Backgrounder + ProSwitcher
I realize this isn’t new news, but I just had to write it because ProSwitcher is just awesome. (And yes, it’s totally free). I have updated my why jailbreak iPhone page adding ProSwitcher. ProSwitcher is written by developers rpetrich and chpwn and backgrounder is written by ashikase.
There are severe limitations imposed on AppStore apps. One of these is “no background processes.” This means that if you have an app, such as an instant messenger app, every time you press home to go to something else, the app is closed out. You are disconnected. You get no messages, no notification, nothing.
Backgrounder is an attempt to fix this. Backgrounder allows you to select an app that you want to allow to run in the background. Then when you press home, that app will keep running. Perfect for an IRC app (try flowchat + backgrounder) or such that you do not want to get disconnected everytime you tap the home key. This adds critical functionality that you cannot get unless you jailbreak! On 3gs, you have plenty of memory to use this fully!
Combine this with ProSwitcher and you have a beautiful and simple interface into backgrounding one app and starting another. Activate ProSwitcher (in my case I have it to activate by double tapping status bar) and you get a coverflow view of all your running processes:
With this you can background and kill apps easily. While composing an email, quickly look something up on the web without closing your email program. Uses are endless.
3g / 2g users: you don’t have enough memory to really background a lot of apps, use it sparingly. 3gs users, you are in for a treat!
BigBoss Authors: Mark Bruce & Kory Lee
January 27th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
ProSwitcher IS awesome! After using it for just 10 minutes, there was no way I could live without it.
I have not had a single issue with it.
I hope we get an iPad version!!!
There are a few things in the settings I don’t understand, however, like “Become Home Scree” and “Empty Tap to Close” and “Empty Style”.
I can’t figure out what those do.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
i know proswitcher’s free, but really- no mention of multiflow?
January 28th, 2010 at 5:41 am
Pro switcher is nice but bogged down my 3g – went back to kirikea – twice as fast with no lag
January 28th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Kirikae is still the best.
Sure, it’s not that good looking but it’s faster at all points (prompting, killing, switching).
Especially for iPod Touch 2G users like me. ;)
Nonetheless it’s an awesome tool (well written, designed and free)!
January 28th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Proswitcher isn’t awesome, is a memory hog, and a battery killer. Used it for 2 days and delete it, it’s not all that good as everyone is trying make it out to be.
January 28th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Sorry if this is being off topic, but is flowchat still being developed or is it abandoned.
January 28th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
The latest update put my iPhone into constant Safe Mode. Ended up restoring to factory defaults to get my phone back running properly again… very annoying. It was working great before that update however!
January 28th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Quickdo is still the most convenient and the fastest for me.
January 28th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I should have specified that I’m on a 3GS with 3.1.2. No lag, bogging down, crashes, or ANY problem whatsoever. It just works and has since the very first public beta version.
This is how the OS should work in the first place!
January 28th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
I just downloaded this and with backgrounder it is AMAZING. There is no need to pay for multiflow once you have this installed. Running iPhone 3Gs, 16gig, JB, AT&T.
Steve
January 29th, 2010 at 8:37 am
ProSwitcher is awesome. I use it everyday! It’s a must have.
January 29th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Multiflow cant even compare. It’s way too buggy and plus the guy stopped developing it.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I believe pro switcher is draining my battery even without any apps running in the background.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Kirikae ist still much faster to handle the apps. No need to bother with ProSwitcher (albeit nice interface).
January 29th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Nah, there is nothing in proswitcher that can cause your battery to drain. Problem lies elsewhere.
January 29th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
I agree that pro switcher and backgrounder are both awesome. Just cuz you close an app by pressing home, doesnt mean you wont get notifications. Its called “Push”. If I close down AIM, I still get messages. If I close down a game that has push (ex: Mark of Mafia) I get notifications if I get attacked or whatever…. Just sayin.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Apps password-protected by iProtect are not longer password-protected when launched with Pro Switcher. If I background and app and then relaunch it with QuickDo, it still asks for a password.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Kirikae will always be faster. Fancy UI effects do have a cost
February 1st, 2010 at 3:04 am
thats awesome!!!
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February 2nd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
ProSwitcher is far better than Multifl0w or Kirikae.
