June  11th.  2010
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»Marco.org: iPhone multitasking and background updating

Sad but true. Even I was under the impression that when Apple said iOS 4 was going to support multi-tasking, that it was actually going to support multi-tasking. That’s not to say Apple’s solution is bad - in fact, it’s quite brilliant. It’s just missing a critical ability; the ability for apps to make requests for data over the Internet in the background.

Most iPhone users expect this to be possible as of iOS 4 and it’s not the case currently.

By naming these features “multitasking”, Apple has set customers’ expectations to include what apps can do in a traditional computer multitasking environment.

It’s going to mislead people into expecting such behavior from apps, but we can’t actually deliver most of it.

  1. shabdar reblogged this from marco
  2. caudygeg reblogged this from marco and added:
    Marco making perfect sense again …
  3. jmking reblogged this from marco and added:
    true. Even I was under...support multi-tasking,...was...
  4. curtian4 reblogged this from marco
  5. gracesobrevinas reblogged this from marco
  6. penllawen said: Gets my vote. I thought the same thing shortly after the OS4 announcement — I think it’s an odd omission on Apple’s part.
  7. imperialwizard reblogged this from marco
  8. barkerja reblogged this from marco
  9. milesedwards said: That’s a fantastic idea and it’s already implemented in Android. While we’re in the ball park, will there ever be an Instapaper app for Android?
  10. whatevernevermind reblogged this from marco and added:
    exactly why Android rules. I’m...their “multitasking” isn’t really