iPhone Development Blog

Hi All,

Thanks to the loverly people over at live.gdgt.com I bring to you the full break down on the latest iPhone OS, and may I say that it is absolutely amazing. Thank you Apple for listening to what people want
So without any more hesitation here is the full conference as posted on gdgt.com

10:03AM – Steve!

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Hi All,

Now here is what I’ve been waiting for, Apple are having another talk on April the 8th, this time about OS 4.0. I will be trying to watch the talk via a live feed, if that isn’t possible I will post the conversation about 10-15 after it finished (or in sections during the talk) based on the live comentary from live.gdgt.com.

So what has currently been confirmed so far about OS 4.0, well, rumours about the Multitasking support seems to becoming more of a reality now which is great news. The thing that makes me wonder is how exactly will they enforce the quality of applications with multitasking. At present some apps take up a lot of memory and some even have pretty bad memory leaks. If these apps were allowed to run in the background, think of the effect on the iPhones performance in all the other areas. I personally think they are going to run more stringent tests with the App submissions if the app is going to support multitasking to ensure stability and performance.

My guess is that the multitasking support won’t be available to all apps unless approved by Apple (therefore all existing apps won’t be multitasking compatible). Along with the performance factors there is also the security issues of allowing apps to run in the background. One of the reasons why Apple didn’t include multitasking supports is due to the effect of malware and virus, such as bluetooth sniffers etc. This is why I think there will be more enforcement on application approvals (so possibly expect longer times getting apps approved).

I have also heard word of higher screen resolutions in the pipeline, not sure if this will be possible with the current iPhones on the market but definately for the next model (the 4g).

Hopefully OS 4.0 will see some improvements to the way Push notifications are handled to make them more user friendly. At the moment you have the issue of not being able to end calls if a notification is on screen and if you don’t respond to the notification with a set time (when your phone is locked) it doesn’t always seem open the application it is related to. Plus if you miss what a notification said, tuff, there isn’t anyway of viewing it again.

People are still hoping on a revamped interface (nice homescreen etc) and the one thing that I have seen mentioned around the place is the support for folders and grouping icons. This will make things much easier to manage and find (even if it does take a few extra second to navigation in a few folders, better than scrolling 8 screens )

Leave a comment if you’ve heard anything I’ve not mentioned or just say what you are hoping makes it in.

Anyway, let’s all get ready for the big chat on Thursday when all will be revealed

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.

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