∞ Report: iPhone 4.0 multitasking to be like Mac OS X Expose

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One of the major knocks about the iPhone has been its lack of multitasking. In other words, when you exit an app, it shuts down completely.

However, Apple is said to be working on multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, which will allow multiple apps to be running at the same time. The question is how will you access running apps?

AppleInsider on Wednesday uncovered some information about the future of multitasking. Essentially, the iPhone OS will adopt an Expose-like interface.

Those familiar with the design of iPhone 4.0 said that the user interface will resemble Apple’s desktop Expose feature, in that a key combination — reportedly hitting the Home button twice — will trigger an expose-like interface that brings up a series of icons representing the currently running apps, allowing users to quickly select the one they want to switch to directly. When a selection is made, the iPhone OS zooms out of the Expose task manager and transitions to that app.

There doesn’t appear to be a way to access individual pages of an app, only the app itself. Still it is a step forward.


  • Eric

    Sounds pretty slick to me. I was thinking I hardly ever use the double tap on the Home button, and thinking I might assign it to Shazam after missing a jazz riff at the end of an NPR story. (Yeah, I know they play a lot of fake jazz, but this one sounded like Miles Davis.) I like the idea of it being the Exposé button.

  • U Dahlen

    I don't understand the reference to an app's "pages". What? I would expect switching to an app would bring me to the place I was in when I left it.

  • robus

    @U Dahlen I think that was Jim getting carried away with Exposé thoughts. It would make no sense to show inside apps – there are no "windows/pages" to show. Just the current state of the app. This does sound like a neat solution – though the double tap on the home button seems a bit clunky… Maybe Apple will add another button :)

  • Tom

    Would Apple create some useful software like flash player and Bluetooth data transfer. Some webpage we can't even view it because we do not have flash player on our iPhone and we can't use bluetooth transfer any data. Whatever Bluetooth Data transfer softwares they have at App Store is useless. We need built in software. Please listen or read the feedback from customers or iPhone users.

  • Paul Eccles

    Flash – not possible due to CPU limitations. No phone has functional Flash.

    Bluetooth file transfer – Jailbreak is key. Then you get iBluetooth or similar.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503196940 Waqas Hashim

    i have Bluetooth app in my iphone but it not working can sum one help me out wid it plz…….

  • waqas

    i have bluetooth app for mi iphone but it not working sum can help me out plz