

Jailbreak tweak brings multitasking to the iPad - dkyc
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2014/05/11/insane-jailbreak-tweak-brings-multitasking-support-ipad/

======
jluxenberg
Someone needs to port a tiling window manager to iOS or Android. On a platform
where screen space and user interactions are at a premium, it seems you'd want
to minimize the amount of window resizing actions and maximize the usable
screen space.

I use XMonad ([http://xmonad.org/](http://xmonad.org/)) on my desktop and love
it. My Android tablet (a Nexus 10) is big enough that it needs something like
this; would be great to have two or even three windows open at a time.

~~~
freehunter
Not trying to force a competition between Windows and Android, but this is a
place where Windows tablets shine: You can have two windows open at a time,
anywhere, in almost any app. When you open a picture attached to an email, it
opens in a window side-by-side with the email. I can have a game open
alongside a walkthrough for that game. It's incredible.

------
callesgg
Like quasar but much more polished :)

The problem with quasar was that is was so different that there was allot of
stuff that became weird as ipad user interfaces are not designed for multiple
windows.

I had quasar however I have not tried this.

I wonder how battery consumption is effected?

One a side note: my next pad will probably be some kind of linux thing. Just
tired of the apple lock in.

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micampe
_> The most useful feature is the ability to swipe between desktops and
applications, just like on OS X. Swiping four fingers in either direction
switches desktops or applications, even using the same animation as on the
desktop._

Uh? _That_ is the most useful feature? That has been available without any
modification since iOS 5: [http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/12/ios-5-features-new-
multi-touc...](http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/12/ios-5-features-new-multi-touch-
gestures-for-ipad-2/)

~~~
owenwil
Perhaps this didn't explain it very well - it takes you between desktops as
well as applications with this tweak

~~~
micampe
ooh, that makes all the difference, now I see why that is _the most useful
feature_. :)

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yzzxy
I wonder if Apple will follow jailbreaker UI when if and when they introduce a
true multitasking/windowing system on iOS. They did so with multitasking and
mission control UI designs.

I doubt Apple would introduce true windowing however, they seem to keep a
large development/design crowd away from Android simply because developers
only have to target a couple of screen sizes/aspect ratios.

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zacinbusiness
Man. I need a 7.1.1 jailbreak. I want this and the BTStack JB that let's me
use a mouse. That will be amazing.

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kenrikm
One of the main reasons Apple has not implemented something like this is that
they

A) try to retain backward compatibility

B) don't outfit the devices with enough RAM.

The iPad 2 and Mini only have 512 megs of RAM. With that in mind, note that
just displaying a MapView can easily consume between 40 and 100 megs of RAM it
gets real tight real quick. Open a few apps that use a decent amount of RAM
while having tabs in Safari etc. and you're going to start getting a lot of
crashes.

They may have to start deprecating a bunch of devices if they want to add this
feature.

"But it works now" NO, it "kinda works" \- with the right mixture off apps /
conditions it will run out of memory and crash.

------
dkyc
Here's a video with with a demo
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teFyAqj1eog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teFyAqj1eog)

Just amazing how close to an official product this gets quality wise. I really
regret updating to 7.1, too bad this guy plans on releasing it commercial
instead of open-source.

~~~
saurik
> too bad this guy plans on releasing it commercial instead of open-source

I'm curious: do you have an alternative suggestion for what would have allowed
him to spend as long as he did working on this challenging piece of software?
People often make these "too bad he didn't do this work for free" comments on
HN, but I feel like it turns more into "too bad this person wasn't already
well-off enough that he was able to donate his time and effort to working on
this for free". This is why I went to the trouble of building Cydia into a
market in the first place: to help support and encourage long-term
development.

~~~
dkyc
I'm not judging his intentions here, just very curious how he managed to pull
this remarkable hack off. No problem with him asking for 10$, I'd just love to
take a look at the source. (I would certainly buy a version for 20$ w/ source
included, and it probably wouldn't be a DRM problem either, since hackers
usually aren't the type of people that believe in working DRM.)

~~~
goldenkey
You're curious _and_ idealistic. Expecting him to give source when he needs to
commercially profit from the software is beyond silly. I'd gander that you
haven't been screwed over enough in life to understand the possibility of
good-will gone wrong.

~~~
comex
Either that, or he has, but retains idealism anyway.

Based on a quick Google, I don't think this tweak has been cracked yet;
however, unless the author has spent an inordinate amount of time on custom
DRM* , I expect it will be eventually. At that point, there will not be much
downside to releasing the source code, perhaps under a no-derivative-works
license. Potential exceptions I can think of include making it harder to re-
secure the tweak when updating for newer iOS versions or to add features,
since someone could make an illegal fork, and making it easier for someone
else to simply clone it, but I would not personally consider either of those a
big deal. Of course, it will remain their choice whether to release anything;
they may not see an upside, or, more likely, they will simply not see the
request here and follow the norm of not doing so. However, it does not seem
unreasonable to hope for/encourage them to make a different choice.

* Nobody has invented DRM effective against highly skilled people, but most people cracking iOS tweaks are not highly skilled.

