[tweetmeme] When Patrick first showed me the preview video of ProSwitcher, I was impressed, but at the same time didn’t think it would be the least bit as elegant as it should be. I was wrong. If running multiple third party apps at the same time is the need of the hour, ProSwitcher is so far the most perfect implementation there is.
The thing I was most surprised by, was the installation. My iPhone doesn’t have SSH enabled because I’m too lazy to meddle with files and such. With version 1.0 it now shows up with the big boss repository, and with one tap on the “install” button in Cydia and ProSwitcher was ready and waiting. It also automatically installs Backgrounder, the hack that actually enables background apps, if it’s not yet installed.
Once installed (and you have a few apps running in the background), you can just tap the icon on your homescreen to load up the ‘cards’. It’s everything you’ve seen on the WebOS platform, as in, the Palm Pre. You can switch between apps (but not rearrange them), slide them up to quit the app, or press the home button to return to your home screen.
Where ProSwitcher shines however, is customising the experience. Load up the settings, and customise it to your hearts content: Close buttons, app badges, behavioral changes, and even rounded corners for the cards. Most importantly, you can set different modes for activation. Home button double press, sleep button short hold, status bar swipe right, Springboard icon pinch, are just some of the options available. And they all work flawlessly. It’s so seamless that if you invoke the menu while running another app, it will force that app into the background as well.
Personally speaking I still haven’t found a real use-case scenario for background apps, but this would be of great use for listening to internet radio, switching between games and productivity apps, or keeping a GPS app running while you snap pictures. My iPhone 2G is pretty capable at running two to three apps simultaneously, so I’m sure a 3GS would provide a much better experience.
If you’re jailbroken, this is a must have hack. If you haven’t done so, think about it. It’s good.
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Looks enticing, despite the fact that neither the iPhone nor its Apps have been built with multitasking in mind. Might as well try on an iPod Touch.
It’s pretty sweet for leaving games without autosave (think Lux Touch) running while you do something else. It’s also nice for apps with long startup times, like Kindle—just leave ‘em running while you switch to something else so you don’t have to wait a long time when you switch back.