Earlier today Apple announced the 4.0 Firmware update for the iPhone. Only the 3GS and iPad will be getting the 4.0 firmware. The 3G will be left behind. One of the biggest changes in the new firmware is support for multitasking. Now days when some one uses the term its semantics some what varry. So there's the question of what does Apple mean when they say that the iPhone supports Multitasking. I've not yet read the updated documentation yet but SlyGamer in the MSDN forums has read it and found multitasking on iPhone 4 and on Windows Phone 7 Series to be similar.
From his post:
Reading the SDK notes for the multitasking feature, it is even more apparent that it is very similar to the app deactivation that Windows Phone 7 supports. An iPhone app must
- not make any OpenGL calls while in the background. If it is does, it will be terminated immediately.
- release all unnecessary memory and resources when moving to the background.
- cancel any network-related services when moving to the background.
- save application state when moving to the background.
- avoid using shared system resources while in the background. Background apps found holding onto shared system resources will be terminated.
iPhone apps are given a tiny amount of processing time while in the background, but they encourage you to not do any processing while in the background.
Also, background apps may be terminated at any time without notice if memory is required by the system. That is exactly the same as what may happen to Windows Phone 7 applications.
Tags: iPhone, Windows Phone