FREN

#FF00AA


14 apr. 2010

“Mobile Multitasking”

If an app requires processing while in the background, then it must also have a service component. A service on Android is like a separate small application that runs without a user interface in the background (though not actually a separate application). The service has a server/client relationship with the app.

Oh. That’s exactly the way I expected / hoped multitasking would work on iPhone OS 4.0, without knowing it was already implemented by Android.

I’m not surprised that Apple went with a more restrictive model that’s designed to actively prevent developers from wasting battery power, but at the same time the author is right to note that Apple’s system also makes it much easier for programmers to add multitasking to their apps.

So everybody wins, if you count as a win that you’ll never have an iPhone IM client keeping open connections in the background (and thus draining your battery) instead of relying on push notifications.

Want to know when I post new content to my blog? It's a simple as registering for free to an RSS aggregator (Feedly, NewsBlur, Inoreader, …) and adding www.ff00aa.com to your feeds (or www.garoo.net if you want to subscribe to all my topics). We don't need newsletters, and we don't need Twitter; RSS still exists.

Legal information: This blog is hosted par OVH, 2 rue Kellermann, 59100 Roubaix, France, www.ovhcloud.com.

Personal data about this blog's readers are not used nor transmitted to third-parties. Comment authors can request their deletion by e-mail.

All contents © the author or quoted under fair use.