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iPhone OS 4.0

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Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#41

Post by mattparcher »

thwarted wrote: post #31
stcredzero wrote: post #4

I’m not convinced that the task switcher needs to exist. Since apps in the task switcher aren’t really running, the task switcher isn’t so much a task switcher as it is a list of recently used apps The task switcher lets you switch back and forth between apps one handed using your thumb. I think that's part of the rationale for it. Also, the Least Recently Used algorithm will dynamically make a short list of the actu…

One handed? So no pinch-to-switch-apps gesture? (it seems odd to point out one handed operation of an iPhone feature when so much of the reason people say it is superior are the things that require two hands to operate).

For me, pinching and multitouch are easy and natural, but often I just use a double tap to zoom instead.

In this case, the real alternative to the task switcher is flicking through multiple pages of apps, which surely is more difficult than a simple row of recently used apps. It's hard to imagine a pinching gesture that would be usable here, without interfering with the current app.

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#42

Post by timcederman »

sirn wrote: post #22

One thing I have not seen mentioned anywhere is that iPhone 4.0 make web apps more usable than before, since it no longer reload the web app every time you switch back and forth from the home screen, as long as it's still active in the task switcher.

When does it reload the web app every time? That's a memory limitation, not a task switching one. I've noticed Safari tends to keep loading pages and rendering them in the background.

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#43

Post by LukasMathis »

mattparcher wrote: post #41
thwarted wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One handed? So no pinch-to-switch-apps gesture? (it seems odd to point out one handed operation of an iPhone feature when so much of the reason people say it is superior are the things that require two hands to operate).

For me, pinching and multitouch are easy and natural, but often I just use a double tap to zoom instead. In this case, the real alternative to the task switcher is flicking through multiple pages of apps, which surely is more difficult than a simple row of recently used apps. It's hard to imagine a pinching gesture that would be usable here, without interfering with the current app.

I don't understand how the task switcher makes a difference for one-handed operation. Either you hit home once, swipe, and tap to open an app, or you double-tap home, swipe at the bottom area of the screen, and tap to open an app. It seems to me that not using the task switcher is more one-hand-friendly, since you can swipe wherever you want?

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#44

Post by dangoor »

It's worth noting that the task switcher is probably more important for the iPad. I very much intend to write blog posts and the like on my iPad and being able to quickly switch between a couple of different applications while doing so will make the task much more pleasant.

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#46

Post by natch »

"Unfortunately, notifications were not addressed in iPhone OS 4.0."

OK, it was kind of passive aggressive of you (the author of the post) to just state this without any explanation backing it up, but I'll bite. Please do give us your rant about how local notifications (introduced in OS 4.0) in addition to the already existing push notifications does not address notifications.

Or maybe you just missed that part?

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#47

Post by pkulak »

natch wrote: post #46

"Unfortunately, notifications were not addressed in iPhone OS 4.0." OK, it was kind of passive aggressive of you (the author of the post) to just state this without any explanation backing it up, but I'll bite. Please do give us your rant about how local notifications (introduced in OS 4.0) in addition to the already existing push notifications does not address notifications. Or maybe you just missed that part?

I think he just meant that the method of showing notifications to the user hasn't changed.

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#48

Post by sirn »

timcederman wrote: post #42
sirn wrote: post #22

One thing I have not seen mentioned anywhere is that iPhone 4.0 make web apps more usable than before, since it no longer reload the web app every time you switch back and forth from the home screen, as long as it's still active in the task switcher.

When does it reload the web app every time? That's a memory limitation, not a task switching one. I've noticed Safari tends to keep loading pages and rendering them in the background.

What I meant was web apps that are added to the home screen. Previously it works just like native apps: web apps will need to store and resume its state every time it launch or quit. This cause web apps without manifest file to reload itself every time it launches.

In 4.0, it works just exactly like in Safari: as long as the app don't get killed from the task switcher, its state are resumed automatically.

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#49

Post by pavlov »

mixman wrote: post #16
pavlov wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Symbian has had essentially the same kind of task switcher for many years (hold the Home button to display a popup of open apps). AFAIK, nobody uses that either. It's not discoverable.

Using the home button daily on my E71 to switch between email, web, notes, twitter.

Sorry. I actually use the Symbian task switcher too. I should have said: "I suspect most users are completely oblivious to this method of switching between tasks". (The task switcher is also accessible from the main menu by pressing Option and choosing it from the popup menu, so that's probably how most people find it.)

Re: iPhone OS 4.0

#50

Post by niravs »

pkulak wrote: post #47
natch wrote: post #46

"Unfortunately, notifications were not addressed in iPhone OS 4.0." OK, it was kind of passive aggressive of you (the author of the post) to just state this without any explanation backing it up, but I'll bite. Please do give us your rant about how local notifications (introduced in OS 4.0) in addition to the already existing push notifications does not address notifications. Or maybe you just missed that part?

I think he just meant that the method of showing notifications to the user hasn't changed.

More specifically, if you receive more than one notification, the former is pretty much lost. Your app icon is annotated with a number but you have no idea what happened if you have several icons already annotated.
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