Comments on: iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/ Daniel Eran Dilger in San Francisco Sat, 17 May 2008 03:25:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: eraser’s blog » Blog Archive » iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-7255 eraser’s blog » Blog Archive » iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:01:47 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-7255 [...] inability to run multiple applications at once. The suggestion is that the iPhone is a … www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/ RoughlyDrafted Magazine [...] […] inability to run multiple applications at once. The suggestion is that the iPhone is a … http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/ RoughlyDrafted Magazine […]

]]> By: pecos.bill http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6844 pecos.bill Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:42:20 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6844 Very well written. I also agree with another commenter that at some point Apple might open up task specific threads such as an AIM listener. Those would be required to be vetted by Apple before release. I would presume those will run as child processes to a babysitter task that could throttle them as needed. To my knowledge, such a thing does not exist in Mac OS X, and coupled with the huge effort to get the SDK, wasn't even considered. Unless AIM currently supports some flavor of message queuing, I'm not sure what would happen with the messages when the AIM client isn't running. Currently, AIM doesn't allow queuing messages while users are offline. Very well written.

I also agree with another commenter that at some point Apple might open up task specific threads such as an AIM listener. Those would be required to be vetted by Apple before release. I would presume those will run as child processes to a babysitter task that could throttle them as needed. To my knowledge, such a thing does not exist in Mac OS X, and coupled with the huge effort to get the SDK, wasn’t even considered.

Unless AIM currently supports some flavor of message queuing, I’m not sure what would happen with the messages when the AIM client isn’t running. Currently, AIM doesn’t allow queuing messages while users are offline.

]]> By: countach http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6606 countach Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:57:15 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6606 And of course, you don't need an MMU to preemptively multitask. Even the crappy 8086 chip could preemptively multitask. And of course, you don’t need an MMU to preemptively multitask. Even the crappy 8086 chip could preemptively multitask.

]]> By: iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth » General » Apple, iphone http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6479 iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth » General » Apple, iphone Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:53:05 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6479 [...] iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth General | Respond Apple has a responsibility to iPhone users to develop guidelines that ensure that the system continues to work as expected, doesn’t overheat, and doesn’t plunge in battery life as new applications are installed. Not allowing third party developers to install background processes is part of that plan. It would be irresponsible for Apple to kick open the floodgates for developers and then blame users for not understanding how to manage their own process allocation within the iPhone’s thermal envelope and resource constraints. # [...] […] iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth General | Respond Apple has a responsibility to iPhone users to develop guidelines that ensure that the system continues to work as expected, doesn’t overheat, and doesn’t plunge in battery life as new applications are installed. Not allowing third party developers to install background processes is part of that plan. It would be irresponsible for Apple to kick open the floodgates for developers and then blame users for not understanding how to manage their own process allocation within the iPhone’s thermal envelope and resource constraints. # […]

]]> By: starkruzr http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6478 starkruzr Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:33:28 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6478 @Jeff56: If you're referring to the MMU, you've got bad information. The ARM11 in the iPhone has an MMU and there are other OSes running on similar chips (including Debian Linux!) that do pre-emptive multitasking. It is not a hardware limitation. The main limitation of the ARM family of chips (most of them, anyway) is that they lack a floating-point unit. This is made up for, of course, on jailbroken iPhones with the armfp library. @Jeff56: If you’re referring to the MMU, you’ve got bad information. The ARM11 in the iPhone has an MMU and there are other OSes running on similar chips (including Debian Linux!) that do pre-emptive multitasking. It is not a hardware limitation. The main limitation of the ARM family of chips (most of them, anyway) is that they lack a floating-point unit. This is made up for, of course, on jailbroken iPhones with the armfp library.

]]> By: Jeff56 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6465 Jeff56 Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:08:53 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6465 This article really doesn't address the hardware. What we know of as preemptive multitasking on a computer with a Unix or NT kernel doesn't appear to be possible on the ARM platforms because that type of feature requires hardware that doesn't seem to be there. It looks like it's a cooperative multitasking system at best, even if it is Unix-based. I'm not saying the other handheld platforms do have this sort of feature either, but I think that's part of why Apple isn't allowing devs to do multitasking. This article really doesn’t address the hardware. What we know of as preemptive multitasking on a computer with a Unix or NT kernel doesn’t appear to be possible on the ARM platforms because that type of feature requires hardware that doesn’t seem to be there. It looks like it’s a cooperative multitasking system at best, even if it is Unix-based. I’m not saying the other handheld platforms do have this sort of feature either, but I think that’s part of why Apple isn’t allowing devs to do multitasking.

]]> By: mc77 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6449 mc77 Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:30:57 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6449 iPhone platform can't be compared to Android, because currently there aren't any phones with Android OS. It doesn't matter what apps are technically feasible with Android, if the carrier refuses to let users install them. Don't be fooled by Google's promises of openess. Just take a look at OpenSocial, each instance of OpenSocial is only as good as the underlying Social Network allows it to be. iPhone platform can’t be compared to Android, because currently there aren’t any phones with Android OS. It doesn’t matter what apps are technically feasible with Android, if the carrier refuses to let users install them. Don’t be fooled by Google’s promises of openess. Just take a look at OpenSocial, each instance of OpenSocial is only as good as the underlying Social Network allows it to be.

]]> By: Apple’s iPhone vs Smartphone Software Makers — RoughlyDrafted Magazine http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6320 Apple’s iPhone vs Smartphone Software Makers — RoughlyDrafted Magazine Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:45:56 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6320 [...] on the iPhone 2.0 SDK iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth iPhone 2.0 SDK: Java on the iPhone? iPhone 2.0 SDK: How Signed Certificates Work I really like to [...] […] on the iPhone 2.0 SDK iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth iPhone 2.0 SDK: Java on the iPhone? iPhone 2.0 SDK: How Signed Certificates Work I really like to […]

]]> By: iPhone SDK: How Signed Certificates Work — RoughlyDrafted Magazine http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6314 iPhone SDK: How Signed Certificates Work — RoughlyDrafted Magazine Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:41:07 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6314 [...] on the iPhone 2.0 SDK iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth iPhone 2.0 SDK: Java on the [...] […] on the iPhone 2.0 SDK iPhone 2.0 SDK: The No Multitasking Myth iPhone 2.0 SDK: Java on the […]

]]> By: gus2000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6312 gus2000 Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:23:36 +0000 http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/03/13/iphone-20-sdk-the-no-multitasking-myth/#comment-6312 Nobody praised Apple for their iPhone web craplets (I certainly did not). But I do understand why Apple wanted to proceed slowly. I respect that they were willing to admit this. And I love that the iPhone shipped with 95% of the features I wanted with 5% of the hassle. No 3rd-party crap needed! That's not to say that there isn't a market. Heck, there might be a killer app that none of us have thought of yet. But I did jailbreak my phone and load up every app in sight, and was ambivalent. I look forward to seeing the community creativity poured into this platform, I'm simply not chomping at the bit for it. Nobody praised Apple for their iPhone web craplets (I certainly did not). But I do understand why Apple wanted to proceed slowly. I respect that they were willing to admit this. And I love that the iPhone shipped with 95% of the features I wanted with 5% of the hassle. No 3rd-party crap needed!

That’s not to say that there isn’t a market. Heck, there might be a killer app that none of us have thought of yet. But I did jailbreak my phone and load up every app in sight, and was ambivalent. I look forward to seeing the community creativity poured into this platform, I’m simply not chomping at the bit for it.

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