Switched On: Taking the iPhone to tasks

– March 20, 2009Posted in: Cell Phone
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Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

apple 2009 iphone 3 1414 rm2 Switched On: Taking the iPhone to tasks


Apple may be right that the benefits of multitasking do not outweigh its costs at this point, and the company will address at least some of the needs that have traditionally been met with background apps via its reworked push service and in-app e-mail due to launch this summer. However, the rationale presented at the iPhone OS 3.0 event this week against background apps is an incomplete argument at best.

First, let’s turn back to when Apple first announced that the iPhone would not support background applications at WWDC last June. Apple’s Scott Forstall showed a screen shot of Windows Mobile’s busy Task Manager noting, “This is nuts.” He pointed out how background applications consume cycles, sandbagging performance, and consume battery life. But since when does Apple accept that Microsoft’s implementation of something is the last word?

And at the iPhone OS 3.0 preview, in a quantitative justification of the background process ban that included relaying testing on Android, Apple talked about how running a background IM client can reduce standby time at least 80 percent, whereas a push system reduces standby time only 23 percent. However, the case against background applications is not so straightforward.

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Switched On: Taking the iPhone to tasks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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