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Comment by stcredzero | Hacker News Reader

I’m not convinced that the task switcher needs to exist. Since apps in the task switcher aren’t really running, the task switcher isn’t so much a task switcher as it is a list of recently used apps

The task switcher lets you switch back and forth between apps one handed using your thumb. I think that's part of the rationale for it. Also, the Least Recently Used algorithm will dynamically make a short list of the actually used apps in a user's collection. Most users probably spend 80% of time in a small minority of their apps.

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Yep. I also think it's a function of the location of the two apps. For whatever reason I find myself switching between apps on pages (say) 1 and 4. A surprisingly large hassle after a few switches. Yes, I could move one for a while to get around the issue, but this obviates the need for remodeling, as that other app will be right there.

One handed? So no pinch-to-switch-apps gesture? (it seems odd to point out one handed operation of an iPhone feature when so much of the reason people say it is superior are the things that require two hands to operate).

For me, pinching and multitouch are easy and natural, but often I just use a double tap to zoom instead.

In this case, the real alternative to the task switcher is flicking through multiple pages of apps, which surely is more difficult than a simple row of recently used apps. It's hard to imagine a pinching gesture that would be usable here, without interfering with the current app.

I don't understand how the task switcher makes a difference for one-handed operation. Either you hit home once, swipe, and tap to open an app, or you double-tap home, swipe at the bottom area of the screen, and tap to open an app. It seems to me that not using the task switcher is more one-hand-friendly, since you can swipe wherever you want?

I see your point. Switching to an app that isn't in the four most-recently-used apps of the first task switcher screen would likely require a similar effort as using the multiple pages of the home screen.

However, if a user is switching between three or four apps for a given period of time, those apps may very well lie on very different pages of the Springboard. The most frequently used apps are not always the apps that matter now.

Even when you would need to swipe in the task switcher, surely it is easier to find an app among 4 instead of 16?

(Maybe the task switcher really is only useful for a small subset of use cases, in which case your position would seem to be the logical one.)

It'll be interesting to see if the older phones get this. As you say it can function as a recently used list, even if those apps are not running, the user shouldn't have to care about the distinction.

If this is what people want (a LRU stack of apps), wouldn't they'd be better off making the dock do this, instead of introducing a third app area?

I don't think so, the dock works well for "frequently used", which is not the same as "recently used".

The iPhone 3G won't be getting this multitasking.

It seems like it could get the task switcher, though. Word on the street is it doesn't, at least in beta 1.

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