Now THIS is Multitasking
There seems to be a great deal of confusion about multitasking on mobile devices. That is, what one company calls multitasking is what another calls unitasking with quick-swapping.
In order for true multitasking to work, four elements must be present:
- Multiple apps can be opened and function independently of one another, regardless of which one is ” active” in the foreground. This means I can navigate Google Maps while a web site is loading in the browser, and also while Foursquare is launching.
- Apps can be easily brought to the foreground, without requiring multiple taps, and without others going into “sleep” mode.
- All open apps may remain active, instead of the requirement that certain apps run in a suspended mode.
- The OS itself supports multitasking, without the need for Apps to be written to take advantage of the feature.
"Ridding the world of uni-taskers..." Alton Brown aims to clear out kitchens of unitasking tools, but I say, let's apply his logic to, well... everything.
Food Network host Alton Brown‘s motto, “Death to the unitasker!” tells cooks they shouldn’t be spending money on kitchen gadgets that serve only one purpose. Instead, he promotes smart utensil buying by challenging us to think of multiple ways to use a particular kitchen tool. The same goes for smartphones. After all, who wants to waste time, even seconds, waiting for – or prompting – applications to wake up.
Compare true multitasking to what you already do on desktop computers. At any given time, I have at least 5 programs running (often it’s more like a dozen). If I want to use a different program, I simply click in the task bar or use ALT+TAB to bring it to the foreground, even though it’s been running updates while I’m working on something else.
Despite what some companies may tell you, webOS is the only smartphone OS that supports true multitasking. We expect version 2.0 to boast even more flexibility, allowing us to “group” apps and browser instances together according to how we’re using them at the time.
It’s also a matter of user-friendliness. The iPhone, for instance, requires users learn how to unsuspend apps and what specific symbols mean (active, running, suspended). Android will display the 6 most recently run apps, requiring the user to take another navigation step, but even this process varies by device. As well, it may require users to download a task manager just to see what’s running. webOS uses cards, making it easy to swipe via fingertip, easily bringing any app back to the foreground or closing it. So long as an app follows the API, it works in the multitasking environment like any other. And that, my friends, is what productivity is all about.
