Since the release of iOS 4 and even before that, there's been much speculation about different features of the OS. But no one would argue that the most talked-about feature that debuted in iOS 4 is multitasking. Some people really appreciate Apple's attempt to bring a new form of multitasking to a device without having a major impact on battery life, while others disagree with Apple's approach and feel that the multitasking is half-assed, regardless of its successful attempt to maintain performance of the phone. Some have even gone as far as to say that "Apple blew it" with its "sloppy implementation" of multitasking. So, in the midst of all these different points of view, I thought I'd add my own to the mix.

I'd first like to start off by saying that this is not in any way a biased review. A lot of times when news sites such as Engadget or Gizmodo praise Apple, they are accused by their readers of being biased. I'll have you know that I am not a die hard Apple fanatic. In fact, I love my Windows 7 HP PC and find it superior to Mac OS X in my opinion. That's not to say I dislike Apple, because I love Apple. While people that know me well know I'm not a complete fan of OS X, I love the iPhone and iPad, and admire Apple's incredible ability to create beautiful hardware for not only their iDevices, but Macs too. So, in two words, not biased.

Moving on. As you may know, Apple's version of multitasking is sort of a mimic of real multitasking. By "real", I mean multitasking that doesn't involve the developer to add APIs to their application in order for it to actually work. To quote from Apple themselves, these are the seven APIs developers can add to apps to take advantage of one specific task they would like to accomplish in the background.

• Background audio - Allows your app to play audio continuously. So customers can listen to your app while they surf the web, play games, and more.
• Voice over IP - Your VoIP apps can now be even better. Users can now receive VoIP calls and have conversations while using another app. Your users can even receive calls when their phones are locked in their pocket.
• Background location - Navigation apps can now continue to guide users who are listening to their iPods, or using other apps. iOS 4 also provides a new and battery efficient way to monitor location when users move between cell towers. This is a great way for your social networking apps to keep track of users and their friends' locations.
• Push notifications - Receive alerts from your remote servers even when your app isn't running.
• Local notifications - Your app can now alert users of scheduled events and alarms in the background, no servers required.
• Task finishing - If your app is in mid-task when your customer leaves it, the app can now keep running to finish the task.
• Fast app switching - All developers should take advantage of this. This will allow users to leave your app and come right back to where they were when they left - no more having to reload the app.

But is this really limited multitasking? It seems like all the possible ways to accomplish something in the background can be found in those APIs. Some will argue that apps like Facebook and Twitter won't be able to load new data to your timeline in the background. That's true, but can be possibly added as an additional API later.

In my opinion, I don't entirely think that this is "limited" in the derogatory way people seem to use it. Yes, it's not full multitasking where apps run in the background as if they are entirely running, just not being displayed. But maybe that kind of multitasking isn't a good thing. The multitasking APIs may be limited, but where they lack compared to Android phones with multitasking, they make up in battery life and to me battery life is a very important thing. I don't want my mobile device dying on me after a few hours after heavy use. That's why it's a mobile device. It's supposed to work anywhere. The real problem with the APIs is getting every developer to add it to their app. With 225,000 apps in the app store, there's no doubt in my mind that not every single app will add even the fast app switching, and that will ultimately have an impact on the multitasking experience.

The bottom line? Apple's form of multitasking won't please those who want it all or nothing, but it should be good enough for the average iOS4 user, and there's little reason why it can't please most power users. In fact, power users should appreciate the saved battery life. The multitasking APIs can certainly provide for a less frustrating experience when using your device. It all comes down to whether or not developers agree.