[Skeevecr]

Either you don't have an iPad, as I strongly suspect, or you're just not doing it right. Next time, try double-tapping on the home button to see the other active apps (ordered by recency). Or use the multitasking gestures in iOS 4.3, which would allow you to switch between apps directly. Both of these scenarios make it simple to switch back and forth between apps when performing tasks that call for the behavior.

The double-tapping is a horribly clunky mechanism option that won't actually speed things up at all for quite a lot of people and as far as the gestures, they are not actually in ios 4.3 as standard and you have to mess around to enable them.

None of the switching mechanisms change the fact that if a program doesn't fit into one of the narrow framework set down by apple then they just pause when you switch away from them, which seems to include any app that involves in-app downloading so you just have to sit there and wait for your magazine or whatever to download and can't switch to something else while you are waiting.

[Skeevecr]

Not true, some iPad functions keep running in the backgrounds, like using a SSL tunnel application then running a remote desktop through it, downloading something or playing music in the background. It's not the same as the multitasking found on the Playbook but it does 'multitask'.

It is entirely true unless you happen to be using something that fits into that limited subset of things that apple allows you to multitask.

[my_handle]

As far as Flash, I keep telling people to visit sites like hyundai.com and then come back here to brag.

site worked fine for me. using my thunderbolt lte hotspot no issues. i have been looking at houses to and no problems using flash on their sites. maybe you had a slow wifi connection making it hard for you. my phones hotspot is faster than my home comcast internet.

[marikesh]

people want a true multitasking example? heres a few real world ones i have done.

1) video chat + run another app. i was video chatting to a friend, he asked what was like linked to hdmi out, so i turned to read camera, hooked up to tv and showed him web browser on pb on my tv screen. granted not an every day use case, but it suited what i needed to do

2) my parents wanted to catch up on some tv, but they dont have a pc, so i downloaded the program and played it thru playbook for them linked via hdmi. while they were watching the program i was typing up a eTutorial book i am writing, i did this using word on the playbook.

3) i wanted to download the latest cb podcast, however it wasnt in the app, so i hit up the site, and downloaded the mp3, now this takes a minute or so, so i multitasked out and continued my BBM convo, all the while the data still downloading thru the browser so i didnt have to sit and wait.

those are just 3 uses iv had cause to do, no if`s and`s or but`s, they happened, and i know alot of other tablet offerings cant do that. does that make it `better` or `worse` well as those are subjective terms its all down to how i see it. what i find good someone may find bad, and vice versa.

I have to agree. The multitasking is a key feature that I fell in love with immediately at work. I purchased an Ipad2 and a PB at the same time for the office (wanted some cross platform options). The first thing in a week of meetings that I fell in love with was being able to keep multiple docs and spreadsheets open while working in other apps and switching back and forth for reference. Then going to the net for information, copying and pasting...it seems to me quite useful.

The Ipad2 is painful with having to hit the button over and over instead of swiping and moving fluidly from one app to another. Cumbersome is the word that comes to mind when comparing the two side by side.

[s219]

None of the switching mechanisms change the fact that if a program doesn't fit into one of the narrow framework set down by apple then they just pause when you switch away from them, which seems to include any app that involves in-app downloading so you just have to sit there and wait for your magazine or whatever to download and can't switch to something else while you are waiting.

Downloading and uploading are two examples of things that specifically *do* fall under background task completion. For example, this is how many of the iOS camera and photo apps can retrieve and upload images to Flickr and other photo-sharing sites while the app is in the background. People use these apps for some pretty heavy photography workflows that would not be possible without multitasking.

I know there's this general perception that iOS doesn't multi-task and pauses everything, and that the PlayBook (and webOS before it) are unique in their ability to multi-task, but that is dead wrong. There is a thriving community of photography apps on iOS that show it can be done, and that's just one example. There are thousands more. Just because the OS doesn't throw multitasking in your face doesn't mean it doesn't multitask. As a developer, I approach multitasking from the standpoint of workflows, which is completely independent of the the visual presentation of a multitasking process.

This forum reminds me of the folks over at the webOS forums on PreCentral. When the Pre came out, suddenly it was god's gift to multitasking and just killed iOS. Never mind that everyone's perception of iOS was either based on the 1.0 release from 2007 or something someone else told them rather than experience using the devices and apps. All I can say is that the "perceived" superiority of webOS never panned out too well because typical users didn't see any real difference.

If the PlayBook is to be successful, it needs to earn that success on its own, and it can do that by truly being better than competitors like iOS. It won't do that by using perceived advantages that are actually false. What matters to most users is that the device gets the job done for them. In the case of a photo-sharing app that can do background uploads and downloads equally well on iOS and RIM's tablet OS, there is no difference. And I can think of dozens of other real-world multitasking scenarios that fall into the same category. As long as both OSes are juggling fullscreen apps, the "how" you juggle is secondary to the juggling itself.

[s219]

I take it you had meant Hyundai Motor America: New Cars, Sedans, Coupes, SUVs, Compacts, Luxury, Performance, Vehicles if so then it opened fine for me and while I had minor issues with scrolling on the page it looked the same as it does on a desktop.

Based on this and other posts, I'd say there are either low expectations about what constitutes a good UI experience or my PlayBook is a special device that doesn't handle Flash websites like they are supposed to be handled. Given the known/acknowledged limitations of touchscreen devices on Flash websites that were not designed for touchscreen devices (Adobe's problem, not RIM's), I am thinking it's the former.

