https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/core-topics/application-and-system-modules/
The Application and System modules core topics doc has a lot of information about application states for devices which support multitasking / the task switcher.
Specifically:
- apps supports active, inactive and suspended states
- when the user switches away from an app, it becomes inactive (if the app is already recording, recording will continue)
- when the system needs more resources, it may suspend an app (which afaict, is very similar from the app's pov to simple termination, except that the :suspend flag is passed to onStop() so the app knows to save its state)
It's not clear whether an app can be suspended while it's recording, and if so, what happens to the recording (I assume it would be automatically saved). The docs don't say anything about under what circumstances, if any, an app will *not* be suspended.
This is especially of interest because:
1) Fenix 7 has the task switcher (i.e. the recent apps list is opened by holding Back, by default), meaning it supports multitasking
2) Some Fenix 7 users have complained that if they return to the watchface while a CIQ app is recording an activity (e.g. by using a hotkey to do so), then the app is kiilled and the recording is saved
3) 2. does not happen for FR955, which happens to lack the task switcher. For FR955, if the user returns to the watchface while a CIQ app is recording, then the app is not terminated. (If a CIQ app is not recording, then it is terminated if the user returns to the watchface)
It would also be nice if the device reference could specify which devices support multitasking.
Additional notes / questions:
- if it's true that Fenix 7 terminates / suspends CIQ apps which are recording, when the user returns to the watchface, then doesn't that imply that a Fenix 7 (which supports the task switcher) actually has less "multitasking" functionality than the FR955 (which does not terminate a recording CIQ app under the same circumstances)?
- The FR955 doesn't have the task switcher, which, along with the previous point, would seemingly imply it doesn't support "multitasking". But if I open a CIQ app which records an activity, then I can switch back to the watchface (while the app is still recording) and open *another* CIQ device app from a glance. How is this not considered "multitasking"?
I guess I'm wondering whether devices with "multitasking" (as in devices with the task switcher - e.g. Fenix 7) are really more functional than modern era devices without the task switcher (e.g. FR955). I guess the big difference is that device with "multitasking" support inactive and suspended states, but I wonder how much of an advantage that really is from the user's POV, if they don't have certain functionality they want. There's a lot of threads about how Fenix 7 devices will terminate CIQ apps that are recording an activity, when the user returns to the watchface. Users have noted that this was not the case in Fenix 6.
e.g. IQ bug: IQ activities/apps are aborted when switching back to the watch-face
I'm probably missing something here or making too many assumptions as per usuge. (I own an FR955 but not a Fenix 7).