~~~
saurik
I am having a bit of a difficult time responding to this comment, because you
seem to have simply set up and dismissed outright the primary reason why most
people who release closed-source software do not also release source code
(protecting their research and engineering design, making it more difficult
for unskilled developers to clone their efforts and compete with them, which
would undercut their ability to support their effort) and instead concentrate
on your own reason (that it will undermine their DRM scheme), a reason that I
have honestly never heard because it is (as you correctly point out) somewhat
preposterous :/. If you were to take a second and notice that there are large
numbers of closed-source projects out there where the developers did not
bother with any form of DRM at all, it should become obvious that you have
chosen to attack a strawman.

You also have conveniently misrepresented my original complaint (and, I am
pretty certain, goldenkey's later elaboration): there is a difference between
"hoping for" or "encouraging" something and indicating displeasure and
expectation :(. "it is too bad that comex didn't give me $10" is a
fundamentally different statement than "I would really appreciate it if comex
gave me $10"... even "it would be really awesome if comex had given me $10" is
not a sufficient fix: it continues to imply a form of entitlement where it is
not just subjectively but objectively bad that the speaker did not get what
they wanted... that comex is actually doing something objectively bad (and
worse, already in the past did something objectively bad: note that the tense
also changes in those versions to did/had) by not giving me $10... this kind
of attitude does, I believe, seem somewhat "unreasonable".

~~~
goldenkey
We'll he did make a semi-valid point about the the tweak eventually being
cracked. But I do find it to be quite a straw men.

There is one main problem with releasing the source code, and that is
derivatives, of little extra work.

Even if the tweak is cracked, there will still be many who pay for the
official version off of BigBoss or the like. However, with derivatives that
could eventually add more gestures, and reproduce the full behavior, comex's
tweak would become muddled in a pool of competitors.

Most piracy arguments come down to 'well we're gonna do it anyways so give us
the keys to the castle beforehand.' This basic argument can be torn apart by
the very fact of being human. We live to die but still fight to live. Caving
in before a battle has begun is fundamentally inhuman

~~~
saurik
Right: the "one main problem with releasing the source code, and that is
derivatives, of little extra work" is the one that comex first sets up and
then immediately shoots down as if it were of no consequence ("making it
easier for someone else to simply clone it, but I would not personally
consider either of those a big deal"). (I respond as it isn't clear whether
you are intending to agree with me or not, but your comment definitely agrees
with my argument ;P.)

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NamTaf
Does the iPad 2 offer enough grunt to run this? Or are you looking at the
3rd/4th gen at least to power it smoothly?

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mattkevan
This is really impressive. Good work. I'm writing this post from my ipad with
it installed and am loving it.

~~~
zacinbusiness
Which model iPad are you using? Are you seeing any performance hit?

~~~
mattkevan
An iPad 3. I haven't noticed any performance issues yet. I guess all the apps
are running in the background anyway, it's just pushing a few more pixels to
the screen.

I have come across a few glitches, but no show-stoppers so far. Looking
forward to see how it develops.

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bsaul
How can you seriously multitask on a retina ipad with less than a gig of ram
and no virtual memory ?

~~~
Macha
With much greater ease than you could multitask on 8mb of RAM and a 32Mhz CPU:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Centris_650](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Centris_650)

~~~
bsaul
Except most UIs on today's ipad use retina images. Meaning 1024x768x4x4 = 12
mo of ram for a single fullscreen image. Most applications run into memory
warning at some point even when running on its own. I can't imagine having 3
or 4 in parrallel without virtual memory.

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simlevesque
How much of the current wealth of Apple is due to jailbreakers ? 20%? 30%? If
not for jailbreakers, there would have never been the appstore for iOS nor
OSX. The popularity of the iPhone would not have been nearly the same if not
for jailbroken applications then for the appstore applications. Apple should
issue apologies to each and every jailbreaker.

~~~
macintux
It seems very unlikely that Apple didn't plan on the app store for iOS from
before the first iPhone was released.

I give credit to the jailbreak community for exploring new ideas, but 20% of
Apple's wealth? Not a chance.

~~~
poolpool
Steve absolutely detested the idea of apps and it was only forstall who
actually got an app store implemented...

