Apple iOS 4.3 Multitasking Gesture Control Video

Posted on Jan 23 2011 - 3:09pm by Richard Sharp

With news gathering pace around the upcoming iPad 2 and iPhone 5 it’s not unusual that people are equally interested in iOS 4.3. The new iOS will undoubtedly feature in some form on both devices so this week’s demonstration of multitasking gesture controls has got people talking – mainly because it looks a little odd.

To begin with the video shows the standard app switching method with gesture control off, so a single digit method that we are all akin to.  The demonstrator then switches multitasking/gestures on which allowed him to use four fingers to swipe through apps instead of visiting the home screen each time, for this to work the app must have actually opened before hand so essentially it’s a step up from double tapping the home button to switch between open apps.

Opinion on the video has been mixed, some think that the addition is a great idea and some think it looks silly on such a small screen. Some news providers, including Metro, has likened the action to “a cat, excited by his shiny new toy”.

Here is the video, take a look at the multitasking gestures and let us know what you think below, is this a good addition or should Apple leave well alone?

8 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Callen January 23, 2011 at 9:07 pm - Reply

    Eugh that's horrible leave alone my multi tasking!!!!

  2. Johannes January 24, 2011 at 12:18 am - Reply

    I think it is very useful! Now you can always keep your fingers on the screen, especially on the ipad very useful! But i've heard that this is just being tested and will not actually be in the ios 4.3 release! (Even though an ipad 2 w/o a home button would be pretty cool!)

  3. Reuben January 24, 2011 at 3:47 am - Reply

    freakin sweet! i eagerly await the day when apple releases a phone without ANY physical buttons. thus, soo many less hardware issues! and more room for retina display 😉

  4. Daniel E. Rodgers January 24, 2011 at 8:06 pm - Reply

    I think that the screen is too small for the gesture to be functional. This should be left to the MacBook and iPads….!

    • Ryan K February 26, 2011 at 7:52 pm - Reply

      don't turn it on then!

  5. Ethen Jones January 24, 2011 at 8:47 pm - Reply

    If you've ever used a jailbroken iphone and used multifl0w, apple's task switcher looks childish.

  6. Ryan K February 26, 2011 at 7:51 pm - Reply

    Screw new multitasking feats, get a freakin' silent symbol at the top of the screen – you never know it's on silent till you have missed calls!!!

Leave A Response