iPhone Development Blog

Hi All,

New rumours have emerged stating that the iPhone OS 4.0 (due for iPhones this summer) is set to allow multitasking; according to AppleInsider

The iPhone hardware already supports the ability of multitaskings, such as sending e-mails and SMS in the background and handling the phone system. The nike application also supports use in the background along with the obvious iPod functionality.

The reason why it has never been implemented so far is due to the security protocols set in place in the current OS. Background application support was never enabled to protect users for installing apps the could potentially install Malware and viruses onto the device (makes sense really).
Gizmodo states that the iPhone multitasking system may look similar to the expose system on Mac OSX. Personally I can’t quite see that happening due to the size of the screen on the iPhone, could work on the iPad mind (which is due for release on the 3rd April for you Apple users over the seas in the USA, over here in the UK we are set for a late April release). I reckon the iPhone version will look more similar to the simple ALT + Tab version or if they do go for the expose style, it will probably just display icons of the apps.

There is also talk of an improved gesture system (according to the SDK diggers out there) that will support long taps and 3 finger taps, however there is not word on the uses for these features. Not like the 3 finger tap is something new, it is already in place on the iPhone at the moment, just enable the zoom feature from the accessibility menu in settings.

What features are you hoping for in the new OS 4.0?

Leave a comment so we can get a little discussion going on

Matthew

Hi All,

With the upcoming launch of the iTablet comes the rumours and potential leaks about the new features that we can expect to see.

Based on speculations being put out by several sources at the moment, the expected (or possibly wished) features due for OS 4.0 are as follows

• Multi Touch Gestures – As with the current gestures available in safari and when viewing photos, this is said to be expanding OS wide. This means that the gesture system will work in all areas of OS.
• Updating UI – To assist with the new gesture system, there is said to be improves to the user interface to make it more efficient and easier to navigate. Hopefully there will be some improves to a the current home-screen system which will allow better app management.
• New syncing abilities – The information about this rumour is still very vague but there is meant to be some new way of syncing information such as contacts and calendar entries. Hopfully the OS 4.0 SDK will allow some integration with the calendar system for the developers out there.
• Multi-tasking – Yes, that’s right.. there is supposed to be multi-tasking features brought into OS 4.0 which will allow you to run background applications. Now this opens up a whole new world for development as developers could start looking at making apps that don’t need to be open for you to get updates or access information. Good examples of where this fails at the moment is quite simply Twitter and Skype. This does however bring a whole new aspect the the current applications that are on the market. Quite a few of these apps will be designed to make the most use out of being the only Application running, with the use of multi-tasking will this effect the performance of these apps and make them not even worth playing anymore? Will the game industry have more of a challenge to bring out games that look and play great while you have 5 other apps running in the background? We’ll just have to see on that one.

Read More