iOS 4 apps: the best of what's new and updated (live updates!)
By Nilay Patel 
posted June 21st 2010 2:18PM
posted June 21st 2010 2:18PM
- Dropbox: Everyone's favorite file-syncing tool can now sync and complete uploads in the background, and also adds in support for fast app switching.
- Evernote: the notes-in-the-cloud app adds support for fast app switching, and can continue to record audio notes in the background.
- Pandora: Yes, you can finally play Pandora in the background -- and the quick music controls on the left-most panel of the app switcher even control playback when it's in the background. Nifty.
- New York Times: Nothing major, but the Gray Lady supports fast app switching, so you can jump right back into an article without reloading.
- ESPN ScoreCenter: Supports fast app switching, although you'll still have to open it up for scores to refresh, since there's no background updating API.
- How to Cook Everything: Funny that a cookbook is one of the first iOS4 apps out there, but we're Mark Bittman fans, so this is pretty cool -- it supports fast app switching, so you don't have to reload a recipe every time you close the app. Oh, and it's got newer high-res art for the iPhone 4. Tasty.
- Fandango: Now has fast app switching, so you can juggle other tasks while buying your movie tickets.
- LinkedIn: Yep, LinkedIn's iPhone app adds fast app switching to the mix.
Update: We're listing off more as we find them after the break -- check it!
Update 2: "Tested for iOS4" doesn't guarantee new features, but if you want to know which apps can make that claim, here's a handy Google search. [Thanks, jihuiwen!]
- Tweetaholic: This Twitter app supports fast app switching, and can also refresh your timeline in the background.
- Ego: This stats app can tell you everything from how many Twitter followers you have to how many people have subscribed to your site's RSS feeds.
- National Rail: Britain's National Rail app now supports fast app switching. [Thanks, QwaF.]
- Ambiance: This "environment enhancer" has been totally rewritten for iOS 4, and can now play ambient audio, like thunderstorms, in the background. [Thanks, jdwusami]
- Windows Live Messenger for iPhone is now out -- that's new for iOS 4.
- TuneIn Radio is now ready to play background audio, and support fast app switching.
- Wordpress for iPhone is now iOS 4-ready as well.
- Facebook has been updated with the ability to watch videos, 720p picture uploads, and the ability to view and write on walls of events. Fast app switching doesn't appear to have made the cut, though.
- Rockz has iOS 4 support now, one of the first games we've seen to add it.
- Colloquy has been updated for iOS 4, which has the Engadget staff all a-flutter. It uses an interesting trick to keep your IRC session open in the background -- it sets a 10 minute task completion timer, and when it runs out it disconnects. Switching back to the app resets the timer, though, so if you're flipping back and forth it's virtually infinite.
- Tasker now utilizes local push notification for scheduled tasks and keeps track of your location in the background to alert you of nearby tasks. The graphics have all be upped for the retina display.
- Pianist now has high-res textures.
- Motionx GPS now has background tracking and fast app switching. [Thanks, Dennis H.]
- Black Book and Pink Book have been graced with high-res graphics and in-app SMS capabilities. Be also on the look out for free, iAd-supported versions soon.
- Toobz now supports fast app switching.
- Twitter: The official Twitter Inc. app now supports fast app switching and sending tweets when switched to the background.
This is how you know Engadget is on apple's payroll.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/06/21/ios-4-smooth-as-sick-or-buggy-as-hell/
Others point out the flaws in all devices. Engadget points out everything wonderful in apple.
Other than that, i'm fine with Engadget's other information, it just bugs sometimes when it comes to cell phones i have to go to another site for a true opinion.
@deekoi5 Yes, that's conclusive proof Engadget is on Apple's payroll. There's no denying that once every other week (or possibly weekly) a big, fat check arrives at Engadget's door from Cupertino. After giving it more thought, there's no doubt that at this time of year it must be weekly.
