What about multitasking?

[Scott R]

Has anyone heard anything about whether or not the iPhone can multitask? I'm guessing that you can listen to music in the background and have a phone conversation in the background, both of which can also be done with the not-really-multitasking Palm OS.

I'm not overly hung up on the need to multitask several things at once, as my Palm OS Treos have *mostly* worked alright for my needs without offering true multitasking, but I'm curious to know what happens, for example, if you're browsing a web page, go to do something else, and come back to the web app. Will it...

a) Display the last web page I was on exactly as I left it (and with no delay), which would suggest that the web app was still loaded in memory?
b) Reload the last web page from cache (a la Palm OS), likely resulting in a delay as it reloads/re-renders the web page?
c) Act like I'm running the web app for the first time and bring me back to the web app's home page (a la Opera Mini)?

Anyone have any insight (or guesses) as to this?

 

[surur]

It fully multi-tasks, the browser has 8 tabs.

Surur

 

[bruckwine]

Yes i recall it multitasks..at least teh demo video spoke about answering a call while browsing still. It is full OS X after all (or soemthing close to that - OS X shell).

 

[Scott R]

Come on you two...

Surur: I can't tell if you're serious or just being clever. Support for tabbed browsing does not necessarily = multitasking. You *could* have tabbed browsing where only one tab is loaded at a time, which could still be single-tasking where all of the pages are simply cached in memory, making for quick swapping between tabs. Palm OS Garnet can support this.

bruckwine: Answering a call while viewing a web page could be done on the Palm OS as well. So even with the Palm OS, you could always talk on the phone while doing just about anything else.

 

[Iceman6]

OS X is a multitasking OS. It's UNIX with an Apple UI. Is this a trick question?

 

[surur]

Come on you two...

Surur: I can't tell if you're serious or just being clever. Support for tabbed browsing does not necessarily = multitasking. You *could* have tabbed browsing where only one tab is loaded at a time, which could still be single-tasking where all of the pages are simply cached in memory, making for quick swapping between tabs. Palm OS Garnet can support this.

It was an example. You are actually right, I have not watched enough videos to know if Apple closes background apps or not. It has been said a few times publicly by Apple however that it multi-tasks.

Surur

 

[dstrauss#IM]

...bruckwine: Answering a call while viewing a web page could be done on the Palm OS as well. So even with the Palm OS, you could always talk on the phone while doing just about anything else.

Although I never progressed (regressed) beyond the 650, but Frankengarnet cannot do voice and data at the same time. Perhaps you can scroll through an already loaded webpage, but you cannot talk and load a new page at the same time. Thats why there is no POS HSDPA device because it does not do true multi-tasking.

 

[Certs]

Apple has claimed from day 1 that this is a true multitasking OS. They wouldn't lie, IMO.

 

[Scott R]

Well if it supports true multitasking, that's great. Have any of the videos shown anything that resembles a task-switcher, or would you need to return to the home page and re-launch the application from the icon list? Which brings me to another dislike I have for the iPhone: It's using the same old antiquated icon list view that the Palm OS had and WM devices use with their Programs folder. That works fine when you've only got a few apps, but as you add more apps, usability suffers. I suppose Apple may consider this a non-issue, though, if it's impossible for anyone but them to add new apps to the home screen.

 

[surur]

I've heard there's some kind of task switcher-like dock that comes on on the top of the screen. Never seen it though.

Surur

 

[LiveFaith]

700MB for the OS/Apps footprint. If it don't multitask, then something is wroooong at the Apple orchard.

 

[marcol]

iPhone is also fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background.

See https://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/#mn_p

and click on 'OS X'. Video shows four apps running at the same time.

 

[surur]

So there's no task switcher? You are supposed to go back to the home screen each time? They need an OK button

Surur

 

[marcol]

I've heard there's some kind of task switcher-like dock that comes on on the top of the screen. Never seen it though.

In the movie here (starting at about 3:45) it shows a screen-width button at the top of the screen for returning to an active phone call while in another app:

https://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/guidedtour.html#mn_p

I've not seen this put to any other use.

 

[marcol]

So there's no task switcher? You are supposed to go back to the home screen each time? They need an OK button

With the exception noted above I think the home screen is your task switcher so switching will always take two taps (Home button then app icon).

 

[dstrauss#IM]

I watched several of those tech videos, and the one on the accelerometer got me to thinking about the possibility of placing the phone on a flat surface and give it a spin...

 

[marcol]

I watched several of those tech videos, and the one on the accelerometer got me to thinking about the possibility of placing the phone on a flat surface and give it a spin...

Doubt it would work horizontally. You'd have to nail it to a wall

 

[tirk]

Doubt it would work horizontally. You'd have to nail it to a wall

I'm tempted to say just get Archie to hold it, he seems to spin an awful lot!

But that would be rude, so I won't. :evil:

 

[Kupe#WP]

With the exception noted above I think the home screen is your task switcher so switching will always take two taps (Home button then app icon).

FWIW, that's about 4 taps less than most WM phones! Too bad you can't do it one-handed on the iPhone.

 

[bruckwine]

Come on you two...

Surur: I can't tell if you're serious or just being clever. Support for tabbed browsing does not necessarily = multitasking. You *could* have tabbed browsing where only one tab is loaded at a time, which could still be single-tasking where all of the pages are simply cached in memory, making for quick swapping between tabs. Palm OS Garnet can support this.

bruckwine: Answering a call while viewing a web page could be done on the Palm OS as well. So even with the Palm OS, you could always talk on the phone while doing just about anything else.

Well I can only talk from my memory of the video and I think the word "multitask" came up or else I think he (guy trying to look like Jobs) said you can do this and that and I assumed he meant multitask! Can't be bothered to confirm it!