iPhone OS 4 is the next generation of the world’s most innovative mobile operating system. Its unique capabilities and new technologies will change what you thought was possible on a mobile platform. With a rich set of over 1500 new APIs, iPhone SDK for iPhone OS 4 provides you with an amazing range of technologies to enhance the functionality of your iPhone and iPod touch apps. iPhone Developer Program members can visit the iPhone Dev Center to download the iPhone SDK 4 beta now.
Multitasking
iPhone OS 4 delivers seven new multitasking services that allow your apps to perform tasks in the background while preserving battery life and performance. These multitasking services include:
- 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. iPhone OS 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.
iAd
Apple’s new mobile advertising platform, combines the emotion of TV ads with the interactivity of web ads. When users click on mobile ads they are almost always taken out of their app to a web browser, which loads the advertiser’s webpage. Users must then navigate back to their app, and it is often difficult or impossible to return to exactly where they left. iAd solves this problem by displaying full-screen video and interactive ad content without ever leaving the app, and letting users return to their app anytime they choose. iPhone OS 4 lets developers easily embed iAd opportunities within their apps, and the ads are dynamically and wirelessly delivered to the device. Apple will sell and serve the ads, and developers will receive 60 percent of iAd revenue.
Game Center
The iPhone OS 4 beta software and SDK includes a developer preview of the GameKit APIs that allows you to create apps that will work with Game Center, Apple’s new social gaming network. Your users can invite friends to play a game, start a multiplayer game through matchmaking, track their achievements, and compare their high scores on a leader board. The APIs are available to you now and Game Center will be available to iPhone and iPod touch users later this year.
Calendar Access
Apps can now create and edit events directly in the Calendar app with Event Kit. Create recurring events, set up start and end times and assign them to any calendar on the device.
In-App SMS
Compose SMS messages from within apps, similar to the Mail compose sheet added in iPhone SDK 3.0.
Photo Library Access
Applications now have direct access to user photos and videos with the Media Library APIs.
Video playback & Capture
You now have full programmatic control over video playback and capture, using new APIs in the AV Foundation framework.
Map Kit Improvements
Mapping applications can now include overlays that can identify regions on a map. Draw routes with annotations for customized directions and other functionalities.
Quick Look
Applications can now present previews of documents, like attachments in Mail, using the new Quick Look APIs.
Accelerate
Gain access to a cookbook of hundreds of industry-standard mathematical functions optimized for iPhone and iPod touch, including functions for performing vector and matrix factorizations, multiplying arrays of large integers and computing simultaneous linear equations.
ew in Tools
With a wealth of new tools and refinements, you’ll find that developing amazing iPhone and iPod touch apps is easier than ever before.
Automated testing
Automate the testing of your application by scripting touch events using the new UIAutomation Instrument.
Performance and power analysis
Collect finely-grained performance data and track the power usage of your application using the new Time Profiler and Energy Diagnostics Instruments for iPhone OS.
iPhone OS 4 Compatibility
iPhone OS 4 will work with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the second- and third-generation iPod touch this summer, and with iPad in the fall. Not all features are compatible with all devices. For example, multitasking is available only with iPhone 3GS and the third-generation iPod touch (32GB and 64GB models from late 2009).
What we didn’t get from iPhone OS 4
Have to look over the common wish list items that appear to be lacking from the iPhone OS announcement.
- Mass storage mode: We would’ve liked to see an easier way to just drag and drop files from our computer to the iPhone without having to go through a third-party app.
- Tethering with AT&T: Yes, we know this is already possible with the current OS, but AT&T in the U.S. have not gotten onboard with it yet (tethering is currently available in other countries like Canada and the U.K.). We were hoping we would hear more about it at the event, but no dice there.
- Audio profiles: It would have been nice if the iPhone had different audio profiles for different environments that you could easily switch between.
- Flash support in Safari: Yeah, this was a pie-in-the-sky wish, but we know a lot of you out there wanted it.
- FM radio: Another one that was highly unlikely, but again, we know there are some who want it.
- Wi-Fi syncing: We would’ve really liked it if we could sync or back up our information on the iPhone over Wi-Fi instead of having to plug in our USB cable.
- Built-in photo editing: We know you can get third-party photo editors on the iPhone but it would be nice to have a built-in one as well.
- Printer support: This is a little more relevant to the iPad, but we also wished iPhone OS 4 would provide some printer driver support, which would be very helpful for printing out documents and notes.
- Multiple notification bar: On Android, there is a handy pull down area where you can see all of your recent notifications, like for your new messages or new voicemails. It would be nice to see that on the iPhone as well.
Was there anything that you wanted out of iPhone OS 4.0 but didn’t get? Sound off in the comments section below.
Apple’s iPhone OS 4.0: Afterthoughts
iPhone OS 4.0 license makes third-party developers agree that they’ll write apps using Apple’s own programming tools, not ones provided by other companies — apparently including Adobe’s upcoming Packager for iPhone, which converts Flash applications into iPhone programs. I, as an avid Mac OS X developer love this clause in the agreement. I have seen lots of companies that were into developing website proclaiming themselves as iPhone developers and taking away the value out of the iPhone. In any event, this remains a developing story and I always know Steve Jobs won’t let Apple developer down.