Hey, don't forget to vote in the poll of which iOS 4 problems you're seeing on your iPhone.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/poll-is-ios-4-causing-you-grief/
does Windows Live Messenger for iphone support multiple places login at the same time? I dont want it to log me off from my desktop WLM~
Fed Ex says my iphone 4 arrived on US soil ! its in Anchorage AK
SHENZHEN CN ( Origin of the shipment )
via ..... LANTAU ISLAND HK, current status its in USA through tracking info.
@jackie2828 Same here, maybe ours was on the same flight, mine is a 32GB Black (duh) iPhone 4...the other 2 phones I ordered are still between Hong Kong and the US.
@StPaddy81 thank god we don't have to wait in line.... lord have mercy on those people who wait in line on 24 th...
Am I right to assume all these bugs will be present in the iPhone 4 when it's released?
Just upgraded my touch 64gb to 4.0 :)
Nice, seems faster and smoother. Love the multitasking.
When will engadget update their app!?
As an Android user, this is decidingly good news for Android owners: MAny Apps that were made exclusively for iPhone and then more or less ported over will not come ported over with better multitasking features.
Hey guys. I just updated my iPhone 3G to iOS 4. Before it updated, it did a backup of the phone. Now, all my apps are gone (and the app store, is that normal?) but more importantly, so are my photos.
Spare me the lectures about backing up photos. I know I should have and I regret that I did not. All I want to know is this: can I get my photos back by restoring from backup?
Other than that, the phone is snappier than ever! So, on that part, good job Apple! On the photo-stealing part... well, I guess you did a good job there, too.
@Mufasa Yes, think of the backups as "save states" like in emulators or VMs.
@Mufasa
Don't worry, your apple product "just works," obviously it's best for you to have everything deleted.
I have an iPod Touch 3rd gen and I updated to the new iOS and i'm having issues with the multitasking. I have pandora and its updated but when I quit the app while the music is playing the sound goes off and when I double tap nothing happens. Any ideas?
@pedizzle77
How many gigs is it? I don't think it works on the 8 GB.
Orientation locking is the best feature. I can now lay in bed and play on my iPhone without everything being sideways :)
Do Youtube videos still stop when you 'multitask' out?
I haven't updated to this 'official' 4 release, just the GM version.
Just setup 2 exchange accounts! I've been waiting for this one for a long time!
Oh! Wow now you guys can do two things at a time...I've been doing that on Android for a while now.
@palomosan
Really? There's actually 2 apps for Android worth buying.. news to me
I have a nexus one and I honestly don't use the task manager I installed. There is absolutely no need to. I can't believe people are going crazy over fast task switching. It's hilarious! I've been doing that for years on wm and months on Android flawlessly. Android doesn't come with a task manager because it doesn't need one. iOS does. Who blew it, again?
@Peter F What in the world are you talking about? iOS 4 does not need the fast task switcher at all. It is just a UI element that gives you a list of all apps you've ever launched, in reverse order. That is, a "Recents" list. This makes it convenient to go from one app to another without having to use the Springboard, since people tend to switch among a cluster of recently-used apps.
That's all it is. Nothing to do with which apps are running. In fact, reboot your phone and the switcher still has the same icons in it.
All the multitasking elements are handled automatically, with old ones released from memory as required but still starting up again where they left off (just slightly less quickly) if switched to again.
lol i dont know wats up with u guys trust me i had downloaded the fim of 300 sumthing mb for abt 20 mins and trust me it took less then 10 min to back up and 10 min to install lol now im playing with ios4 umm yea its pretty cool
Wait a sec--apps have to be updated to support "fast app switching?" Which is nothing more than a save state function for apps?
What the fuck?
@n00neimp0rtant It's more than that. iPhone apps have always had the option to save state. The newer controls are finer-grained so that the apps relaunch can be extremely rapid if the app is still in memory and degrade gracefully if memory management has already cleared it out. Plus, it includes multitasking functions such as task completion.
@NameIsDavid What I mean is that...well...you know what a game emulator is, right? You know what a "save state" is, right? The developers of those games 10/15/20 years ago didn't have "specially design" their games to support save states. Why should apps?
