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Backgrounder

backgrounder iconBackgrounder is one of the most useful and important iPhone hacks available on Cydia. By default the iPhone multitasking capability is restricted by Apple.

This iPhone hack allows you to set how each application will behave when you close it, which will allow you to enabled or disable multitasking independently for each application and add more power to the iPhone multitasking.

When Apple introduced the iPhone, it allowed only some applications to multitask by default.

Only iPhone Mail, iPhone Safari, and the iPod application were capable of multitasking while other iPhone applications usually quit once you press the home button.

Backgrounder home screeniOS multitasking support started with iOS 4.0 and the introduction of the iPhone 4. However, multitasking and the iOS task switcher remained a little limited.

Backgrounder on the other hand adds true multitasking to the iOS.

It is the best iPhone hack you can install on a jailbrocken iPhone, and is one of the first iPhone hacks that I install right after I jailbreak my iPhone.

Moreover, it is available for free from Cydia and once installed it adds an iPhone icon to the home screen.

You can start back-grounder settings by tapping on its iPhone icon which will show 4 buttons, Global, Overrides, Control (via Activator), and Documentation.

 

Global:

The Global option gives you three options of multitasking.

Glabal settings for Backgrounder for the iPhoneiPhone global background

Native is the native iOS multitasking, which was an iPhone 4 feature added in iOS 4.0.

Backgrounder is a unique multitasking feature specific to backgrounder and is only activated by this iPhone hack.

Auto Detect means that if the iPhone application supports Native multitasking, then it will stay Native otherwise it will use the unique background multitasking.

Auto Detect simply means that the application will automatically select the most efficient way of multitasking for each specific running iPhone application.

I personally use the unique back-grounder iOS multitasking option in all of my iPhone applications. This unique multitasking feature is the reason why I use Back-grounder to begin with. You can also turn Back-grounder off by selecting the Off button from the Global menu.

I usually don't play around with the Global setting and keep it off as it could cause some complications.

 

Override:

The Overrides option of Back-grounder is my favorite, and is the only multitasking option I use. Therefore, I will show you how to use this option to optimize the performance of your iPhone multitasking and use it to its full power.

Override is a feature in Backgrounder to give a specific background option to each applicationAdd an iPhone application to the override option of backgrounder for iOS multitasking

Overrides allows you to specify which iOS multitasking option you want to use for each iPhone application. Opposed to the Global option which sets all the iPhone applications to either Native, Backgrounder, or Auto Detect, Overrides allows you to set iPhone multitasking for each application independently to any of the three multitasking options Native, Backgrouder, or Auto Detect.

Therefore, I leave the Global option always turned Off, and define multitasking for each application independently in Overrides. This will force each iPhone application to be back-grounded using the option I specify in Overrides when I close it.

Adding an application to the Overrides list is easy. Simply tap the Overrides button and then tap Add at the top right corner. All currently installed iPhone applications will appear in a list form.

Scroll to select the iPhone application you want to define the multitasking option that you want that application to use. When finished, the application will be added to the Overrides list.

iPhone override in backgrounderiPhone overrides backgrounder

Now you can define the iPhone multitasking option for each application in your Overrides list. Select the iPhone application you just added to Overrides list and select one of the three multitasking options you want to specify for that application whether it is Native, Backgrounder, or Auto Detect.

You can also disable multitasking completely for that application by selecting Off. Also, you can remove any application from the Overrides list by simply tapping the red (-) button.

Enable backgrounder for an iPhone appOther backgrounder options for the iPhone

Again, for all my applications, I always select Back-grounder as my multitasking option because it is the true and the ultimate iPhone multitasking. You should leave all other options as they are in the list of options.

Backgrounder and multiflow make the best iPhone multitasking experienceTherefore, I go through my Overrides list of applications and just check the backgrouder option for each app to give it the unique back-grounder multitasking option.

Therefore, when I close that application at anytime, it will be automatically be back-grounded using the specified method.

Combining Back-grounder with MultiFlow (shown on the right) which is an iPhone hack that allows you to quickly switch between running iPhone applications, you will have the ultimate multitasking system on the iPhone.

Visit the iPhone customization page to learn more about Multi Flow.



Enable or Disable Multitasking Manually Via Activator:

Control (via Activator) is another method of manually forcing an iPhone application to temporarily multitask.

Control backgrounder manually with activatorControl your backgrounding or iPhone multitasking with Activator and backgrounder

For example, if you have all applications set to Off in Global, but you want an application to multitask sometimes. Then, you can simply set an Activator method to enable or disable multitasking on the fly.

You can customize your iPhone multitasking by selecting one of the many available actions and gestures available in Activator. For example, you can specify to double tap the status bar to enable or disable multitasking for the running application.

If you start an application and want it to stay in the background, simply apply the control method or gesture you specified in the Control (via Activator) button to trigger the multitasking option on or off temporarily.

A notification will show up on the screen informing you that the backgrounding multitasking has been enabled or disabled for that application.

backgrounder enabledbackgrounder disabled

backgrounder enabledBack-grounder has three badges that reflect the state of a running iPhone application. If it has blue badge, then it is a Native multitasking. If it has a black badge, then it is Back-grounder specific multitasking, and if it has both black and blue badges, then it is an Auto Detect multitasking.

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