Apple rumored allowing real background apps on iPhone
After leaving its once-touted background push data feature by the wayside, Apple is now reportedly mulling an option that would let iPhone apps run background processes and give the phone true multitasking.
The hint of a change in strategy was given to Mac Rumors, which now hears from unspecified sources that Apple is considering the switch away from its original approach and may let programs operate as "user selectable background processes."
Why such a move would occur isn't known. When the iPhone maker first unveiled background push notification at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2008, the company famously chastised Microsoft and most other smartphone OS developers for challenging users with difficult solutions to quitting or switching between apps and suggested that then-current phones couldn't handle the task. Even so, the solution precludes background use of third-party apps that need always-on access, like radio or VoIP calling software.
