Apple may (or may not) be mulling background apps for the iPhone
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 16th 2009 8:01PM
posted May 16th 2009 8:01PM
A number of sources this week are reporting that Apple is now investigating ways to make background processes work, though it's apparently early in development and the company is still investigating options; one would be to limit background apps to a total of two, another would require that background-capable apps meet certain criteria (presumably to limit processor utilization) before getting App Store approval. The company has invested a lot of time -- way too much time, actually -- crafting its push notification infrastructure designed specifically to get around the need for background processes in many common cases, which makes it seem terribly unlikely that they'd reverse so quickly. While it's true that every other modern smartphone platform supports them, Apple has all but perfected the art and science of ignoring its competitors' game plans.
Any way you slice it, it's a near certainty that the next-gen iPhone will bump processor and memory specs, which makes background processing a more palatable concept -- thing is, battery technology has barely evolved in over a decade, and that's ultimately the roadblock to letting an iPhone (or any other cordless device) run wild. What's more, requiring the user to choose their own two background apps seems totally counter to the "it just works" mantra that rules the iPhone's dumbed-down interface.
Hell has a tendency to freeze over in Cupertino, though, so we can't rule it out.
[Via Daring Fireball]
IMO theres no easy or smart way that apple can implement this w/out running this risk of losing their "it just works" outlook of the iphone. lets be frank here, the iphone is made for people are really not the most technologically savvy people in the world, which is why people always boast about how intuitive it is. as soon as you allow background apps...you can only tackle it one of two ways. 1) you can run as many background apps as you want (not really a good thing, because one you have many apps open, the device becomes laggy, you run into memory leak problems etc) so the same people that are not so tech savvy are wondering, why does my iphone seem to slow down later in the day. well, duh cuz you have a ton of apps open. 2) other way, as mentioned in the article, is to limit the apps you can run to 2 or 3. again...this would probably be a lil weird for the less techy savvy people. why is it that i have to pick which apps i'm able to run...i dont have any limitations like that on my PC/Mac.
either way, its quite the conundrum for apple i think.
I read somewhere that M$ may setup their OS on netbooks (XP) to only run 3 apps at the same time, so not much different is it...
This is Y I Like my BB I can run many apps at once, sure it can have memory leaks, those can be cleaned up on a schedule each day /week or whatever, and so far the OS is stable/fast and easy to use. I don't see why anyone love's their iPhones so much, I much prefer to get my email NOW not in 10 mins or 30 mins or 3 hours or whatever or have to constantly check my mail, it shows up on my BB before GMail even shows it in my inbox 9/10 times. So thats FAST!
the iPhone is a toy, and nothing more....
i dont think its would be a fair comparison to make w/ a netbook which is limited on apps. just about everyone that buys a netbooks knows that you're making a sacrifice. i mean, its cheap, its small...doesn't come w/ a dvd drive etc. people know you're missing out on functionality compared to a regular laptop. i think when people look @ the phone that is supposed to "just work" and see that its limited on apps, when they're friends on BB and winmo are able to do many things at once they'll be somewhere irked.
Are you serious?? The iPhone is made for those who are not technically savvy? If so, I must have the wrong device...
I'd consider myself pretty apt with technology, being a developer and all. And yes, I chose the iPhone. Why? Not because it has all of the latest games and apps, but because it is the most viable platform of its time. Sure, the GUI is made to be easy-to-use, but isn't that a main draw? Sure WM can do everything the iphone does, but its definitely not pleasant. A quick jailbreak gives me a terminal, which may or may not be wayyyy more than then a BB can offer. No, I dont know if BB has a shell available. But the fact remains.. The iPhone is MADE for the masses, but it can be adapted to fit anyone's needs. To say that the iPhone is for those ignorant, noob consumers is incorrect. Just as OS X can be touted as "lame" by the uneducated, the iPhone appears outwardly as a device that is "dumbed down" when in fact, it is much more capable than it's counterparts. Please, try to be more open minded. You just might find a device that fits your needs, AND is pleasant to operate :)
@ miked
i know exactly where you're coming from, and nope...i haven't got in confused. you are one of the dozen or so people that i know that have iphones, that are actually tech savvy i guess u could say. please dont get it confused....there's a huge difference between a minority of a demographic that uses the device to its full power, and jailbreaks it as well, and the vast majority of the kids, students, teachers, moms that buy it because it is simply easy to use. if you're study apples marketing approach, you would understand exactly what i'm talking about.