Multifl0w is a ProSwitcher wannabe that costs a whole $5…. And Kirikae is just a boring menu with backgrounded apps.
Pro Switcher IS AMAZING. I have a 3GS and It works flawlessly for me!
I do wonder if there’s a way to start its process on reboot/respring so that there’s not that 2 second delay at first… BUT THAT’S NO PROBLEM, because this app is EPIC.
Get it today! :P
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:28 pm
“Become home screen” makes it so that when you press the home button, ProSwitcher opens. But if you press home button again, it goes to the real springboard.
“Empty tap to close” makes it so that if you tap on the empty tap below the cards/apps it will close ProSwitcher.
“Empty style” is whether you want text or blank space below the cards.
“ProSwitcher” is awesome.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Multifl0w is, well, gross. Costly, glitchy and ugly. It can’t compete with ProSwitcher and does not even deserve honorable mention.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:17 pm
I used to use Mulitfl0w before ProSwitcher was available. Each time I used it it was a severe drain on my RAM. So I would wind up going back to Kirikae. Kirikae however was awesome. I mean if Kirikae ever had the same interface as ProSwitxher I’d be back on it. Ashikase is the same developer of Backgrounder. That’s why I was always more comfortable using Kirikae. But ProSwitcher is awesome!!! I haven’t gone back since. :)
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
I was wrong, ‘empty tap to close’ is when you don’t have apps running and nothing appears; you can then tap the blank screeb to close proswitcher.
“empty style” is if it tells you “no apps running” when there’s nothing running then it either shows text, a blank screen, or does not even open (disabled)…
Hope I cleared that up. :D
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Actually “empty” is actually referring to when no apps are running. My mistake.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I just realized that “empty” actually refers to when there are no apps running an ProSwitcher is open.
So “tap to close” means that when you tap the empty ProSwitcher it closes.
“Empty style” is what it shows when there are no apps running….
Hope I cleared that up. :P
February 5th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Guys, how come you are all sayin the proswitcher is free? I downloaded it and it’s syin I have a 15 day trial period. Are there different versions? I have version 1.1 from BigBoss
February 5th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Actually never mind guys,
I was mistaken…I was looking at lockscreen.
In other news! ProSwitcher is the best app ever!!!
February 5th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Proswitcher is sick man. Just like Expose in OSX.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
If you have issues, I’d love to work with you to solve them…I try very hard to eliminate all memory issues, and so far in 1.1 none have been reported up until this one: often, applications use lots of memory in the background, but that is not ProSwitcher.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
ProSwitcher is free, are you sure you installed ProSwitcher and not a different app? Where does it say that?
February 9th, 2010 at 5:16 am
Will be great if all the background apps can be swiped like saurik’s cydealer.
And I don’t like “the welcome” screen every time I respring or restart
February 16th, 2010 at 8:06 am
I typically don’t leave comments or reviews, but felt obligated because ProSwitcher is THAT GOOD!!! Combined with Backgrounder, ProSwitcher is another app I just cannot live without. If you’re reading this and are hesitant because you have a 3G – give it a try. I have a 3G and I’ve yet to experience lag.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I want to thank the developer for this proswitcher app, well it it awesome and shows a lot of work went into it, hands down it would worth being payed for but is amzingly free, thanks again but are you sure it won’t drain your battery, or maybe cause I have im+ running in the background. Please advise why my battery maybe draining so quickly, I doubt it is proswitcher directly tho. (from Jamaica)
February 24th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Does anyone know of a place to find a guide to the use of ProSwitcher/Backgrounder?
GREAT APP!!!
Thanks.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Does anybody know of compatibility issues with ProSwitcher and iOS4 (on a 3G)
I set my phone up with a fresh iOS4 install, then ran redsn0w_win_0.9.5b5-3 and checked the backgrounding button. My poor 3G was way too sluggish.
So I cleaned my phone again and reran the jailbreak without enabling backgrounding. I then installed backgrounder. The 3G was now as fast as when running 3.1.3.
Now I installed ProSwitcher to get app switching and after that, I get the Lock Screen Sad Face and MobileSubstrate telling me it is in ‘Safe Mode’.
As far as Cydia can tell, everything is up to date. Reboots did not change this. Reinstalling ProSwitcher did not change this.
Uninstalling ProSwitcher allowed MobileSubstrate to properly run.