This is a great jailbreak app that allows you to run applications in the background.  And its one of those apps that I have a hard time living without.  Yes, I have a feeling it could be making my phone slower by getting in the way of memory garbage collection, but the jury is out on that.  And even if that was the case, its still worth it.

So now we have iOS4 available for download.  So far I have not heard anybody complaining yet, but I’m going to hold off for a week and see if those on the 3g with the slower processor feel the difference.  But that is not what I want to talk about.

Instead, I’m going to explore the question of whether we need backgrounder anymore with mutitasking on the iOS4.  I read a good review on Artstechnica talking about what iOS4 multitasking will and will not do.  Here is a quick bullet point summation.

• Streaming Audio: You saw in the demo how streaming audio can continue in the background.  This is a Major win.   I have tested with AOL Radio or Stitcher, but I would assume they will update their apps if a new call is needed.
• VoIP: Like streaming audio, you can run your VoIP in background as demo’ed with Skype.  Another MAJOR win.
• GPS : Apps can keep calling GPS while running in the background.  This is fantastic, BUT what if its a driving app?  Like GPS Drive?  Will voice commands still work in the background?
• Kind of multi threading:  I think we all know now that iOS4 does not support multithreading as we think about it on the desktop or WebOS. (At least I have the impression the WebOS supports it), but it does let some tasks that have been sent to the background to finish up.  But when you are ‘fast app switching’ what you are really doing is setting one app to ‘pause’ while you run the other app.

So this all sounds great right?  What could be the issue?  Well, the problem is, as I understand it, that the apps still do not have full access to all API calls that iOS4 offers.  In other words, you have a limited set of functions that can be allowed to run in the background, so if your app relies on just one function that is not on the background white list, then your app will not run in the background.  Perhaps you want to film something on the camera while reading something off the web. Or perhaps you want an app that is always checking for SMS message in order to read them to you while something else is running.  (This is an actual case btw).  So since only a select few apps will be able to fully take advantage of running multitasking, I’m thinking there is still a case for the jailbreak version of backgrounder.

So based on what I have read, I think I still want my backgrounder, and thus until I hear of a good reliable jailbreak for 4.0, I’m going to hold off  because that is really the only interesting new feature iOS4 is offering.

In case you do not know about running an iphone app in the background, read this..

https://www.perivision.net/wordpress/?p=1451

Remember though, if you are playing digital radio, it will take up power and thus your phone will get warm and that’s BAD for batteries. So make sure you do what you can to keep your phone cool.

Enjoy!!

{update} I was just made aware that this is part of backgrounder.  Which makes sense when you think of it. I guess backgrounder was getting updated when SBSettings was and I did not notice.

First a few words on the Pro’s and Con’s of running an app in the background.  Pro’s.  As I first mentioned, playing music NOT from the ipod. That means Pandora, AOL radio, last.FM, Stitcher, etc… Quite often when I’m driving, which is when I listen to iphone digital radio the most, I need to look at the map on occasion to check traffic or for directions.  Also if I get an email, I use intelliscreen to look at the email header.. ( I do not read or write emails when I drive and neither should you). Its quite annoying, and a distraction to reselect the radio app again.  How about text chat? or at some point having a VoiP conversation and not dropping the call because you need to look something up?  Keep your game going while taking a phone call..  There are plenty more examples, but you get the idea, being able to let one app continue to function as you invoke another app has many benefits..

.. and many penalties..  By having an app running in the background, you are still using iphone resources to support that app.  So some of your data traffic could be taken up, battery life could be shortened, more active memory that needs to be manage which could cause a crash, and if you forget you have something running in the background, a dead phone the next time your try to use it because the battery was ran down.  Because of these downsides, we need to be able to kill processes when we need to.

Well, for those of us in the jailbreak world (which is somewhat like having iphone features and functions normally a year before non jailbreak users), we already have these capabilities. A program called backgrounder allows users to run applications in the background.  I use this with Pandora. SBSettings has a plugin called kill processes that allows me to kill app just like ctr-alt-del in the PC world.

