Why cant we multi-task in android?

[Lakhota]

I find it annoying I cant listen to youtube and surf at the same time. Its not true multitasking ifbyou cant do something that simple. Is it the apps fault or ICS?

 

[johnnyshinta]

if you leave the youtube app ,which is a video streaming app not audio, it will stop playback because you aren't viewing the video if you aren't in the app. if you listen to music using a music streaming app like pandora or amazon cloud then it will continue playing back

 

[piratefan]

What ^he said. I couldn't do that on BlackBerry either.

 

[marcw]

this has nothing to do with multitasking.

 

[DaPoets]

why have a video playing if you aren't in the app to watch it... just kinda common sense...

 

[kilofoxtrot]

why have a video playing if you aren't in the app to watch it... just kinda common sense...

It is quite popular to use YT for audio even though YT is a video site. People will put singles on YT with some type of static picture while the audio is playing.

There examples of lectures, speeches etc etc... where the video isnt really the main message, but the audio with the video is far more important.

 

[9KRacing]

So really, your gripe is with the youtube app, not android's multitasking

 

[kilofoxtrot]

So really, your gripe is with the youtube app, not android's multitasking

Is it the app or os that doesn't allow you to multitask with video apps? I dont know. I would guess that its the OS since all my video apps behave in the same way. But again, I am only guessing.

 

[dubge]

It is the app that doesn't allow it.

 

[Lakhota]

Still trying to figure out why this still can't be done in Android. Even iOS has this capability. Severely lacking basic multitasking capabilities. I'll be jumping ship to iPhone if this isn't updated by the next update.

 

[dmmarck]

Still trying to figure out why this still can't be done in Android. Even iOS has this capability. Severely lacking basic multitasking capabilities. I'll be jumping ship to iPhone if this isn't updated by the next update.

The iPhone doesn't multitask either, it just keeps certain things/apps playing in the background. Two different concepts. In fact, their multitasking is sort of a joke when compared to Android because they focus on different aspects of the user experience and UI.

 

[Ry]

Still trying to figure out why this still can't be done in Android. Even iOS has this capability. Severely lacking basic multitasking capabilities. I'll be jumping ship to iPhone if this isn't updated by the next update.

Last I checked YouTube on iOS can't do this either.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Android Central Forums

 

[Saiga]

What ^he said. I couldn't do that on BlackBerry either.

BlackBerry can do that. I have a Dev Alpha and a PlayBook. Both of them can have a crazy amount of audio sources running at once.

I can open the browser and open several tabs at once and they all run. You can use a tab for youtube and one for pandora and the audio from each plays. While the browser is running all of that you can launch all 4 angry birds and the youtube app and the pandora android app and it all continues to run. You can hear all the audio streams mixed together and you can visually see them running

RIM's new os makes android look sad and primitive when it comes to multitasking. And if you are bening honest, Android's multitasking isnt any better than iOS

 

[Mas21]

I think you may want to give the app "Super Video, Floating and Popup" a try. It will let you have a video playing in a different window, which can be resized, while still doing other tasks on your phone. Unfortunately it must be kept in the foreground but it is easy to manage and make reasonably small to allow you to browse with minimal inconveniences.

 

[Lakhota]

For an OS that prides itself as THE multitasking OS, its pretty abysmal at it. Can't run video in the background, cant have more than one tab running at the same time on any browser, can't listen to music or anything on YouTube. That's pretty pathetic to be this far into OS and be missing out on such critical features. How can you even call what we have multi tasking? The whole meaning is doing more than one thing at a time and the most often used function is music+browsing the web. The #1 source for music is YouTube. How can Google not get their own App to work in the background of their own OS? Thats just sad, and for the above user....Yes iOS can do this just fine, my brother has an iPhone 4S and just showed me. Such a shame with an IPHONE can do more multitasking than Android these days. tsk tsk

 

[Ry]

For an OS that prides itself as THE multitasking OS, its pretty abysmal at it. Can't run video in the background, cant have more than one tab running at the same time on any browser, can't listen to music or anything on YouTube. That's pretty pathetic to be this far into OS and be missing out on such critical features. How can you even call what we have multi tasking? The whole meaning is doing more than one thing at a time and the most often used function is music+browsing the web. The #1 source for music is YouTube. How can Google not get their own App to work in the background of their own OS? Thats just sad, and for the above user....Yes iOS can do this just fine, my brother has an iPhone 4S and just showed me. Such a shame with an IPHONE can do more multitasking than Android these days. tsk tsk

Last I checked, Google Music and the other audio apps CAN. Your problem is that you're using a video app for audio-only.

I just grabbed my wife's iPad 2 and fired up the YouTube app, started a video, and pressed the home button. The audio quit.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Android Central Forums

 

[dmmarck]

For an OS that prides itself as THE multitasking OS, its pretty abysmal at it. Can't run video in the background, cant have more than one tab running at the same time on any browser, can't listen to music or anything on YouTube. That's pretty pathetic to be this far into OS and be missing out on such critical features. How can you even call what we have multi tasking? The whole meaning is doing more than one thing at a time and the most often used function is music+browsing the web. The #1 source for music is YouTube. How can Google not get their own App to work in the background of their own OS? Thats just sad, and for the above user....Yes iOS can do this just fine, my brother has an iPhone 4S and just showed me. Such a shame with an IPHONE can do more multitasking than Android these days. tsk tsk

To call YouTube the number one source for music is a massive stretch imo.

You have concerns with essentially one app, not multitasking in whole or as commonly known. That's the difference. Android is still much better at it than ios, but that's just how each are developed.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

 

[rufflez]

I Smell a troll, stop feeding it.

 

[yosteve]

It's gotten better. Before the update it wouldn't even keep your place in an app or video.

 

[Mas21]

iOS is simply boring to me. As far as I have experienced from an iPod touch, iPhone 4 and 4s their multitasking is no better and in most situations worse than my Gnex (ICS or JB). For the YouTube problem I (again) recommend trying "Super Video, Floating and Popup" which will allow you to multitask with YouTube videos running. I don't believe iOS has anything that can match it.