Multitasking

The iOS 9 app switcher is not without its faults. Some iPhone owners, especially those with smaller screens, have complained that switching apps is difficult. The problem arises due to overlapping app cards combined with overly fluid motion. Sometimes scrolling between apps results in having to go back and forth several times, as the targeted app card is missed or floats by too quickly. The jailbreak tweak AppSwitcher7 solves these problems by resurrecting a previous app switcher design.

While iOS 8 allows apps to "run" in the background, many of these tasks are optimized to save battery life and improve performance. Those looking for true multitasking capabilities may be interested in Watchdog Pro. This tweak gives iOS apps the ability to fully run in the background, just as if they were still running in the foreground.

The jailbreak tweak Stratos is heavily inspired by the classic multitasking tweak Auxo. The developers of Stratos have included some interesting features in their vision of iOS 7 and 8 multitasking. The tweak is described as a way to "simplify the way you interact with your iPhone". Simply put, Stratos brings a multitasking app switcher to the Control Center and separates media controls, app switching, and control toggles into three separate pages.

Once installed, there is a toggle to enable Stratos under Settings, along with many options to configure the tweak. Besides displaying running and recently used app cards directly in the Control Center, Stratos makes it possible to swipe up on an app card to open it immediately. Stratos can be configured to automatically open to the media control page when music is playing, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

One area of iOS that begs for customization is the app switcher. Ever since multitasking came to the iPhone, jailbreak developers have devised ways to easily quit all apps. The alternative is manually swiping to quit each app card individually. Clear Background Apps is just one example of such a tweak.

Now iOS 8 users can grab Slide2Kill8 Pro for a bevy of app management features. Once installed, Slide2Kill8 adds a ghost button to the lower right of the app switcher. Tapping this button provides three options, kill all apps, open the Control Center, or open the Notification Center.