So what would it be like to have this capability in 3.0?  Odds are just like what we have now in jailbreak.  The only feature I would add is a timeout feature for background apps.  Just in case you forget  you have something running. You have to be careful though, the iphone’s OS was not designed to handle many tasks running at the same time and I have crashed my phone many times testing to see how many apps I could run at the same time.  Typically I crash it at 5 med load apps.  So Apple will have to put some sort of priority control over apps so that some can go to sleep if required. Also, perhaps a limit on how may apps can run in the background at the same time.

In a way, jailbreak is great for apple because not only are new idea’s explored, they are tested with hundred of thousands of users.  THIS is why I think Apple is not trying as hard as you might think to completely stop jailbreaking.

Latest news on jailbreaking the iphone.  Check it here.

And as always, if anyone thinks they know of something better then what I have here, I’m open to input.

Number 10 …. (drum roll)

10. WinterBoard iPhone pimping made easy. The is normally the first thing people install and spend HOURS playing with. As for me, with exception to a few small changes, I do not bother with it since many of the changes can slow the phone down a touch.
9. 3G Unrestrictor 3G Unrestrictor allows you to go around the iPhone’s limitations and restrictions of not being able to use some applications like FaceTime, iCloud Backup, Photo Stream or high quality YouTube videos while on a mobile internet connection like 3G or EDGE as well as many other things. It allows those things by tricking applications into believing they are on WiFi, even though they are on 3G or EDGE.
8. DriveSave.ly This is a cool little app that you can get on all other phones, just not the iphone, without jailbreak. This app will listen for new SMS messages and convert those messages to voice.  Great when driving or REALLY great when motorcycling. I’ve been messing with PHP code to extend this to support email. I’ll update when I get it done. More on drivesafe.ly here.
7. VoiceActivatorJust as it sounds.  Near full command of your iphone through voice commands.  That includes ipod control, dialing people, opening web pages, even getting the time. I have not messed with this that much, but I’m trying to get map search to work.	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrVgvTgyUs8&feature=player_embedded
6. CyntactThis is pretty useful, at least for me. A simple hack, you get images of people next to their name.  Really I cannot understand why this is not part of the OS
5. Backgrounder Backgrounder is nothing but coolness.  In fact, the only reason I do not have this lower then 5 is that I do not use it THAT much.. But LOVE it when I do.  Multithreading is something that is new and only for iOS4 users.  Yea right?  Nope. its not true multithreading AND its only for those apps that implemented it.  So what about that cool game you have been playing?  Nope, unless its been updated recently, most likely multithreading on iOS4 will not work. You can read more on iOS4 and backgrounder here. Bollocks to that.  With Backgrounder you can use for any app , and I do.

4. IntelliScreenX 6 As much as I like this app, I’m still not 100% sure I’m going to keep it. It seems to have issues now and again.. Interfering with screen init(), slowing the iphone down, not working at times.. We’ll see. I still need to update to 6.
3. PdaNet If you are ever in need of interwebs access for your laptop and there is no free wifi is site, well, use the iPhone! Its not fast, but handy when you need it.I also have this selected over MiWi because MiWi does not work on the latest iOS builds.  PDANet, works great.  Great for connecting my ipad.More here..
2. Categories A must have if you have lots if junk on your iPhone. Basically its folders for your icons! Clear and simple.yea, I know, iphone4 has this… too little to late pal.
1. SBSetting I could not go one day without this. (this is a older pic, its even better) This perfect little app provides a short cut to your most used settings and aps. I turn 3G on and off quite often, and going through all the menus within settings is a royal pain. With SBSetting, I simply swipe across the top of the screen and there they are.. ready for toggles. Sweeeettt.. More here..

Now, the following did not make the top 10, but I thought I would mention them anyway..

Quake. Yup ID’s Quake from the old days.  I do not play it much, just glad that its there.

VideoRecorder. If this worked properly I would place it over CyCorder because I love the fact you can change setting on both voice and sound.  More here.

Retro Phone Dialer.. What can I say??  Is just plain cool.

Revisions:

Dec ’08

10. Qik

9. Unix Tools

8. WinterBoard

7. IntelliScreen

6. PdaNet

5. QuickUnlock

4. QuickGold

3. Cycoder

2. Categories

1. SBSetting

http://www.3gunrestrictor.com/depiction/