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If an iPhone, or even potential iPhone, user were asked for a wish list of items in the next major revision of the iPhone OS, multitasking would certainly appear if not be tops. That is, multitasking beyond what's currently permitted by select apps such as the iPod, Phone, Mail among others.  AppleInsider is reporting today that it feels multitasking will finally appear in iPhone OS 4.0. No word on when the update will be released, although it will likely will accompany the expected new iPhone this summer. AppleInsider didn't provide much more information other than reportedly informed loose lips. It's worth noting that multitasking was also rumored basically since OS 2.0 was released which allowed third-party apps. Last year Apple rolled out push services, which allow network-based notifications. The notifications addressed some of the needs for multitasking where instead of having an app running in the background, an external notification could alert you of something so that you knew to launch the corresponding app. While hopes have been crushed before, this time around, Apple has been feeling some heat from competition and customers for the feature. So much so at least a more robust solution is probably a good bet. If fully implemented, multitasking would essentially allow users to run programs in the background. So, say for example keep Skype running to receive calls over VoIP, or perhaps Twitter, instant messaging apps or even music streaming apps while performing other or no tasks on the iPhone. While convenient, this poses a number of hurdles. First is the interface in how the iPhone OS could manage two or more applications running at once. Also running apps in the background, particularly when the phone is not in use will likely significantly reduce battery life, and when other apps are running, will likely hurt performance. It could be possible the new iPhone will address this with improved performance and battery life, but 4.0 will available for older 3G and 3GS phones, according to AppleInsider. Instead, Apple may need to provide some assistance in managing resources, otherwise users will be spending ugly troubleshooting time on performance and battery life. Lastly are security issues, particularly for spyware/malware, or just bad coded apps slowly sucking resources over time. Apple, could simply depend on its app review process to keep troublesome apps off of iPhones, but a better approach may be to sandbox apps to prevent them from misbehaving to the point of problem As with all rumors, only time will tell, but if Apple could check off multitasking it would at minimum appease customers and remove a large target for critics. Apple's iPhone 4.0 software to deliver multitasking support
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