iPhone to Finally Gain Multitasking This Summer

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Sorry users of older iPhones and iPod Touches -- multitasking will not be for you. Steve Jobs says that they don't have the power.

Apple's iPhone, as slick as it may be, has always lagged behind the competition when it came to basic OS features such as copy & paste and multitasking. With copy & paste taken care of in iPhone OS 3.0, Apple announced today plans to tackle the latter feature with iPhone OS 4.0. Yes, multitasking will finally be here in the new software update due to hit this summer.

First, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that Apple claims that its multitasking doesn't tax battery life in a significant way, but the bad news is that only the iPhone 3GS, third-gen iPod Touch and iPad (and newer) will support it. Those still using the iPhone 3G will still get some of the new features, such as the ability to sort apps into folders. Sadly, Apple doesn't list the original iPhone as being compatible with the new software.

iPhone OS 4.0 will be release for phones and iPods this summer, while iPad users will curiously have to wait until fall.

"iPhone OS 4 is the fourth major release of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system," said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "We’re delivering over 100 new features, including multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, deeper Enterprise support, and an iPhone version of our iBooks reader and online iBookstore."

New features include:

  • Multitasking for third party apps
  • Folders to better organize and access apps
  • improved Mail with a unified inbox
  • fast inbox switching and threaded messages
  • enhanced Enterprise support with even better data protection
  • mobile device management
  • wireless app distribution and more
  • Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform
  • iBooks reader and online bookstore recently debuted on the iPad

More details from Apple's preview site or the press release:

iPhone OS 4’s new multitasking offers users a new way to quickly move between apps, and provides developers seven new multitasking services to easily add multitasking features to their apps. These services include background audio, so apps like Pandora can play music in the background, and VoIP, so VoIP apps can receive a VoIP call even when the iPhone is asleep or the user is running other apps. iPhone OS 4 provides multitasking to third party apps while preserving battery life and foreground app performance, which has until now proved elusive on mobile devices.

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Marcus Yam

Marcus Yam is a technology evangelist for Intel Corporation, the latest in a long line of tech-focused roles spanning a more than 20-year career in the industry. As Executive Editor, News on Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, Marcus was responsible for shaping the sites' news output, and he also spent a period as Editor of Outdoors & Sports at Digital Trends.

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56 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mrmoo500
    uh oh, iAd? Who will really get an update so they can watch some more advertisments?
    Reply
  • tayb
    Awesome. This will definitely make the iPad suck a lot less though I wonder why it won't be available until the fall. Still doesn't make it a buy for me but that addresses a couple of complaints I had about it. Pretty excited about iPhone OS 4.0. A lot of new features that I've been clamoring for but also some that I still don't see like a unified IM inbox. Oh well.

    Now that I've seen this I'm even more curious to see the 4th generation iPhone and the new features it will bring. My one wish is a front facing camera but if even the iPad didn't get it I don't think the iPhone will. Have to wait and see.
    Reply
  • kyeana
    I'm no apple fan, in fact I'm die hard android, but i see this as good news. More competition yields better products, new implementations, lower prices, etc.
    Reply
  • chise1
    So just to reiterate, the iPhone OS still doesn't have *true* multitasking (see here: ), you can't use CS5's new brilliant interface to make apps () and you've got more advertising in the apps that you most likely paid extra $$ for past the hundreds of dollars a year you pay the phone company? And this is good news how?
    Reply
  • chise1
    Sorry about the links...

    Multitasking: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/08/apple_iphone_os_4_0_to_introduce_multitasking_100_other_features.html

    Adobe Compiler: http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/iphone_agreement_bans_flash_compiler
    Reply
  • dan117
    "iPhone to Finally Gain Multitasking This Summer"
    It will be new and revolutionary because Apple is the first to implement it!
    Reply
  • tecmo34
    I guess this allows me to organize my Tom's Hardware Home Screen icons better into one folder, which makes surfing the internet easier while driving and changing the radio station ...
    Reply
  • Honis
    iPhone to Finally Gain "Multitasking" This Summer

    The title was missing some quote marks...

    Multitasking is running several programs at once. They are pausing most of the program with an option to let them use a limited set of instructions when they are in the background.

    If you want to know what real multitasking is check out WebOS or any desktop OS since DOS.
    Reply
  • dannyaa
    HonisIf you want to know what real multitasking is check out WebOS or any desktop OS since DOS.
    Hey genius... the iPhone isn't a desktop OS and doesn't have a massive laptop battery and processor. Question: is it easier to just implement multitasking, or to spend at least over a year developing and brainstorming APIs and an effective solution that (1) eliminates performance and battery issues while (2) providing the vast majority of benefits that multitasking offers? Apple obviously went through the effort for a reason. The goal of the mobile phone is not to be a desktop replacement.
    Reply
  • ukgooey
    Holy shit, is it 2005 already?
    Reply