WebOS Feature Idea

[orlando_c]

I was just reading another thread ( http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...use-pre-2.html ) and I it dawned on me. I envisioned having a swipe down gesture when you are in card view. You would swipe a card down and essentially achieve a background card effect feature. Essentially these applications would still be running in the background (using up a smaller portion of resources), but would not be in an "active" state. The cards would be stacked on the lower portion of the screen with small thumbnails/icons to be able to relaunch is necessary.

I can see this being useful for applications that do not necessarily require a visual in order to run (ie brightness unlinked, battery monitor).

What do you guys think?

[xtn]

They already run in the background. You just want them st the bottom of the screen instead of in card view?

[ryleyinstl]

+1

Originally Posted by xtn

They already run in the background.

[DarthRepublican]

This feature is already in webOS in a sense. Just like email or messaging don't have to be running in order to tell you that you have messages coming in, it is possible for an app to go into the dashboard or even disappear altogether while still running in the background. Fans of the homebrew app Switcharoo for example know that it can still change your background if you swipe it away. I think that what you are asking for is some sort of simple task management solution where you can demote an app (like a web page) and put it to sleep so it won't refresh itself or refresh itself much more slowly. That would probably be a good idea.

[orlando_c]

Originally Posted by xtn

They already run in the background. You just want them st the bottom of the screen instead of in card view?

I think I might be explaining it wrong. As it stands right now, programs can run concurrently or at least the OS gives the illusion that programs run at the same time. Having this implementation (and the ability to view them in real time - card view - ) uses cpu cycles to constantly refresh the live card view amongst all cards. However, there are times when it is not necessary to view the card visually, but still have the app running.

Think of it on a typical desktop. Desktop OS's represent programs that have GUI's within a window. There are plenty of times when I have a program running in the background but I minimize it because I need the screen real estate for some other windows I am "actively" using. What I am describing here is a spinoff / port to the minimization effect on a desktop.

Expanding this a bit further, perhaps when you "minimize" a window it would run as a service / cron job. The service that would run is defined by the program itself through some registration system determined by Palm. Taking this even further, the OS could also possibly check when the program has been running for a bit without actually being viewed as a card and minimize it automatically (an option to be on or off of course). The benefit of this is that it would improve performance and battery life as well as allow the user to prioritize/organize their cards as they see fit. It would also, further push the idea that these devices are more like mobile computers than smartphones.

Do you feel me?

[orlando_c]

Originally Posted by DarthRepublican

This feature is already in webOS in a sense. Just like email or messaging don't have to be running in order to tell you that you have messages coming in, it is possible for an app to go into the dashboard or even disappear altogether while still running in the background. Fans of the homebrew app Switcharoo for example know that it can still change your background if you swipe it away. I think that what you are asking for is some sort of simple task management solution where you can demote an app (like a web page) and put it to sleep so it won't refresh itself or refresh itself much more slowly. That would probably be a good idea.

That is exactly what I am speaking of.

[orlando_c]

Errr... anyone else think this is a good idea? I was thinking of submitting this as a feature request on the Palm Website.

[Baryn]

It already exists in webOS, and it's called a "headless app".

headless application

[orlando_c]

Interesting. Well, I think the way that headless apps are currently being implemented is a little confusing because there is now way of managing them. There should be like a headless app manager where you can turn these apps on or off.

[DarthRepublican]

Originally Posted by Baryn

It already exists in webOS, and it's called a "headless app".

headless application

True but the original poster of the thread is asking for a way to "decapitate" an app which doesn't ordinarily run headless by putting it to sleep so it won't use up resources while keeping it available (perhaps in the Dashboard) for easy retrieval.

[orlando_c]

in any case, and I am sure they are working on imrovements, they need to do some changing to the way to reduce cpu hogging when apps are running concurrently. This whole thread was kind of an idea that might help.

[mauro1]

Is the functionality you are describing like what the Quick System Tasks BETA (http://www.precentral.net/homebrew-a...k-system-tasks) application does with its tray mode enabled? If you flick the app off the screen while the Tray Mode option is enabled the app goes to the tray at the bottom (as pictured in the 3rd image).
If so I agree with you that it would be cool to have a webOS standard way of accomplishing this instead of leaving it to each app to implement the operational paradygm to accomplish the task.

[orlando_c]

Originally Posted by mauro1

Is the functionality you are describing like what the Quick System Tasks BETA (http://www.precentral.net/homebrew-a...k-system-tasks) application does with its tray mode enabled? If you flick the app off the screen while the Tray Mode option is enabled the app goes to the tray at the bottom (as pictured in the 3rd image).
If so I agree with you that it would be cool to have a webOS standard way of accomplishing this instead of leaving it to each app to implement the operational paradygm to accomplish the task.

Yes, similar to that but as you mentioned, have a standard mechanism for accomplishing this. The major difference being that applications would typically have a minimal resources / service mode and a standard / card mode. Then you can pick and choose what to bring into and out of card mode whenever you want.