What’s new in iPhone OS 4

Apple today unveiled many of the new features of iPhone/iPod/iPad OS 4, with the disappointing news that some of the features will only be available on the current generation of iDevices. More on that later, the new features were dominated by the seven chosen for attention:

Multitasking

There wasn’t much chance of this being left out if Apple wanted to stay competitive with Google’s Android platform. New API’s are provided to allow apps to run as background services until resumed. Background apps can allow control from the lock sceen, and display notifications. There are seven background services available:

• Background Audio
• Voice over IP
• Background Location
• Push Notification
• Local Notifications
• Task Completion
• Fast App Switching

iPhone OS 4 unveiled 8th April

It’s an exciting time for Apple fans just now, and the fun continues April 8th. Apple has announced the unveiling of iPhone OS 4 this Thursday, and the Apple promotion machine (that’s us) has gone into overdrive speculating what might be new. Here’s a few of the suggestions:

• Multitasking seems to be the big focus, but Apple have previously commented on the effect this would have on battery life. The Pre offers multitasking and battery life sucks, so maybe iPhone OS 4 will freeze the running app when you switch to another so it’s not using up the battery in the background. Just an idea.
• Unified Mail Inbox is much needed and has been hinted at, so looking like a good bet for inclusion.
• Home Screen is one area the iPhone is lagging. We don’t need a huge battery indicator when the space could offer customisable RSS feeds, weather, stocks or any other information a plugin could provide. Just think, a whole new section for the App Store.
• Interface Updates After three years the iphone interface is getting a bit old, isn’t it time for a refresh? I’ve been using the Mobileme GUI 3.0 theme since getting my 3GS, and while interface themes aren’t likely to be in iPhone OS 4 a new look would be welcome.