Multitasking?

[dave9851]

Why is it when I exit an app, and use the back button to bring up the multitasking list and click on the app, I'm back to where I left off, but if I go straight to my home page and click on the app it just starts over from the beginning?

Doesn't make sense.

 

[SuperGrafx]

I'd like to know more about how multi-tasking and background apps work on the WP platform as well. It seems to work differently than say on an iOS device.

 

[Mengels7]

Why is it when I exit an app, and use the back button to bring up the multitasking list and click on the app, I'm back to where I left off, but if I go straight to my home page and click on the app it just starts over from the beginning?

Doesn't make sense.

It's killing me as I readjust to babysit the phone and not let it kill its own apps if I misstep and reenter the app without hitting back button a frillion times.

 

[socialcarpet]

It's definitely annoying and kind of sticks out like a sore thumb on an OS that is otherwise so smooth and cohesive in most other ways. I don't know if it's the fault of the developers or Microsoft or both though.

 

[selfcreation]

WP7 does NOT use *true* multi task. it uses what they call quick resume, your app doesnt actually run in the background ( some do )

check out the APP/games and Develepment section of my GETTING STARTED Thread , I explain it more there!!
WindowsPhone: Getting started!

 

[jimski]

When you launch from the Start screen or Apps list, the app is starting from scratch. When you re-open from the back button, the app attempts to resume where it left off.

The multitasking list is not meant to be a place where you store/manage open apps. It is more like a pause button. So if you are playing a game or browsing the web and a text come in, you can to the toast message, open messaging, read/reply and tap back to get back to what you were originally doing. Paused/suspended apps will fall out of multitasking as you open more apps. Works well and saves energy.

Short version. Don't bother looking through apps with the back button unless you just paused an app to do something else.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[Dave Blake]

Why is it when I exit an app, and use the back button to bring up the multitasking list and click on the app, I'm back to where I left off, but if I go straight to my home page and click on the app it just starts over from the beginning?

Doesn't make sense.

For me that is exactly what I want it to do. I know where I am in an app if I need that place I just use the MT(Multitasking) list to get there but if I am done then when I relaunch the app it should start at the beginning. Otherwise you have to keep hitting the back button to clear to the start. I think its more of something you have to get used to than being a issue with the OS.

 

[VernonEL]

I like the option of either picking up where I left off, or restarting the app.

One of the reasons that Windows Phone can run so smoothly it that it is smart about not running too much in the background. How many things can one do at once anyways? You only have one screen.

Also, in some cases, you can have more than one part of an app open at once, but I'm pretty sure this is only true with the native device apps, such as Messaging and the Music and Videos hub.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[Fleon]

Why is it when I exit an app, and use the back button to bring up the multitasking list and click on the app, I'm back to where I left off, but if I go straight to my home page and click on the app it just starts over from the beginning?

Doesn't make sense.

Currently, it's a design choice on WP7. They could do it the other way- and there are some apps that actually perform the way you mean. Personally, I like it the way it is. If I want to back out of an app I'm 10 levels into, I can just hit the Win key and the app.

It's a choice. Some people like it (like me) some don't.

 

[textomatic]

Also some older apps, pre-mango, don't support multitasking so they won't resume where you left off or resume right away. The newer, post-mango apps should all have quick resume.

 

[jmerrey]

I love the way it works. I have an ipad also and I prefer the way this "multitasking" works as opposed to it. Now, the fact that some apps haven't implemented the multitasking is annoying, and I put the blame completely on Microsoft. They really need to pick up the pace on holding devs accountable.

 

[jleebiker]

Just think of the Windows button as taking you Home and restarting.

The Back button let's you do just that, go BACK to an app you just opened. Not very deep, but allows you to not have to restart.

 

[socialcarpet]

Also some older apps, pre-mango, don't support multitasking so they won't resume where you left off or resume right away. The newer, post-mango apps should all have quick resume.

Here's the answer I was looking for.

The apps that act stupid and throw up the splash screen again when you try to resume were probably pre-mango and haven't been updated yet. Thanks.

I guess we can count on that issue to be cleared up over time... at least with the good developers on the more popular apps anyway.

 

[Jrexxx]

Here's the answer I was looking for.

The apps that act stupid and throw up the splash screen again when you try to resume were probably pre-mango and haven't been updated yet. Thanks.

I guess we can count on that issue to be cleared up over time... at least with the good developers on the more popular apps anyway.

Not always, for instance Whatsapp is a post-mango app that has been update many times (roughly once a month) and it still gives me a splash screen every time I go back in... (It's also popular, and the developers are supposedly good )

 

[socialcarpet]

Not always, for instance Whatsapp is a post-mango app that has been update many times (roughly once a month) and it still gives me a splash screen every time I go back in... (It's also popular, and the developers are supposedly good )

Ugh... :dry

 

[eric12341]

I love the way it works. I have an ipad also and I prefer the way this "multitasking" works as opposed to it. Now, the fact that some apps haven't implemented the multitasking is annoying, and I put the blame completely on Microsoft. They really need to pick up the pace on holding devs accountable.

Microsoft does plenty ,it's the devs for not taking note. Before mango Microsoft would send out apphub emails once a week to encourage devs to update in time for mango. What else do you want them to do? Hold them at knifepoint forcing them to update?

 

[manicottiK]

The speculation that "old" apps are doing it wrong is not correct. Jleebiker gave you the right answer, even if you don't like it. Here's the relevant info from Microsoft's Execution Model Overview at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff817008(VS.92).aspx:

The Launching event is raised when a new application instance is launched by the user from the installed applications list or from a Tile on Start in addition to other means, such as tapping on a toast notification associated with an application or selecting an application from the Photos Extras menu. When an application is launched this way, it should appear to the user to be a new instance, not a continuation of a previous instance.

Yes, this is different than Android. Whether you think that this model is good or bad depends on your perspective and familiarity with an existing model. Having been coding WP7 for 17 months now, I expect things to work the WP7 way. One of my colleagues lent me his Samsung Infuse to test the Android build of our app and I could not figure out how to launch a new instance of the app -- every time I went back to the launcher and tapped our icon, I got dumped into the middle of a running session. This struck me as weird and him as normal.

Perspective and familiarity...

 

[sting7k]

Apps on iOS function the same way. Apps are all in suspended state except for Apple's own pre-installed apps. They can run specific tasks like streaming audio and navigation in the background. But iOS does this with a dozen or more apps before it starts killing them and you see them reloading. WP7 is reloading everything all the time.