I strongly believe that apple's scheme is right: Allow some specifically designed threads, supported by the operating system, to run in the background.

I haven't closed any of my 20 or so apps that are/were running, and I have been continually using my iPad for seven hours at work, and I still have 39% battery remaining.

I'm not going to be crunching numbers or converting videos in the background on my iPad. The fast app switching is what I really need - and it works to do the things that I need to do.

Originally Posted by DaveSt

I think Apple is probably doing OK without any input from Microsoft

They really should have called this something like "fast app switching". I think everyone complained for so long that iOS devices didn't have multi-tasking that Apple decided to use the term here. It sure isn't multi-tasking but it is better than nothing.

If you look in the iPad Guide, they mention this new toolbar, but they say it's just a way to view the 'Most Recently Used Apps'. Why is everyone calling this the Mulitask Bar? It doesn't show you what's currently running only what you have run in the past. I have turned my iPad off and on and the list remains the same. I would think that if it showed currently running apps, that it would be cleared out if the iPad was turned off.

See attached screen capture from the iPad User Guide.

Todd

Granted, my iPad is, essentially, a couch-surfing device. I don't play long extensive games, nor do I watch movies or videos ... much.

My morning ruoutine is to drink coffee, read my e-mails, read my news RSS feeds and browse some forums. iOS 4.2.1 has made this experience 100% better!

I now have my favorite radio station playing in the background. And now, if I open a web link from an e-mail (normal behavior when reading WSJ e-mails), I can easily go from Safari back to my e-mail ... and keep repeating the process.

No more do I have to decide whether to quit an app so I can go look at something else. I don't care because with the multi-tasking feature - which I would've called "rapid switching" - I don't have to! In fact, I've left this post twice and came right back to it without losing anything. Cool!

Yes, there are bugs ... my WiFi has to be restarted after I've turned off the iPad ... Atomic web browser crashes if you have too many tabs open (I'm guessing it's a RAM thing, cause it does it when a lot of apps are backgrounded) ... and sometimes Goodreader doesn't open right after a backgrounded-bring forward restart. But, overall...

Me = thrilled with iOS 4.2.1

As always, YMMV.

Marilyn

Originally Posted by tap50

Originally Posted by DaveSt

I think Apple is probably doing OK without any input from Microsoft

They really should have called this something like "fast app switching". I think everyone complained for so long that iOS devices didn't have multi-tasking that Apple decided to use the term here. It sure isn't multi-tasking but it is better than nothing.

If you look in the iPad Guide, they mention this new toolbar, but they say it's just a way to view the 'Most Recently Used Apps'. Why is everyone calling this the Mulitask Bar? It doesn't show you what's currently running only what you have run in the past. I have turned my iPad off and on and the list remains the same. I would think that if it showed currently running apps, that it would be cleared out if the iPad was turned off.

See attached screen capture from the iPad User Guide.

Todd

Try this - open up a couple of applications at the same times - games or whatever and flip between them using this multitask bar.
Now close them all out using the multitask bar, holding down on one and clicking the red cross on them all.
Now open up each app again individually - notice how when you open them up again from scratch - they take longer to start and any that have a splash screen on start up displays this screen again but didn't when you jumped between them earlier?
They are all running but in a 'suspend' state apart from those applications that are allowed to continue using processor time in the background e.g. music, downloads, skype etc.

In the Unix world which my wife is completely familiar with these apps running in the background are considered sleeping. Yes the are there and they will open quickly but they are not running in the true context of say as it would if it was up and active on your screen.

Unfortunately iPad doesn't come with a Battery usage, at least I don't think it does but if it did you would see these apps running in the background would use very little battery, if any at all.

I can partially agree with him, but only on one point....

I was REALLY REALLY hoping for YouTube videos to be able to load in the background, because especially in recent months, YouTube has been ridiculously slow for me, even on the PC. So I start it, pause, let it load most of the way, and then play it a few minutes later.

Oh well, guess we can't have it all. Does Android OS do that? YouTube loading in the background??

Originally Posted by peled

I am a Windows User. Never had anything to do with apple's operating systems. The iPAD is a first. Now they call that storage place where they freeze various programs a Multi task program.. And people still believe it is.
It should be called Temp Storage.
Fact is Apple is great with marketing, succeeding to sale us that joke. They need learn some basic things from Microsoft

To the OP... I suggest you get a Windows Mobile device, many are coming out. No since dealing with something you don't like.

I am a PC user, and have been enjoying my iPad over 6 months, but I am not you. If I were you I would return/sell the iPad and get WinMo......

Originally Posted by SamAshley

Originally Posted by Tinman

<sigh>

Exactly what do you want to multitask? If you took the time to understand how it works you would see it does multi-task for apps that can do something useful in the background. There is no benefit to running something like Angry Birds in the background, or for that matter the majority of applications. But returning to where you left is often helpful--though not always.

As someone who used to work for Microsoft's Embedded Devices devision (think... Windows CE) the comment about Microsoft was funny. It's been FOURTEEN years since Windows CE first came out. Most of that time it sucked and often because it kept things in memory for no benefit. So now fourteen years later Windows Phone 7 comes out and you think Apple should learn from it? Pray tell what??? Wait till 2021 before making iOS relevant? lol

At least complain about a specific app that you want to run in the background. If there is one that could use it, that would be a legitimate complaint.

preach.

Ditto,

YOUTUBE BACKGROUND DOWNLOADING!

If I say pretty please do you think Mr. Jobs will allow it?

I haven't upgraded yet, waiting to see what the issues might be.

The multitasking convo here has me interested tho, all I want is folders and to be able to listen to Pandora or Tunemark in the background, will it do those things?