I think it’s safe to say that iPhone OS 2.0 is far from perfect and anyone saying otherwise must be on Apple’s payroll. Other than the horrendous battery life (on the iP3G), what else do we all hate about the OS? The inability to run background apps! Sure, Apple’s argument against a Windows Mobile-like task manager makes perfect sense, but the ability to run background apps is something we’ve all grown accustomed to and it would be the ‘killer app’ as they say around these parts, right?
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Oh, and is anyone’s white iP3G starting to crack?
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This post is nothing but an ad for Crunch Gear… lame!
can the Internet PLEASE stop saying “FTW” ? Thanks.
FAISAL FTW!!!
Remember, Apple is denying developers access to APIs which are completely standard and widely accessible on all other smartphones. Their arguments amount to basically saying “If we let you have background apps, bad things will happen”.
Of course, other smartphone users (BB, WinMo) have had the freedom to make their own choices for years without Lazaridic/Balsillie or Gates/Ballmer making them put up silly restrictions, and yet I can’t think of a single incident where Apple’s scare tactics have actually occurred in the real world.
The actual content here is from AppleInsider:
http://www.appleinsider.com/ar....._apps.html
This means one thing to me: let’s get to work. Even with all the messups and developer frustration, this is extremely exciting to me.
FTW kind of name is Faisal?
what are you talking about? FTW = for the win. You might be the last person on the internet who thinks it’s an alternate for WTF.
hope it’s more reliable than Mobile Me’s servers..FTL!
Wow. lame. This is practically blog spam to go to Crunch Gear, just to get to the REAL story at Apple Insider.
The ability to run background apps isn’t a feature, its a battery and performance killer. I find it very ironic how you hate the battery life of your iphone, yet you want a feature that will reduce the battery life and performance further. I’m not on Apple’s payroll (in fact I hate how my Macbook Air overheats) but I haven’t had any issues with iphone 2.0 regarding battery life. Why? Probably because I’m not using push or any of that other wasteful junk.
Have tried using the phone for like 3 hours of talk time and a couple of hours of listening to songs? Even with the other services disabled the phone loses 80% battery…
However, I do hope apple provides an option to turn off “App Push Notifications”…
I have to second this. Push-Notify will only drain your battery faster. I imagine Apple will have some restrictions but I can imagine every App wanting to take advantage of this feature. Ugh.
battery life could definitely be much better. but I wouldn’t characterize it as “horrendous”. the battery life is much better than the samsung blackjack that I used prior to getting an iphone. 3G on any platform is just a major drain on battery life.
I think Apple could save itself a lot of problems with the battery life by caching the most recent geolocalization/GPS call and giving the datum a lifespan that is informed by changes in the accelerometers; if the iPhone hasn’t moved much, keep returning the data from the cache. If it moves a lot, cache it for a small period (say, a second).
For the very rare apps that need actual GPS data at any given moment, just introduce a new API that forces the cache to refresh for that call.
Other developers could think of another 27 things which Apple ‘could save itself a lot of problems’ by doing - the iPhone’s position isn’t the only thing needed by other applications. Cut & Paste is one quick example I can think of which is a good case ‘if only, just this please, it’s easy….’.
Apple are thinking about the user 1st and the developer 2nd, and that’s the way it should be, surely?
Andrew: Using the clipboard doesn’t use up the battery, but the GPS component is the largest drain of all. As for the rest of the comment, it does give the impression that you are a bit fuzzy on the issues; the issue here is battery life, the proposed solution alleviates some of the strain, that benefits the user and the developers (why that weird dichotomy ?)
I was commenting on the ‘killer app’ background application running comment in the original post of course. You’re right about the GPS re the battery.
isn’t that what it already does? It’s using A-GPS so I don’t think it’s constantly making GPS calls.
Spam.
sounds ok…
http://blabtech.blogspot.com
I turned down the brightness on my screen and the battery life improved substantially.
iPhone 2.0 firmware is so buggy I ended up returning my iPhone and canceling AT&T till they release a more stable firmware.
don’t blame developers for bad battery life when it comes to applications.
On a windows phone for example, it is the users choice. You run an app that requires to be in the background means that you understand that it affects your battery life.
At the end of the day, its my choice. On an iPhone though, it is Apple’s choice.
Additionally, Apple’s argument against background apps doesn’t hold water. While it may be true to apps that need to connect and fetch data, most background apps don’t use much additional battery. For example, (and I’ve done this) lets say I am entering in a new contact on my iPhone and a call comes in. Guess what, all my work is lost because the contacts app cannot be pushed into the background. I can not end the call two minutes later and go back to the contacts.
Apple treats it’s customers like idiots and thinks it can make better decisions for the customer. Well, each customer is different and has different needs. Let the customer choose.
Only apple could get away with such a lame way to have background processes. The argument apple uses that backgrounds schemes are flawed because users don’t realize they are still running is a testament to WinMo’s incredibly terrible UI conventions more than against apps themselves. (And, frankly it is one against OS X itself since, from what I’ve seen in tech support, average folks using it have no idea when an app is open or closed.) They can drain battery life but if apple is going to pick over every app that’s on the store there’s zero reason why they could not have a rating on how an apps average use will impact battery life.
On any other platform people would see this for what it really is - an amazing way to track what apps people are using and how they are used. Great data for apple but about as lame as possible for users. If MS tried it people would be spittle-raging against big brotherism but since it is apple, and they only deal you one card at a time people are actually grateful. Funny.
Since when is push a “wasteful app”???
Are you serious?
WHERE ON TF WORLD IS SKYPE FOR THE IPHONE?
The BEST service available online that no one seems to know about is SKYPE and SKYPE OUT!
$4.99 for FREE calls to U.S land line AND cell?
Wh are we nor all doing this?
Amen! Skype is a life-saver for anyone traveling with a laptop!