Multitasking (iOS) facts for kids

An iPad Pro showing its home screen with many apps.

Multitasking on your iOS device, like an iPhone or iPad, means you can do more than one thing at the same time! Imagine listening to music while browsing the web, or pausing a game to quickly check a message. This cool feature lets different apps run and work together, making your device super useful. It first came out with iOS 4 in 2010.

What is Multitasking?

Multitasking lets your device handle several apps at once. This means apps can keep doing things even when you're not actively using them. For example, a music app can keep playing your favorite songs while you are writing a message in another app. This makes your device feel faster and more powerful.

A Brief History of iOS Multitasking

Multitasking first arrived in June 2010 with the release of iOS 4.0. At first, only the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch 3rd generation could use this feature. The iPad got multitasking a bit later, in November 2010, when iOS 4.2 was released. Today, most iPhones, iPod Touches (3rd generation and newer), and all iPad models support multitasking.

How Multitasking Works

Multitasking has several clever ways it helps your apps work together. These features make sure your device runs smoothly while handling many tasks.

Quick App Switching

One of the main parts of multitasking is being able to switch between apps very quickly. When an app is on your screen, it is "running." If you switch to another app, the first app becomes "suspended." This means it's still in your device's memory, but it's paused. When you go back to it, it starts right where you left off!

You can use quick app switching by opening the multitasking bar. To do this, simply double-tap the home button on your device. This bar shows you all the apps that are currently open or suspended, making it easy to jump between them.

Finishing Tasks in the Background

Sometimes, an app needs to finish something even after you've left it. This is called "task completion." For example, if you start uploading a photo, the app can keep uploading it even if you switch to another app. Apps can ask for up to ten minutes to finish a task in the background. This feature was added in iOS 4.0 and later.

Apps Running in the Background

Some apps need to keep working even when they are not on your screen. They do this by using special tools called background APIs. These APIs allow apps to perform specific actions in the background.

Here are some examples of what apps can do in the background:

• Audio: Apps like music players can keep playing songs even when you're using a different app.
• Location: Navigation apps can keep tracking your location to give you directions, even if you're not looking at the map.
• VOIP: Apps that let you make calls over the internet (like VOIP apps) can stay connected so you don't miss a call.

Later, in iOS 5.0, two more background features were added:

• Newsstand: This allowed news apps to download new articles and magazines automatically.
• External Accessory: This lets apps talk to other devices connected to your iPhone or iPad, even when the app is in the background.