me a little confused.

If I'm in an app that has been written to do some background work even after you close it by pressing Home once (like Evernote, for example), is that any different than the 'double-click and start another app' approach?

In other words, is the double-click way more of a convenience or is it really different than a single Home click to launch another app?

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