The iPhone 4 is here, and that means Apple users finally have multitasking capabilities. It’s a game of catch-up when compared to Android devices, which have featured multitasking from the very beginning, but Apple’s multitasking is a welcome treat no matter which way you look at it.
At first glance, I’m happy with the iPhone’s multitasking. It’s slick, with a readily accessible slide menu that appears at the bottom of the screen. So far, I’ve been able to run at least 15 apps at once, all easily reachable through this slide menu. One thing I do like about this menu is that it also allows you to manage your apps from here–delete an app from the menu to close it out, without having to re-open the app.
You can also double-tap the home button to see all the apps you have open and running, which is a good use of that main button on the iPhone 4 device itself. It’s good to see Apple incorporating more interactive actions around its device without compromising its famous design.
I also noticed that the apps loaded faster (or maybe I was just really anxious), so I’m guessing that the ability to run multiple apps in the background will be just that–something in the background. I’m also betting the iPhone 4’s improved battery will hold up better than the one in my current Android phone, so I can actually get out and fearlessly use the apps.
Best of all, the multitasking addresses the biggest pet peeves I’ve had (and we’ve all had) with previous iPhone models; for example, being able to get to my home screen and not interrupting an app. Pandora Radio keeps playing, my games are paused, and I can send a tweet, then a text, followed by an email.
I’ve been using an Android device heavily for the past few months, and have gotten quite accustomed to multitasking. For organizational purposes, each device has its own benefits that are based on your preferences around how you want to access your apps. One thing I’ll be keeping a close eye on is app-crashing, as Apple really has an opportunity to make a better multitasking mobile platform than Android and its tendency to having apps crash.