you're 100% right, the iphone is geared for the masses, but i dont wanna say it could be adapted to fit anyones needs. i was actually thinking about jumping ship from winmo a few months ago, when thinking about an upgrade for a phone. the iphone was a candidate, but after thinking about the things it CANT do (and trust me, i'm the definition of a power user) it was basically out of the race before it even started. i'm def gonna check out the next android device, and the pre as well...but more than likely i'll be sticking to the touch pro 2. the hardware limitations coupled w/ apple telling me what i can and cannot do w/ my device (unless i jailbreak it) isn't too appetizing to me
"...battery technology has barely evolved in over a decade, and that's ultimately the roadblock to letting an iPhone run wild."
And also the reason why I will be getting a Pre instead.
"...battery technology has barely evolved in over a decade, and that's ultimately the roadblock to letting an iPhone run wild."
All the more reason to buy a Pre.
"...battery technology has barely evolved in over a decade, and that's ultimately the roadblock to letting an iphone run wild."
Therefore Pre battery life= crap
Why blame battery tech? Blame the need for a sexy, sleek, impress a stranger device over battery life.
If Apple wanted to, like most other makes (yes HTC I am talking to you too) they would include more space for a bigger battery.
You want to impress people? Then roll like Paris Hilton and throw the phone away when the battery dies and have your Personal Assistant have another fully charged with all your data, ready to use.
Want to be a normal human being? Accept that slim is not sexy and you may need to use your clunky big phone.
End of story.
the iphone is made for people who arent tech savy.. but its still a hi tech phone.. so once you jailbreak it things like multitask work and you realize apple is lying.. i couldnt get an iphone because i need warranty and insurance and jail breaking voids the warranty.. sure its prettier than wm but im running a wm6.5 rom with tf3d2 and wm is light years ahead in home screens and closing in on everything else.. and about the pre battery its simple buy two... no excuse for a smartphone not to have a remov batt..
and too fix the multitask issue its simple.. two modes normal and advanced user.. one allows one app.. the other four.. have a lil performance disclaimer so an idiot gets it.. and if said idiot complains a mac genius will say mr. idiot please put your phone in normal mode.. if some one cant get multitask they need a jitterbug..
I really like that idea. Gives the user a little control and partially appeases both camps: "it just works" people and your more tech-savvy people.
Use a pop up window.
When Sally opens up her 4th app with background processes pop a window up that says "Hey Sally you have 4 Apps running in the background. To insure peak performance you must close one now." And make her choose which App to close before she can continue.
I still wouldn't buy one though
Once again we are reminded that an Iphone is far from being a Palm Pre!
The Pre isn't even out yet, so let's not judge a book by it's cover! Hell, they can't even give a release date and price. And with the new iPhone to be announced next month, I see the Pre is set to FAIL!
Background apps? I use backgrounder, and the OS goes on an app killing spree whenever I have less than 10 MB of free memory, and that's how much I usually have when I barely had two apps running at a time. If you ask me, the first big roadblock is the amount of memory, and that's also the easiest to overcome. With enough memory, I could be running pandora in the background while switching between facebook, safari and Jaadu's remote desktop app. Sure, it'll suck my battery, and that's the second big hurdle and is harder to overcome. Still, if it had more memory I could at least multitask for a bit or for an indefinite amount of time if I have the device plugged in.
Of course, if another device comes along with as smooth a touch interface, I'll jump Apple's ship, but so far I haven't seen anything as smooth.
@Simbadog,
".i dont have any limitations like that on my PC/Mac. "
My car is not limited in what I put in the trunk, I don't see why the iPhone does not have a trunk too. LOL
The i----- PHONE is a cell phone... and more. But people keep complaining about it like they should be able to use it for anything in the world.... teleporting included. :-)
How about we look at it as a cell phone with music and video and internet and well...... just tons more. But its not a supercomputer, not a car, not a spaceship, not a personal teleportation device.....
So, with that said, I am sure that with a new processor developed by Apple we will see new things but it will still be easy to use. Cause while I work for NASA, i still like my cell phone / music player to be easy to use. :-)
Just a thought,
en
I do think that the article was OK. and the author did a good job of being open.
Just a thought.
en