iPhone 4.0 should allow multitask at last
Apple to allow third parties to run apps in background in expected June update to the OS
Published: 12 March, 2010
READ MORE: Apple | Applications | iPhone | OSX
Android may be putting the iPhone on the defensive, with Symbian4 in the wings to launch a possible pincer movement. But Apple will not sit still, and iPhone 4.0 should make its debut in June. Among the expected improvements that will make a real difference to its continuing competitiveness will be belated support for true multitasking.
Apple disappointed many by leaving multitasking out of iPhone 3.0, which also affects the new iPad. It offered push notifications to allow users to stay in touch with apps that were not actually running, but this was very much a compromise. True background processing will appear in release 4.0 of the operating system, says AppleInsider, quoting company sources.
The blog says that the iPhone is already capable of multitasking, but very few applications are allowed to use the capability - only Apple's own products, and one it developed for sports vendor Nike. Apple cites security risks, arguing that malware could run in the background without the user's knowledge. There are also issues of battery life and the need for increased hardware firepower in the phone, both of which the vendor says will be addressed in the next iPhone, so that iPhone 4.0 will at last allow third party developers to run their apps in the background. It is likely, then, that the new handset will be designed with multitasking in mind, which could mean a new processor (perhaps Apple's own A4, as in the iPad).
It will also require more significant changes to the user interface than were seen in previous iPhone updates. The UI, though much praised, has been virtually unaltered since the original launch.
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