With iOS 4.1.2 Apple introduced a new way of multitasking. Now you can run your favourite iPad and third-party apps, and switch between them instantly, without slowing down the performance of the foreground app or draining the battery unnecessarily.

With the new multitasking feature, if you leave and return to a supported app, the app remains in the same state as you left it. This is a convenient and time-saving feature eliminating the need to relaunch an app from scratch each time you return to it.

A great example of multitasking is listening to a radio app whilst surfing the web.

Note: Not all apps are enabled for true iPad multitasking.

Viewing Multitasking Apps

Each time you open an app on your iPad it now remains open. To view the Apps that are open and therefore multitasking double-click the Home button and the multitasking interface will pop up.

A menu will appear at the bottom of the screen showing the open apps. To view all the open apps simple swipe left and right on the menu.

Swiping to the left most multitasking screen will bring up a number of fixed controls. There is a button to lock the screen orientation, a slider to change the brightness of the screen, previous track, track play and track forward iPod controls, a volume slider and quick access to the iPod application.

To lock the screen orientation turn the iPad to either portrait or landscape and click the left most button. A padlock will appear in the centre of the button. The portrait orientation lock icon also appears in the status bar when the screen orientation is locked.

Quick App Access

When you double-click the Home button, the multitasking user interface pops up, giving you quick, one-tap access to your recently used apps. The most recently used apps will be shown first.

When you switch to a new app, it can pick up right where you left off. If you open an app that is still multitasking from the Home screen it will still open in the last state you left it in.

Closing Multitasking Apps

You may want to close multitasking apps for a number of reasons, for example, suppose an app is stuck at a certain screen or frozen.

The solution to this, is remove the app from the list of apps currently maintained for multitasking. To do this, double-click the Home button to bring up the multitask bar. Now tap-hold on the app you wish to close until it begins to wiggle. Finally, tap on the minus badge that appears in the upper-left of the app's icon. The next time you launch the app, it will launch from scratch.