[spiderbatman]

True multi-tasking fixed for WP8.. Inspite of this being a big news for WP8 users, it hasn't been published/advertised/spread around as it should have been.

Below is the link with a video as well.. Check it out.....

Yes, Multi tasking has been finally fixed in Windows Phone 8 with Fast Resume (Video)

[Optimus82]

Lol serious?

[ammarmalik2011]

ONLY if the app supports fast resume; which even some WP8 specific apps don't. I don't know why the developers have the option to implement it, it should be there whether you want it or not.

[jhguth]

We all know about this

[spaulagain]

When was it broken?

[manicottiK]

This feature has nothing to do with multi-tasking. It has to do with reusing an already loaded app instead of reloading it. By reusing the already loaded task, it's "back stack" history is available and the developer can choose to use it so that the user returns to the last-used page or to ignore the history and effectively "restart" the app as WP7 did.

Third-party apps -- i.e., the ones from independent developers -- do not run unless they are showing on screen or using one of a few special functions that facilitate music streaming, navigation updates, large file downloads, or periodic tasks. While WP8 added to the set of functions that can perform work in the background, we still don't have multi-tasking in the sense of Unix/Linux, Windows desktop apps, MacOS, etc.

[spiderbatman]

We still don't have multi-tasking in the sense of Unix/Linux, Windows desktop apps, MacOS, etc.

What is that exactly... I am just curious to know.

[spaulagain]

This feature has nothing to do with multi-tasking. It has to do with reusing an already loaded app instead of reloading it. By reusing the already loaded task, it's "back stack" history is available and the developer can choose to use it so that the user returns to the last-used page or to ignore the history and effectively "restart" the app as WP7 did.

Third-party apps -- i.e., the ones from independent developers -- do not run unless they are showing on screen or using one of a few special functions that facilitate music streaming, navigation updates, large file downloads, or periodic tasks. While WP8 added to the set of functions that can perform work in the background, we still don't have multi-tasking in the sense of Unix/Linux, Windows desktop apps, MacOS, etc.

WP7 had app pause multi-tasking as well. There were quite a few apps that used this ability in WP7. Not sure why people are acting like this is new...

Also, I don't want "true" multitasking like a desktop OS. That's a great way to destroy battery life. Only apps like music, navigation, etc. should actively run in the background.

[1101x10]

Even Windows Metro on the desktop does not allow true multitasking, even though your quad core i7 might be using 1% of it's CPU the app will still be suspended (apart from a limited set of functionality) when you switch out of it.

[manicottiK]

@spiderbatman: multitasking lets multiple apps run simultaneously. WP supports this for first party apps, but not for third-party ones, except in special cases. For example, I have an app (not in the store) that grabs a bunch of content from a website; I use it before I get on a plane so that I have some recent content to read. The app typically pulls about 120-150 web pages in, one at a time, but in a rapid-fire manner. If I start that running on my phone then press the Start key, my app is still loaded in memory, but it isn't grabbing any of those pages. If I press the Back key, the app picks up where it left off and keeps grabbing content. If WP had "true" multitasking, the downloads would continue while I was looking at the Start screen or using other apps.

@spaulagain: WP7 allowed you to resume an app by backing in to it from another app. Mango (WP7.5) added the ability to "fast app switch" by holding down the Back key for two seconds. However, both always killed and restarted the task when it was launched from the Start screen or the alphabetical app list. WP8 adds the ability for a app's developer to tell the OS that the app does not want to be killed and restarted when the icon is selected from the Start screen. In cases where the developer has done this, the app can either jump back to the page that was last active or ignore the back history and start fresh (as WP7.x would have done).

@1101x10: I know and I sometimes wonder why MS did it. I presume that it was to bring the same kind of power savings to Windows RT tablets that it did to WP and to make it easier for programmers to think in one consistent way for both the phone and tablets.

[spaulagain]

@spiderbatman: multitasking lets multiple apps run simultaneously. WP supports this for first party apps, but not for third-party ones, except in special cases. For example, I have an app (not in the store) that grabs a bunch of content from a website; I use it before I get on a plane so that I have some recent content to read. The app typically pulls about 120-150 web pages in, one at a time, but in a rapid-fire manner. If I start that running on my phone then press the Start key, my app is still loaded in memory, but it isn't grabbing any of those pages. If I press the Back key, the app picks up where it left off and keeps grabbing content. If WP had "true" multitasking, the downloads would continue while I was looking at the Start screen or using other apps.