I get the feeling we'll see a JB tweak in the future that automatically saves app states whether or not the API is implemented. Like a "pseudo-backgrounder."
Two months! That's how long these developers have had to work on making their apps compatible for iOS4, and yet there's only a handful that have made it to the store. I'd like to see Apple threaten to remove any and all PAID apps that aren't updated within a month from the AppStore and their developer license revoked. I'm talking about you TomTom!
@politicalslug Two weeks! That's how long these developers have had to work on testing their apps with the GM build of iOS 4. I'd like to see you calm down a bit.
@someToast
The APIs haven't changed in those two months. Tomtom's support staff aren't (or weren't a week ago) aware that a new OS has been released. All I'm saying is that someone dropped the ball. Pandora is out, but they had a working app for the demo months ago, so I imagine they had access to the APIs long before others, but even then they claimed it took only a day to implement multitasking (background audio).
@someToast
The APIs haven't changed in those two months. Tomtom's support staff aren't (or weren't a week ago) aware that a new OS has been released. All I'm saying is that someone dropped the ball. Pandora is out, but they had a working app for the demo months ago, so I imagine they had access to the APIs long before others, but even then they claimed it took only a day to implement multitasking (background audio).
Man! It would be great if engadget updated for multi tasking.
Ironic that engadget hasn't updated their app yet.
Where do you see that Tasker is updated?.. both iTunes and the dev's site don't mention those features? Last update was in January apparently.. (been waiting for an app like that for a while)
The game plant vs zombies can now support app switching. I got the update like 5 minutes ago. I have the IOS4 on my 32gb iPod and I realy love it :)
Eurosport, mark the spot , uverse remote. Ios4 apps
iOS4 update made my 2009 Audi A4 stop playing its generic (and way too loud) ringer for incoming calls. Now, my iPhone ringtone plays (at an acceptable volume) instead! Those of you who have this combination, you know this is a major victory!
anyone know what the "+'s" mean in the App Store?
Scratch that... it means it will run on the iPad as well
Downloaded iOS4 onto my iPhone 3GS at 6:00am this morning New Zealand time 2:00pm New York time.
Had all day to play, I was going to get an iPhone 4, but this is so good don't think I will now.
Best Multitasking app I've found so far is:
PLANTS VS ZOMBIES
pauses the game right where you left off :)
What gmail app is that and how did you get it into the lower bar? Does it support push gmail?
@osbornecox that is the web shortcut
The facebook app can not be included into a new folder!
Slacker update for iOS4 is "in review"
Source: http://forums.slacker.com/upgrading-to-ios-4-t6986.html
Only been 24 hours (1pm EST to 1pm EST) and only 70 apps tested for iOS4? Apple's testing team takes that long to approve 70 apps out of how many? About18,500,000 Google searched results?
I love how folks are still updating to their apps and leaving out multitasking support. Facebook/Words With Friends...looking at you!
Via NewsGallery: THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE iOS4 TUNNEL FOR iPhone 3: http://bit.ly/iOAS43G
I just noticed they fixed one of my peeves with the notification service! Now if you get two notifications, rather than piling on top of each other so you never see them they all show the next time you unlock your phone.
Beejive IM Versoin 4.0.. updated for IOS4
-iOS 4.0 Compatibility, Background Support for IOS 4.0 devices
-iPhone 4 compatibility, enhanced image resolution for Retina Display
-Bug Fixes..
I'm trying to figure it if they use the 10 minute task completion trick that colloquy uses for backgrounding. If so I wish they would give the option for the warning notification and actually give the warning notification. I also wonder if more applications will use this trick for backgrounding and actually set intervals for a longer period of time for "power users"?
Is it just me, or does Apple define the term API very loosely? This statistic of "1500 new APIs" seems crazy to me. The WinAPI is a single API providing thousands of function calls. Likewise, OpenGL is a single API that contains class and interface definitions which allow access to many different methods. I understand that the scale of an API is mutable, but it still seems like they're breaking it down to count each individual class method, which seems disingenuous.