[kbz1960]

So not one professional will want to open a spreadsheet and have it sorting in the background while a database is doing a search in the background while typing some correspondence in email with everything still doing it's thing?

I guess they would rather have them idle in the background until they get back to them.

[jhimmel]

So not one professional will want to open a spreadsheet and have it sorting in the background while a database is doing a search in the background while typing some correspondence in email with everything still doing it's thing?

I guess they would rather have them idle in the background until they get back to them.

And obviously they would rather have no Flash support at all then to have to encounter a site that might not be optimized for a touch screen tablet. Its just funny to watch some people twist and squirm to avoid having to give credit where credit is due...lol

[Jimieo]

Sometimes I wish I was a moderator here to close threads that aren't going anywhere. Nothing against the OP, I liked his story and found the same humor he did. But the CB members who go on the defensive over something that was silly is just that. Silly.


edit: lol at my post count being 666

[dodger_moore]

Sure, some troll's gonna say 'that's not a tomato salad'



Well, it looks like a perfectly #WINNING tomato salad to me



So, you were saying?

[Skeevecr]

Downloading and uploading are two examples of things that specifically *do* fall under background task completion. For example, this is how many of the iOS camera and photo apps can retrieve and upload images to Flickr and other photo-sharing sites while the app is in the background. People use these apps for some pretty heavy photography workflows that would not be possible without multitasking.

Doesn't work for any of the filemanager apps I have tried nor more mainstream options such as the zinio or marvel comics apps.

I know there's this general perception that iOS doesn't multi-task and pauses everything, and that the PlayBook (and webOS before it) are unique in their ability to multi-task, but that is dead wrong.

The perception is based on people's actual use of the devices though.

[FMB8900]

Sure, some troll's gonna say 'that's not a tomato salad'

LOL!!! I saw that video too, I almost sh*t my pants when he said that line! hahaa

[ghostrx]

Haha brilliant story, wishing I had a PlayBook now lol.

[jamesez]

So not one professional will want to open a spreadsheet and have it sorting in the background while a database is doing a search in the background while typing some correspondence in email with everything still doing it's thing?

I get the point you're trying to make, but iOS's multitasking allows an app to continue to process for a number of minutes after it's been switched out (roughly 10). Certainly long enough to have most spreadsheets sort and databases search. Once the app is done with whatever you told it to do, it tells the OS and then it is suspended. This way you get both the behavior you wanted - working in the background - without having to "manage" your device.

Note that iOS does not have a memory viewer of any kind, and you never see the "your device is running low on memory, do something" messages. Developers are entirely responsible for handling low memory situations to provide a better user experience.

[Schlymer]

Multi tasking and flash is the only reason I bought the playbook. I have a bold 9000, which I loaded the bridge app. I used it once, it works well, but i think my phone works just as well to use those applications, without using the playbook. However, I will be using them on the playbook and am looking forward to using those applications when they become native on the playbook, without having to bridge. I didn't, buy the playbook for a bigger phone screen. I bought it as a tablet computer, with full multitasking and flash, so I can work on it at home or on the go. I need flash to use real time streaming currency charts at fx street, which load beautifully and work exactly as the do on my laptop, even with the touch screen on the playbook. This is not an app. It is the website I am accessing. I also access my trading account at the same time and load it up in the browser and need to have it running as well. With both running it is smother and quicker than my laptop, switching back and forth between them. My daughters love watching hd movies, so I break out the micro HDMI cord and with in seconds start a movie and play it for them on my big hdtv. I can still work, while they watch the movie. You can have 1,000,000 apps at the lame apple app store, but you can never use your craptastic ipad 2 for anything other than playing angry birds and I know that is the only reason you bought it. If you wait a bit longer, you will see it in the blackberry app world and then you will feel like a bigger loser for wasting your money on the ipad 2.

[BlackBerry Guy]

Let's not take ourselves too seriously here. Same thing happens at the other forums, just that shoes on the other foot.

ie:
http://forum.tipb.com/ipad-forum/208...-ipad-2-a.html

Every device is going to have their weaknesses and strengths. Get what's right for you and leave it be...unless you're so insecure in your choice you have to talk down on other devices to make you feel better about your purchase.

[T_Touch]

If this story is even true, I am sure he was just being polite (diplomacy is a key training point there). When I showed my PlayBook to some fellow iOS developers, the reactions included 1) NFS is OK, but it's seriously about 3-4 years behind the best mobile games right now,

It's good enough to keep you occupied and entertained while multi-tasking.

and 2) what good is Flash if half of the Flash websites we tested were horrible on touchscreen devices?

It test far better than any iPad on any Flash site.

I know NFS is impressive for a typical BB user, but you guys need to stop holding it up as something special, because that is not the case.

no one is claiming that it's special. You're the one harping on this.
[...]

As far as Flash, I keep telling people to visit sites like hyundai.com and then come back here to brag.

Hyundai.com doesn't exist but hyundaiusa.com loads fine - again - certainly way better than ipad2

Seriously, we need to demand better from RIM, not accept mediocrity and hold it up like it's awesome kung fu. Bragging about an old game on last generation GPU hardware is just lame. You're lucky the Apple store guy was being polite, because he could have trotted out Infinity Blade on the iPad 2 and stomped you.

This point is nothing more than petulance.

[Schlymer]

Also, i play Need For Speed, while my girls are watching a movie, run out the playbook through the micro hdmi port. They laugh at me at how serious I look when I am playing, twisting and turning, when all they see is the back of the playbook. If I had an ipad 2 I would just be stuck watching Tinkerbell all the time.