Re:IOS vs. Android from the Trenches
by jsz0 on Wednesday May 18, 2011 @04:17PM
(#2561603)
Since iOS4 if you double-tap the home button the left most icon in the application switcher is the last application you were in. Probably not as seamless but it prevents accidental back button presses which is something that has caused me problems on Android. If I buy another Android phone I will definitely try to find one with hardware buttons that are not located directly below the display.
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I sometimes wonder what percentage of iPhone users even know about double-click home to task switch.
I bet about the same percentage that know about the long-hold of the home button to bring up the task switcher in Android (not many). I was amazed that my wife, who has had an Android phone for a year, didn't know about that one...
It isn't a task switcher though is it? It just lists the apps you used recently, not the ones that are open. AFAIK you need a separate app that is binded to the home button to get different behavior.
Due to the way Android garbage collects & prunes processes, it depends. It's a task switcher/recent apps view.
That's the same way the iPhone "application switcher" that was previously mentioned works.
Even more fun in the iOS 4.3 devices you can do multi-touch gestures to get to the other apps, home screen or swipe between running apps. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxSSGUtTYA
Wasn't this only in the developer betas? I thought they removed it in the final release.
The problem with this is some apps already use those gestures for other things.
You can get access to the gestures back by connecting your iPad to XCode.