Multitasking in iOS 4 - not perfect

While i do rave about the way task switching has been implemented in iOS 4, and all the other multitasking APIs, truth is i will still be using Backgrounder to have full on complete multitasking when i need it. And this TUAW post explains why.

Multitasking in iOS 4 - compatible apps start appearing

If you have iOS 4 GM installed (now easily done even for Windows users, with the release of itunes 9.2), now you can see multitasking in action even with 3rd party apps, and not only with Apple´s own stuff (Mail, Photos, Settings, etc). The first great example is Dropbox - install the last update, and see how it works marvelously for fast app switching. Can´t wait for more apps to use this, and the other multitasking APIs available!

Habemus iPhone OS 4.0

Has promised, i installed the beta 1 of iPhone OS 4.0 and will be sharing my views on the new features during the 2 months of beta testing that will precede the release for the general public.

First reaction is very positive - the new wallpaper is great to show the new ability of setting a background for Springboard.

What can i say about yesterday´s presentation? I´m very happy with some changes (multitasking, internal notifications, mail.app improvements, gamecenter - i called this one in my predictions, folders), but i´m VERY angry with Apple for not doing anything regarding what i think is the main problem on iPhone OS - the POOR way that notifications are handled! I mean, we´re in 2010, the competition have shown how to do it in a usefull, non-obtrusive way, and we have to put up with the stupid popups in the middle of the screen...really Apple? Funny thing is that we will have even more types of notifications to deal with, making the problem even bigger. Thank God for jailbreak!

The other two BIG letdowns are the way the Lockscreen remains the same, very far from what can be done, and the absence of ways to quickly access most used settings (think sbsettings). It´s very clear that jailbreaking will remain a must for iPhone users, unless you´re a soccer mum.

iPhone OS 4.0 - Predictions and Expectations

It finally came. The news i was expecting since January, and that caused me to delay doing any maintenance restore to my iPhone for months. iPhone OS 4.0 will be presented Thursday the 8th, and this is what i expect:

• Some kind of multitasking, even if limited.
• New notification system.
• Unified inbox for email.
• Refreshed Springboard UI
• New system wide multitouch gestures
• Printing support
• Global documents storage area
• FM radio app
• Access to calendar events in the SDK
• Xbox Live/PSN style gaming network
• IM integration with contacts

What i also would like to see:

• Wifi sync for podcasts
• Widgets, at least on the lockscreen
• Tasks app
• Quick access to wifi, bluetooth and 3G settings
• Better battery life
• Less restrictions in the SDK

It´s clear expectations are really high. However, this time i think there´s a big chance most of this will really happen, because it has to - now Apple has real competition, and the current iPhone UI is showing it´s age.

One more thing - has i´ve been in the beta test program for one iPhone app, i have my iPhone´s UDID registered to a dev´s account. This means i will be able to install the beta builds of OS 4.0, so stay tunned!

Concept: Coverflow multitasking for iPhone

Face it. Sooner or later, Apple will add multitasking for third party apps to the iPhone, even if in a very controlled way. The 3GS has more than enough RAM for it, so i think come iPhone OS 4.0 we will finally see something.

Problem is, how will Apple implement it? Well, look at at concept showed above. It´s pretty much what i want.

Granted, like it´s said on youtube comments, there´s already an app called Kirikae for jb iphones, that allows multitasking/task switching (together with backgrounder), although without this awesome interface. So, can the jb devs implement this (yet again) before Apple?

WunderRadio - run radio on background on non-jb iphones

Today i noticed last version of iPhone app WunderRadio now allows running radio streams on background, on non-jailbroken iPhones!

Sometime ago, it was discovered that while being one of few apps authorized to run in background, Safari was also able to maintain streaming media playing while other apps are being executed. Sadly, this does not happen with gps logging, and that's why Google Latitude webapp is severly handicaped.

Well, WunderRadio devs cleverly took advantage of the said fact, integrating this feature in a very elegant way: