[eaknet]

A question about this one. What exactly do you mean by 'the importance and centrality to the design philosophy of the OS'? I'm almost 2 weeks in with my Q10 and I'm also closing every app once I'm done with it. My main reason for this being that it won't use up battery power or data when I'm not actively using it.
When it comes to this tip, are you talking about the ease of use of the OS, or are you talking about overall performance including battery and data? (or in other words; does the OS perform better, using less data and battery when I keep certain apps open in AF then it does when I'm constantly opening/closing them?)

Good call on the clarification. I guess what I was getting at here is a combination of multiple points so I'll try to expand a bit.

1) I am very used to using an OS with an "in-out" approach to using apps. The best example I can use is that hitting the "home" button which always brings you back to the launchpad for opening another app. Essentially the philosophy of iOS and Android is that you use an app, then close it, then move on to using the next app. I know each implements its own version of multitasking but in some respects, especially with iOS, the multitasking or multithreading or whatever it's called has always felt like a tacked-on feature, more of an afterthought to appease the masses when they called for background things to happen in the OS. I know android is different in the details and capabilities, but still its implementation has never been something I've found of value within my everyday workflow.

2) Where the BBOS differs is that the "home" screen is the the Active Frames functionality. If you are moving from one app to another and are using the OS as designed, you will first find yourself in the active frames screen where you have the four or eight most recent apps right in your face. Tapping on any of them will bring you right back to the place you left off when you were last working with that app. If you are always force closing each app, of course each swipe up from the bottom of the screen will take you to the app launching page.

3) The difference in approach between 1 and 2 tell me that BBOS was designed to run multiple apps and provide a way to quickly and efficiently swap between the functions of the device. I know you can swap back and forth in iOS and Android as well using their "recents" functionality, but it is different when the default home action takes you to the multitasking screen rather than the launchpad.

I was also initially force closing everything, mainly because I wanted the device to provide me with an app launcher and it felt "dirty" or something to have other apps open and to be reminded of them every time I swiped up from the bottom of the screen. After a while however, I got tired of hitting the little x in the corner and just left it alone. I started to pay attention to what was actually on that AF screen, and realized that the apps I use most were usually docked there when I needed them. Tapping on any of the active frames windows instantly brought up that app and I was able to cruise on to my next task without blinking an eye or waiting for the actual launch of that application. It may not feel like much time is taken by swiping through a screen or two and launching the app from a cold start, but when you add up all the seconds and gestures you save by moving between the Active Frames, it does provide quite an edge in the utility of the device and its readiness for the next task.

For me, harnessing the power of AF/multitasking was a huge boon to the utility of my Q10. When everything is right in front of me with one or two swipes, it is almost like it aids my brain in getting one thing done and then going on to the next task, rather than getting one thing done, moving to the launcher, and possibly scrolling through a screen or two to find the next app to launch in order to do that next task. There is a chance here that the AF benefit is realized by the way my brain moves from one thing to another, but for whatever reason it has become an endearing part of using OS10 when compared to other devices. This same philosophy and design was implemented in WebOS back in the day with their "cards", and I found similar utility in that approach before Palm and HP finally put a stake through its heart.

I'm looking back over these things I've written and don't know whether or not I've done the topic justice in my description, but it is what it is. Moving on to your next question regarding the battery and data consumption, I can't really answer it conclusively. Maybe someone with a computer science background could shed some light on the actual resource consumption from a sheer technical analysis of the programming structure. Empirically though, I haven't seen a vast difference in battery life due to using AF vs. force closing everything. I have also found that any absolute system speed degradation due to multitasking, if it exists, has been far outperformed by the efficiency gains when I put the AF to use. While spending time in any given app, I have not felt any difference whether or not I have background tasks running.

Thanks for your questions and for letting me share my thoughts, it helps me put things in perspective when I have to sit down and describe something which has been more of a feeling or a hunch until now. These are the kinds of things I'm interested in discussing, and ultimately they will determine whether I keep on with BB as my daily driver or whether I return to Android with its unique blend of benefits and drawbacks.

Regards,
-Eric

[VeniceBB]

Thank you very much for your very detailed response, it definitely answers my question and make things a lot clearer. I get where you're coming from with the iOS and Android devices (I'm familiar with both and have an iPhone that I got from work. Only use it for some games and as my mp3 player, not as an actual phone but my experience with the OS is very similar to yours) and your description of how to use AF makes total sense to me.

I'll be giving it a try in the next couple of days, leaving things open in the AF and see how it affects my use of the phone. Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to express your experience so thoughtfully.

[waterfrontmgmt]

You touched on this, but I would ad this for clarity. For apps like Twitter that have large feeds, it's much easier to leave the app in an AF, so when you go back to it...it comes up where you left off.

Good call on the clarification. I guess what I was getting at here is a combination of multiple points so I'll try to expand a bit.

1) I am very used to using an OS with an "in-out" approach to using apps. The best example I can use is that hitting the "home" button which always brings you back to the launchpad for opening another app. Essentially the philosophy of iOS and Android is that you use an app, then close it, then move on to using the next app. I know each implements its own version of multitasking but in some respects, especially with iOS, the multitasking or multithreading or whatever it's called has always felt like a tacked-on feature, more of an afterthought to appease the masses when they called for background things to happen in the OS. I know android is different in the details and capabilities, but still its implementation has never been something I've found of value within my everyday workflow.

2) Where the BBOS differs is that the "home" screen is the the Active Frames functionality. If you are moving from one app to another and are using the OS as designed, you will first find yourself in the active frames screen where you have the four or eight most recent apps right in your face. Tapping on any of them will bring you right back to the place you left off when you were last working with that app. If you are always force closing each app, of course each swipe up from the bottom of the screen will take you to the app launching page.

3) The difference in approach between 1 and 2 tell me that BBOS was designed to run multiple apps and provide a way to quickly and efficiently swap between the functions of the device. I know you can swap back and forth in iOS and Android as well using their "recents" functionality, but it is different when the default home action takes you to the multitasking screen rather than the launchpad.

I was also initially force closing everything, mainly because I wanted the device to provide me with an app launcher and it felt "dirty" or something to have other apps open and to be reminded of them every time I swiped up from the bottom of the screen. After a while however, I got tired of hitting the little x in the corner and just left it alone. I started to pay attention to what was actually on that AF screen, and realized that the apps I use most were usually docked there when I needed them. Tapping on any of the active frames windows instantly brought up that app and I was able to cruise on to my next task without blinking an eye or waiting for the actual launch of that application. It may not feel like much time is taken by swiping through a screen or two and launching the app from a cold start, but when you add up all the seconds and gestures you save by moving between the Active Frames, it does provide quite an edge in the utility of the device and its readiness for the next task.

For me, harnessing the power of AF/multitasking was a huge boon to the utility of my Q10. When everything is right in front of me with one or two swipes, it is almost like it aids my brain in getting one thing done and then going on to the next task, rather than getting one thing done, moving to the launcher, and possibly scrolling through a screen or two to find the next app to launch in order to do that next task. There is a chance here that the AF benefit is realized by the way my brain moves from one thing to another, but for whatever reason it has become an endearing part of using OS10 when compared to other devices. This same philosophy and design was implemented in WebOS back in the day with their "cards", and I found similar utility in that approach before Palm and HP finally put a stake through its heart.

I'm looking back over these things I've written and don't know whether or not I've done the topic justice in my description, but it is what it is. Moving on to your next question regarding the battery and data consumption, I can't really answer it conclusively. Maybe someone with a computer science background could shed some light on the actual resource consumption from a sheer technical analysis of the programming structure. Empirically though, I haven't seen a vast difference in battery life due to using AF vs. force closing everything. I have also found that any absolute system speed degradation due to multitasking, if it exists, has been far outperformed by the efficiency gains when I put the AF to use. While spending time in any given app, I have not felt any difference whether or not I have background tasks running.

Thanks for your questions and for letting me share my thoughts, it helps me put things in perspective when I have to sit down and describe something which has been more of a feeling or a hunch until now. These are the kinds of things I'm interested in discussing, and ultimately they will determine whether I keep on with BB as my daily driver or whether I return to Android with its unique blend of benefits and drawbacks.

Regards,
-Eric