iOS 4 Multitasking

[najordan]

Support for iOS 4 multitasking would be huge!

Currently when we re-open the app from the running apps bar it completely reloads. Keeping the connection alive would save a few seconds of loading the app and logging in again. Better yet would be push notifications of voicemails and SMSs.

Multitasking in iOS 4 could really allow Black Swan to behave like a native app!

[Chris]

Unfortunately, Apple's implementation of multitasking in iOS is very limited and we're further restricted by running as a web app. In fact, the "running apps bar" has very little to do with what apps are actively running. The multitask bar is actually a list of recently opened applications whether currently running or not. Its primary relation to the multitasking features of iOS 4 is that it makes it faster to find recently accessed apps, which may or may not save you a few seconds in finding apps that are still active.

Most people do not realize that they need to scroll the multitask bar to the left to see apps that are actively running. When you see VoiceCentral in the list without scrolling left, it's only because you launched it recently and tapping its icon there really does load it in exactly the same way as using the icon on your Home screen. Even if you run it inside Safari, switching to another app causes Safari to stop executing all JavaScript code, so there is no multitasking capability there either.

As for push notifications, I personally use Prowl to launch VoiceCentral when I receive a new voicemail or SMS and it's working great for me. There is another approach detailed on our forums, too. Have you taken a look at either of those?