Apple’s iPhone will finally get multitasking support in the OS 4.0 iPhone update if rumours from AppleInsider prove correct.
As is the norm for Apple, they are keeping the cards close to their chest as to what the next major release of their iPhone OS has in store for users. However rumours from ‘reputable sources’ are telling AppleInsider that the OS 4.0 update will finally allow application multitasking for third party apps.
The lack on multitasking on the iPhone, and soon iPad, was always a controversial choice by Apple. The iPhone OS has always supported multi-tasking at its core, but Apple has to this date has not permitted third party apps to run in the background on the iPhone, other than some Apple apps, like the music player and SMS notifications.
Previously when challenged over this, Steve jobs has cited concerns over battery life when multiple applications are running. However as the hardware develops and users expect more, it is imagined that this limit will be lifted from the iPhone. To date, the iPhone OS has never had a viable user interface model to allow users to switch between running applications, however Gizmodo believe it may look a lot like Expose on Mac OSX when it’s finally implemented.
Now would be the perfect time for Apple to take a swing at Microsoft with their upcoming Windows Phone 7 release later this year, which is rumoured to not support multitasking unlike previous versions of Windows Mobile. Previously Microsoft has attacked the iPhone’s lack of multitasking in marketing materials for Windows Mobile, so an iPhone update that supports multitasking prior to the Windows Phone 7 launch later this year would leave Microsoft with egg on their faces and be a decisive win for Apple.
