Apple iPhone To Allow Multitask With OS 4.0

The next iteration of Apple’s iPhone OS is set to finally take a big step towards making the smartphone more of a serious portable computing device, enabling users to switch between multiple apps running in tandem.

Lack of multitasking has been a long term issue with the Apple iPhone. It’s not that the iPhone can’t multitask – parts of the OS do this already – but that Apple won’t let the apps you download do it. There are plenty of reasons for such a restriction: memory concerns, lack of a convenient app-switching mechanic, battery consumption, preventing spyware.

It’s not yet clear just how Apple plans on addressing all those issues when it enable full-on multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, but the news that it has is sure to be well overdue for the growing number of mobile users who have eschewed their laptops for smartphones.

Apple isn’t breaking with its secretive reputation, so there’s no estimate at the moment of when we can expect the software to be released. Reports of its still having a lot of work to be completed indicate “later” rather than “sooner”. Hopefully we’ll hear some whispers of the anticipated date as it approaches.