Running apps side-by-side on W10M?

[RaRa85]

I might have missed this feature or Microsoft's plans for it but are there true multitasking abilities in Windows 10 Mobile? For example small windows for running a floating app like a YouTube player while navigating the start screen or being in an app like Wunderlist or OneNote and being able to run a calculator app on top of it while doing grocery shopping. That last example is one I just used on my Sony Xperia Z3. I was adding up the items I purchased while checking them off Wunderlist which came in very handy in knowing how much I was spending before getting to the register. I'll include some pictures of my Z3 running this taken on my Lumia 920.

 

[FinancialP]

No.

Trust me, this would've big news around here.

 

[a5cent]

Trust me, this would've big news around here.

Yeah. Unrestricted multitasking would have been big and BAD news...

 

[Nikolai Kuzbanovsky]

But with w10m you can close wifi with one tap... That is something...

 

[Paolo Ferrazza]

I might have missed this feature or Microsoft's plans for it but are there true multitasking abilities in Windows 10 Mobile? For example small windows for running a floating app like a YouTube player while navigating the start screen or being in an app like Wunderlist or OneNote and being able to run a calculator app on top of it while doing grocery shopping. That last example is one I just used on my Sony Xperia Z3. I was adding up the items I purchased while checking them off Wunderlist which came in very handy in knowing how much I was spending before getting to the register. I'll include some pictures of my Z3 running this taken on my Lumia 920.

Ahahah that looks messy let's really hope they do not allow such a thing on our clean dear OS

While backgound multitasking is already supported, one thing that would be nice (but they will not do), would be having two foreground apps running side by side (not on top please!!!!) like on desktop and tablet.

As it is today is: 1 foreground, N in background

What I would like would be: 2 foreground, N in background.

 

[RaRa85]

Yes hoping for a snap feature in Windows 10 Mobile. But honestly the way Android and in this particular case, Sony handles it, it's not messy at all. It's actually convenient since it can be moved around and resized.

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[RaRa85]

Yeah. Unrestricted multitasking would have been big and BAD news...

What would've been so bad about it? It would give us the option of how we wanted to use it. Don't be so negative about positive features. Of course Microsoft could always implement it in a way that is true to Windows like the live folders.


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[Paolo Ferrazza]

What would've been so bad about it? It would give us the option of how we wanted to use it. Don't be so negative about positive features. Of course Microsoft could always implement it in a way that is true to Windows like the live folders.


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And that way would be the way I described don't you think? Side-by-side split screen apps, phone must be used in landscape position and the apps could be rendered in portrait mode side-by-side. Overlapping would feel so old / androidish.

 

[RaRa85]

And that way would be the way I described don't you think? Side-by-side split screen apps, phone must be used in landscape position and the apps could be rendered in portrait mode side-by-side. Overlapping would feel so old / androidish.

Well I'm not disputing that. I just think it would be nice to know about it and why Microsoft hasn't showed off plans for this with the release months away.

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[Paolo Ferrazza]

Well I'm not disputing that. I just think it would be nice to know about it and why Microsoft hasn't showed off plans for this with the release months away.

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The answer is easy, they have other priorities and they are probably not going to implement this. I actually don't think this is a most wanted feature for a phone OS.

 

[RaRa85]

The answer is easy, they have other priorities and they are probably not going to implement this. I actually don't think this is a most wanted feature for a phone OS.

The OS will never move forward with that kind of thinking and a few more usable and functional options would do more good than harm. Imagine doing a video Skype call while browsing through an article on Windows Central or something else. Things like this certainly broaden the experience.

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[RaRa85]

Here's an example of me watching a YouTube video while starting a Word document.

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[Paolo Ferrazza]

The OS will never move forward with that kind of thinking and a few more usable and functional options would do more good than harm. Imagine doing a video Skype call while browsing through an article on Windows Central or something else. Things like this certainly broaden the experience.

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What kind of thinking? They have finite resources and they prioritize wanted features, it is the only way of thinking in the real world (at least for engineers )

 

[a5cent]

What would've been so bad about it? It would give us the option of how we wanted to use it. Don't be so negative about positive features. Of course Microsoft could always implement it in a way that is true to Windows like the live folders.

I don't like bailing on this conversation, but this has been debated a million times already in the past. I don't feel like getting into the technical nitty gritty of it again. If you're interested you can maybe still find some of those threads though. ;-)

I'm not being negative. I think I have a better understanding of the technicalities involved than most (also a software engineer here). It's a bad idea. iOS and WP deliberately don't support unrestricted multitasking for good reasons. It should stay that way. That's actually the positive view.

If all you want is for some specific apps to be usable side-by-side, similar to how Samsung supports this for specific apps, then that's a different story. In some scenarios that's viable, in other's it's not. That must be judged on a case by case basis. That's just not what I'd call "true" multitasking... whatever that nonsensical term really means...

 

[Paolo Ferrazza]

Here's an example of me watching a YouTube video while starting a Word document. View attachment 111038

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Think I'm gonna puke

Jokes asides I understand someone might like it, just not a priority on a phone...

 

[RaRa85]

Here's me adding up my total on a small calculator app while checking off items on Wunderlist.

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[RaRa85]

I don't like bailing on this conversation, but this has been debated a million times already in the past. I don't feel like getting into the technical nitty gritty of it again. If you're interested you can maybe still find some of those threads though. ;-)

I'm not being negative. I think I have a better understanding of the technicalities involved than most (also a software engineer here). It's a bad idea. iOS and WP deliberately don't support unrestricted multitasking for good reasons. It should stay that way. That's actually the positive view.

If all you want is for some specific apps to be usable side-by-side, similar to how Samsung supports this for specific apps, then that's a different story. In some scenarios that's viable, in other's it's not. That must be judged on a case by case basis. That's just not what I'd call "true" multitasking... whatever that nonsensical term really means...

I never once said anything about unrestricted multitasking either. I was talking about a few dedicated apps that would have this feature. You guys read way too much into things. Just relax a little. ☺

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[Ma Rio]

To be honest, I'm also not sure what to think.
I know MS will almost never implement this. A few reasons are that WP is so far behind on some regular features that it's nonsense to chase some advanced ones; and they also don't like it that much, since it's basicly an Android thing.
I also know that it wouldn't be of much use, both to me, and to most others. You can sometimes do those calculator/list/web things, but it's still not something crucial.
And, as someone mentioned, MS would want to implement it their own way (I hope). Now..they kinda have their own way, the Windows-like side-by-side snapped windows, and it would even make a lot of sense (especially for me on a 6'' screen). But I know it would be hard to achieve, and probably not worth it.

However, I'd like to see it one day, when we have all regular features, and when WP isn't the distand third. That is, if WP even exists then.

 

[a5cent]

I never once said anything about unrestricted multitasking either. I was talking about a few dedicated apps that would have this feature. You guys read way too much into things. Just relax a little. ☺

I'm not reading anything into anything. "unrestricted multitasking" is a technically more precise term for what people using the term "true multitasking" typically mean. That's all.

That's not really what you're asking for. W10M on tablets will be able to do that. I don't know about W10M on smartphones. If it's possible on smartphones, it will likely (hopefully) only be possible with select apps, the calculator being one possibility.

 

[RaRa85]

Watching an unboxing of the Lumia 640XL while reading through the Windows Central app.

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