Waiting for iPhone OS 4.0?
Posted by Ravi Jay on Thursday, May 13th, 2010Do you wish to answer an incoming SMS, complete taking a friend’s picture, chat with your boss, answer a call, and then go back to keep playing a game, just where you left it before switching to any of those tasks? If you think this “resume” ability (or in iPhone lingo – “multitasking and fast app switching”) makes an OS golden, you will be happy to know that Apple is definitely going in the right direction. The iPhone 4.0 is almost here.
So, what makes iPhone 4.0 superior?
Why should I have it?
1) Multitasking
A simple task switcher (might remind you of a windows task manager plus app switching ability) can be used to see all running applications while allowing user to switch between running applications. For now, the multitasking is limited to audio streaming, VoIP and GPS applications. Other applications can be suspended in the background. The question of whether it is actually multitasking is valid. To the user, it is, but under the hood, all system resources are available to all applications, with the system assuming the role of a traffic controller, giving preference to some tasks and less preference to others as needed. Obviously, the question of RAM involved will be raised — but it is to be remembered that iPhone does not load the entire application to the memory; only that part that accesses the service is loaded. Hence, there will not be an issue of slower performance on devices with lesser RAM.
2) Information Safety and security
From the perspective of an IT manager, the number one feature of iPhone 4.0 is that the device pass key is used as an encryption key to protect email messages and attachments stored on iPhone 3GS. This security enhancement means that business critical information is safe even if the device is compromised.
3) Resume or fast application switching
With iPhone’s multitasking, actually, certain functions of applications (GPS lock or video stream) can be “paused” so that it gives the feel that the application is running the background. When the application is re-opened, they are restored to exactly the same state they were in when they were closed/switched.
4) Alerts and notifications
Would you like to know when your farm is ready to be harvested when you are using another application on your iPhone? Since the iPhone does not have a start bar or a dock-type interface, it might be assumed to be difficult. Well, rejoice! Notifications will be sent between applications on the phone and not just from remote servers. In other words, if something important or fun happens in an application you have opened and moved away from, a notification will pop up in the application you’re using at the time.
5) Better Mail
This is a feature that makes iPhone 4.0 so much better than its predecessor. The OS allows users to set up multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts and now works with Exchange Server 2010. The new unified inbox feature allows users to see messages from all their email accounts conveniently displayed in a single inbox, or they can quickly switch between inboxes to see messages from any single account. If users receive an attachment that they want to save or edit, Mail now lets you open attachments with compatible apps from the App Store.
6) Application sharing
Apps can be updated without requiring users to connect to their computers or go through the App Store. iPhone OS 4 enables enterprises to securely host and wirelessly distribute in-house applications to employees over Wi-Fi and 3G. This is bound to increase popularity of iPhone OS 4.0 in enterprises.
Pushing past the observation that there seems to be a 4 application limit, the point that not much RAM will be used may not be all that great after all. Lets say, iPhone comes up with a device with enough RAM, it might never be used. It is questionable how much it will benefit a user, which means Apple may have no need to give users more RAM. The penalty is that developers are more limited to what they can do in the background.
QBurst Technologies has already starting working on the iPhone OS 4.0′s development kit (SDK). If you wish to know more, do not hesitate to contact us at: bdg@qburst.com
Tags: fast app switching, iPhone 4.0, iPhone 4.0 advantages, iPhone for enterprises, iPhone OS, iPhone SDK, Multitasking
7 Responses to “Waiting for iPhone OS 4.0?”
Post a Comment
-
Powered by Sociable!
Nice article, Multitasking is the feature I am eagerly waiting to see in iPhone.
[...] There is a lot of hype on the upcoming launches of both Symbian^3 as well as the 4th edition of the OS from Cupertino. Considering that both are major upgrades, I have decided to document my thoughts on the various aspects of both operating systems, briefly comparing and contrasting the two on said aspects. This post was inspired by a post on iPhone OS 4.0 by a friend. [...]
From the perspective of an iPhone 3G owner, I’m personally looking forward to the improved Mail app, the local push notifications and the application sharing functionality.
Many a time have I wanted to see all my inboxes gathered into one singular inbox for quick and easy viewing. Didn’t know I wanted it until I had it everywhere else, but now it’s really annoying to hop around between my different accounts just to see if I have a new mail in one of them. I have not heard anything about multiple signatures for different accounts, which would be very appreciated, but maybe that’s just another feature coming in iPhone OS 4.0. I sure hope so!
Local push notifications will be great for all the apps I want to have remind me of stuff throughout my day. Things is a great example of an app where I want and sometimes need to be reminded about doing something and this new functionality is perfect for it. Another example is the TV listings, for the very few times I find something worth while on that ancient technology. Will be convenient and I hope developers are on the ball with this.
Lastly sharing between apps will be very welcome. It should at least in theory enable me to do a whole lot more actual work on my iPhone that I today have to do on my MacBook. If an app can pass on data or a document from one to the other, I can see a great opportunity for productivity apps taking a leap forward. Maybe I can just go out into the world, carrying only my iPhone and still be able to do what I need, when I need to do it. I’m almost there already, but with a few more things it’ll be just perfect!
That’s my main desires for the new OS. Can’t wait to have it loaded up and running. Bound to be some speed improvements in the usual suspects like Safari and Mail, which is always nice. Just wish they would make ALL apps respect rotation, unlike for instance the YouTube app today. I hate being forced to hold my iPhone in the way the developer considered to be the “right” way. Minor gripes maybe, but I would really like to see it get fixed some time soon.
Well compiled piece, Robert.
I agree with you. While I welcome the changes they are ringing in, I hope they fix these minor issues which go a long way in improving user experience.
Thank you, Ravi.
In general iPhone OS does what it should and has the functions most people need. With just a few more tweaks and adjustments it can become truly outstanding. Some of the things I have wanted since 2.0 are finally on the way in 4.0, so I’m quite pleased with that. Would have been very nice if they had done it sooner, but I guess you can only get through so many new features in a given amount of time and really test the heck out of them. And test the features and functions a lot it what Apple does!
My personal wish-list for OS 4.0 would contain:
* Unified rotation in all Apple apps, as I mentioned above
* Options for vibration when ringing on a per-contact basis
* Being able to see how many minutes outgoing/incoming phone calls in current period, instead of the total amount of today
* Multiple, selectable signatures for e-mail accounts. So I can have one for my private e-mail and one for my job e-mail.
I’m still not sure about the lock-screen, but I can see how it could contain more relevant information than it does today. Just seeing that you have a missed call, a new SMS and perhaps a few new e-mails doesn’t help all that much. There has been some interesting developments in the jailbreaking community, but I refuse to jailbreak my phone just to get something like that. Most likely Apple will not fiddle around with it too much because it invites clutter and distraction, specially if they let people customize the lock-screen too much. But still, they could just make the information scrollable and separated into fields or something along those lines. Perhaps a weather widget of some kind, displaying only the most relevant information based on your current GPS-location.
Otherwise I’m fine and I think 3rd party developers have done a bang-up job of building some really awesome apps for almost any purpose.
Ok; what brought me here is the fast app switching bit in the blog. I do not think it is such a cool feature; but I do think that the blog is helpful overall.
So, Thanks!
I have thought about getting an iphone 4.0, I wonder if it is worth all the money. Any pointers?