What exactly is the 'Better Multitasking' phrase mean?

[azarighty]

1) True multitasking doesn't apply on windows phone
2) iOS has true multitasking,where an app updates in the background,like for twitter on windows phone,when you are not in the app (New tweets don't load,but on ios they do),so when you open the app,the need to refresh isn't there
3) So better multitasking mean this? or just faster resume? or like when you click the app icon in the start screen icon the app resumes where you left off with/without the resume screen,please help understand thank you people of wpc

 

[anon(7900571)]

Like I explained you earlier. Umm now the function of back button is changed , now when you click the back button , the app closes , to multitask you have to got start screen and then open a new app , and to close apps you have to long press back button , to close apps , hit the X button. But now on windows phone 8.1 update , better multitasking means , better battery life for apps IMO , now when you hit the back button the app does not close , it stays open in standby mode , by long blessing the back button one could close the app by swiping down similar way you do on ios 7 just reverse of it.

 

[locokip]

It seems like a waste of energy to have 8 or more apps in the background constantly updating themselves. Of course there are the constant running background tasks that constantly refresh (which twitter can be if you have authorized it to do so), but personally would rather just have the app do a quick refresh right when I open it since there is a good chance that I may not look at it for an hour or more later. Like my banking app. I don't want it sitting there updating every 30 seconds when I only really look at it twice a day at the most. I don't know. Maybe you could give a specific example and that would help me understand the argument.

Thanks,

LocoKip

 

[Kaushik Dash]

There's true multi tasking actually, otherwise ims such as WhatsApp or Skype wouldn't update in the background..

 

[anon(7900571)]

There's true multi tasking actually, otherwise ims such as WhatsApp or Skype wouldn't update in the background..

They don't update , that's push notification.

 

[duraz0rz]

Here's the way I understand could be going on (someone correct me if I have the current understanding incorrect):

WP8 Update 3: Back button kills the app. Start button tombstones the app. Holding back and hitting X will kill the app.
WP 8.1: Back button is programmable per app. The app owner can choose to tombstone or kill (or do nothing!). Start button always tombstones. Holding back and hitting X or swiping the app down will kill the app.

Tombstone means that the OS saves current application state on NAND, but kills the app. The app can then choose to restore that state, depending on where it gets launched from.

 

[azarighty]

Like I explained you earlier. Umm now the function of back button is changed , now when you click the back button , the app closes , to multitask you have to got start screen and then open a new app , and to close apps you have to long press back button , to close apps , hit the X button. But now on windows phone 8.1 update , better multitasking means , better battery life for apps IMO , now when you hit the back button the app does not close , it stays open in standby mode , by long blessing the back button one could close the app by swiping down similar way you do on ios 7 just reverse of it.

My questions are totally different

 

[Hemant Verma]

I am not sure what they actually mean by better multitasking but qt present it sucks. The tomstoned apps as explained by duraz0rz takes almost 4-5 seconds to resume and most of the times app resumes from start which seems like it has been killed and started again. I possess a lumia 720. 520mb ram might be an issue but again iphone4s also has 520 mb ram and it resumes app butterly smooth without a flicker on screen. But same is not with windows phone. I hope in 8.1 apps resume smoothly like they were never in background. Finger crossed.

 

[anon(7900571)]

My questions are totally different

Did you read my post ? I gave you the answer. If it's incorrect feel free to correct it ..

 

[rysliv]

Background tasks dont update constantly. Note a min of 30 mins for tile updates.

 

[stephking92]

Probably they meant we no longer have to start from the first page of an app when opening from the start screen. It means we can easily switch between apps using the start screen as an app switcher rather than having to long press the back button, which takes time.
But then again, I might be wrong.

 

[Moiz Mian]

Did you read my post ? I gave you the answer. If it's incorrect feel free to correct it ..

I think he's asking if there are any ACTUAL multitasking improvements, like the annoying resume screen,and then having to do a 5 second refresh anytime you resume a tombstoned app. Will it be instantaneous like iOS or same as WP8? We understand that the only way to kill an app now is to swipe it down from the multitasking menu.

 

[bilzkh]

I'm hoping for some real background multi-tasking, e.g. non-Microsoft apps being able to download in the background.

 

[Squachy]

I am not sure what they actually mean by better multitasking but qt present it sucks. The tomstoned apps as explained by duraz0rz takes almost 4-5 seconds to resume and most of the times app resumes from start which seems like it has been killed and started again. I possess a lumia 720. 520mb ram might be an issue but again iphone4s also has 520 mb ram and it resumes app butterly smooth without a flicker on screen. But same is not with windows phone. I hope in 8.1 apps resume smoothly like they were never in background. Finger crossed.

I believe that was because the apps needed to be updated with code to support the fast resume function since WP when it first came out did not have that. that's why some apps fast resume and take you back to where it was last stopped while others have that 'resuming....' screen and then just start over again once its 'resumed'