[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2pyfERqMjE[/youtube]
A question that leaves many wondering, especially because Apple did not do what it should have done, that is to implement a multitasking system "as per the book", but implemented its own system, better from their point of view view. The native multitasking is actually the possibility to open in the background any applications you want, the application remaining 100% open when you exit it, while the multitasking in iOS 4 is a combination of APIs that allow keeping 25% of the application open in the background, the rest being suspended to save resources.
Looking from the outside, native multitasking is the best solution because it works with any application, unlike the one in iOS 4 which only works with applications that have this function implemented. Looking at the problem in a little more detail, the native multitasking is implemented with the help of some patches and applications that complicate the system, consume a lot of resources and reduce battery autonomy. The multitasking in iOS 4 is specially made to consume much less resources, much less of the battery and with the help of fast app switching the solution becomes a much better one than the native multitasking.
If we talk about performance, then multitasking, regardless of its form, should only be tried on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 because they are the only terminals capable of facing such a "challenge". iPhone 2G/3G don't have enough RAM memory to support multitasking and no matter how many patches/RAM freeing solutions you use, you still won't get the same performance as an iPhone 3GS/4 with double/triple amount of RAM.
I for one prefer the multitasking in iOS 4 because if it is implemented correctly it works as well as the native one, only it requires much less hassle and is available without jailbreak. I prefer not to use mobilesubstrate because it is the biggest consumer of resources because it runs constantly in the background. Backgrounder has also caused problems with other applications, plus it constantly needs updates to be compatible with new versions of iOS.
In conclusion, I always choose multitasking from iOS 4 for its simplicity, ease of use and the fact that it is available right from installation.
What do you choose?
