According to AppleInsider, the next version of the iPhone OS, 4.0, will support multitasking, allowing users to switch back and forth between third party applications. The inside source said they have provided a “full-on solution” to multitasking. The much anticipated feature will put the iPhone and iPod touch in-line or even above other mobile phones in terms of features.
The issue of supporting multitasking on the iPhone has always been battery life and resources on the phone. However, the iPhone always technically supports multitasking, if you count being able to make phone calls and use an application such as mail, text messaging or any other third party application at the same time. The iPhone always has the phone application running in the background, so users can receive phone calls at any time.
This isn’t true multitasking as users have always wanted, where consumers are looking for the Palm Pre, Android or even the Windows Mobile multitasking experience, being able to switch between any applications they want, having it run in the background.
Users that jailbreak their devices can even multitask by installing an application called “backgrounder”, which gives the user the ability to run multiple third party applications at the same time. Further tweaks can support switching between these background apps just like the Palm Pre can.
The development for iPhone OS 4.0 still has a long way to go, but nevertheless, it will bring multitasking. There wasn’t any mention if this will support earlier versions of the iPhone and iPod touch.
Thanks to Mephistopheles for the news tip!