The iPad can't multitask, and neither can you! 2nd February 2010
One of the most frequent complaints about the Apple iPad is that it can't run more than one application at once, or allow you to easily switch between them. In short, it can't "multitask". But that's not strictly true is it? Certainly if the iPhone is anything to go by.
When we think about multitasking, it's important to ask what that really means. Is it a question of processors working on lots of jobs - graphics, input/output, memory management - at the same time, or is it one of use? I don't think it's the former, as that's little more than a techie concern, so it must be the second. And that's where I disagree that the iPad lacks multitasking.
Because the iPad runs the iPhone operating system, it's able to play music from its iPod app and Safari, while you do other things. Those "other" things can mean reading messages, browsing the web or playing games that don't require sound.
Also, if you're viewing a web page and you want to do something else, once you've finished that other task, go back into Safari and the page you were looking at is right there where it was. Granted, if you skip out of a game to answer a text message you may lose your place, but loads of games offer the facility to resume from where you left off.
So while this isn't "true" multitasking in the technological sense, I think it reasonably reflects the human approach. If you think about it, how often do you actually do two things at once? When you "multitask", aren't you just putting one job on hold for a moment, while you do another one? Very rarely will you be chopping veg with the left hand and ironing your jeans with the right. You put one job on hold while you attend to the other. The same is true of the iPhone and iPad.
Multitasking for the everyday man is a brain thing, not a tech thing.
Three comments
Steve
February 2 2010, 03:08pm
I know there's a lot of people complaining about lack of multi-tasking, but I'd expect multi-tasking will be an iPhone OS 4.0 feature, which you'd imagine would mean it's also a future iPad feature.
Si Hammond
February 2 2010, 04:54pm
Fair point. For me the pain is in long opening/closing times for apps. Multitasking can mostly mitigate this although I doubt it'll ever be viable on my old iPhone 3G. Roll on the Summer releases!
Robert Sharl
February 2 2010, 04:58pm
Multitasking is built into the iPhone, as you point out. What's missing is the means to abitrarily leave apps running when launching another app. This isn't an omission, it's a feature of the current design where the user knows that pressing the home button stops the current app and lets them launch another. I'd argue it's a good idea on a system with limited processor cycles, where battery life is at a premium, and where there's no immediately obvious way to see more than one app is running. The notifications system is a good compromise for things like IM and requests from other users (say, in a game situation), and developers need to design apps that restore user state precisely (as in the excellent Tweetie 2, and a number of games). A handheld/phone app is by definition one that will be used in short bursts and interrupted at anytime, without warning.
It's not clear how apple would implement a conventional multitasking model on the iPhone, and even less clear that it's desireable. The larger screen real estate of the iPad offers some other possibilities, such as a mac os x Dashboard-style arrangement where 2/4 designated apps could be grouped and launched simultaneously, with all visible concurrently. This would provide an explicit means of coordinating tasks and knowing exactly what's still running at a glance. Anyone remember Multifinder on Mac OS?
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