@spaulagain: WP7 allowed you to resume an app by backing in to it from another app. Mango (WP7.5) added the ability to "fast app switch" by holding down the Back key for two seconds. However, both always killed and restarted the task when it was launched from the Start screen or the alphabetical app list. WP8 adds the ability for a app's developer to tell the OS that the app does not want to be killed and restarted when the icon is selected from the Start screen. In cases where the developer has done this, the app can either jump back to the page that was last active or ignore the back history and start fresh (as WP7.x would have done).

@1101x10: I know and I sometimes wonder why MS did it. I presume that it was to bring the same kind of power savings to Windows RT tablets that it did to WP and to make it easier for programmers to think in one consistent way for both the phone and tablets.

Oh, I see what you mean from the start menu. And when I refer to WP7, I'm referring to latest versions. I'm so used to the back button multitasking from WP7 that I don't think I've noticed the start menu resume feature.

[AngryNil]

This isn't anything ground-breaking. It's simply allowing tiles to resume apps like the task switcher.

[Maserati Storm]

They need to have this for the flashlight!, its absurd if you go to try to do something else it turns off!
Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using Board Express

[OppfinnarJocke]

The lack of multi-tasking put me off from WP8. The HTC 8X I got from work is sooo slick! I really, really, wanted it to work, but compared to my 2 year old Android 2.2 Desire, it falls short ridiculously.

There are so many design choices where MS messed up WP8, and it makes me sad, I really wanted to get out of Googles grasp. Maybe at WP8sp2...

[manicottiK]

@AngryNil: Agreed, but to some people, the kill-and-restart method was confusing*. The app that I work on is available for Android, Blackberry, iOS and Windows Phone. In the first three, starting the app, doing some work, getting back to the main screen, and stating the app again brings the user back to where they were; in WP, it restarts the app. The Android, Blackberry, and iOS programmers asked me why my WP app lost state; I asked them why their apps don't allow a user to get out of wherever they were and restart the app. Different perspectives.

* I think that the mixed method of WP8 is actually more confusing. There's now no consistency in how WP8 behaves with respect to restart vs resume. If the company wanted to add this feature, it should have been a system-wide setting. I almost want to make my app prompt the user for the desired behavior, but I don't think that that's possible at launch time.

[OppfinnarJocke]

The Android, Blackberry, and iOS programmers asked me why my WP app lost state; I asked them why their apps don't allow a user to get out of wherever they were and restart the app. Different perspectives.

This is true, but I think that most of the time, the non-WP8 behavior is preferred. Just think of the flash-light, as mentioned above, or count-down timers (as I nagged about in another thread). Such apps simply don't work well with the WP8-perspective. And, at least Android allows the user to kill the app, it is messy, agreed, but it is possible if the user really wants to restart the app.

For me, this issue killed my whole WP8 experience...

[ttsoldier]

This title is misleading..

[manicottiK]

If a user wants real multitasking today, they need to choose Android (or Blackberry, I think) because iOS and Windows Phone are not going to give it to them, at least not today. The latter two do provide some functions for specific off-screen use cases (like music streaming, GPS navigation, large file download, etc), but do not provide general-purpose multitasking.

I'd like to see an easing of this restriction in Windows Phone. I'd like to see a Settings page where the user can grant elevated permissions to specific applications for specific functions. Here are some examples: a user might want to grant one app 1) full access to the calendar database while keeping the calendar semi-protected to other apps; 2) the ability to place calls without being prompted first; 3) the ability to truly run in the background; 4) the ability to use GPS or other sensors.

Such an app permissions model exists in iOS I think, but on a more limited scale. It would be ironic if Windows Phone got some of the power of Android by following a UX model borrowed from iOS.

[rockurhearts]

WP7 had app pause multi-tasking as well. There were quite a few apps that used this ability in WP7. Not sure why people are acting like this is new...

Also, I don't want "true" multitasking like a desktop OS. That's a great way to destroy battery life. Only apps like music, navigation, etc. should actively run in the background.

lol.. Remember symbian --- a real multitasking os.. Nd no phone till date has surpassed its capability of multitasking.. Morever no phone, no os , none company matched the performance of symbian phone batteries.. Evn if yuh take 5 year old nokia 6600 and newly came samsung galaxy s5 nd try hard to drain 6600's faster than s5.. I bet yuh cant :-P in this fast world yuh cant wait for a page to be reloaded again.. We nd yuh need true multitasking to save one's time..