Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a task switching technology on a computing device such as a Smartphone. An application is comprised of one or more tasks. When a user requests that another task be executed, information about the previously executing task (e.g., including a screenshot) is preserved to a stack. If the user invokes a task switcher program, the user is presented with a view of the stack, e.g., containing the screenshots (and representative text) of the tasks that previously executed. The user may navigate among those presented task representations to arbitrarily select any one, with the selected task resumed upon selection.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: Background tasks are managed through background task settings that allow or prevent the execution of agents associated with mobile device applications in the background of a mobile computing device. Background task management can extend the battery life of a mobile device and can be done by a user, the mobile device or a combination thereof. Agents scheduled for execution by a mobile device are executed according to the background task settings associated with the application. Background task settings can be controlled via background task control panels. Background task settings can be set on a system-wide, application or background task basis. Disabled background tasks can be enabled when the application is next launched. A user can be invited to navigate to the background task control panels when various events occur such as the battery life dropping below a threshold or the current power consumption exceeding a threshold.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a technology by which background application code (e.g., provided by third-party developers) runs on a mobile device in a way that is constrained with respect to resource usage. A resource manager processes a resource reservation request for background code, to determine whether the requested resources meet constraint criteria for that type of background code. If the criteria are met and the resources are available, the resources are reserved, whereby the background code is ensured priority access to its reserved resources. As a result, a properly coded background application that executes within its constraints will not experience glitches or other problems (e.g., unexpected termination) and thereby provide a good user experience.

Abstract: Background tasks are managed through background task settings that allow or prevent the execution of agents associated with mobile device applications in the background of a mobile computing device. Background task management can extend the battery life of a mobile device and can be done by a user, the mobile device or a combination thereof. Agents scheduled for execution by a mobile device are executed according to the background task settings associated with the application. Background task settings can be controlled via background task control panels. Background task settings can be set on a system-wide, application or background task basis. Disabled background tasks can be enabled when the application is next launched. A user can be invited to navigate to the background task control panels when various events occur such as the battery life dropping below a threshold or the current power consumption exceeding a threshold.

Abstract: Background tasks are managed through background task settings that allow or prevent the execution of agents associated with mobile device applications in the background of a mobile computing device. Background task management can extend the battery life of a mobile device and can be done by a user, the mobile device or a combination thereof. Agents scheduled for execution by a mobile device are executed according to the background task settings associated with the application. Background task settings can be controlled via background task control panels. Background task settings can be set on a system-wide, application or background task basis. Disabled background tasks can be enabled when the application is next launched. A user can be invited to navigate to the background task control panels when various events occur such as the battery life dropping below a threshold or the current power consumption exceeding a threshold.

Abstract: The present application allows third party applications to have customizable entry pages. In one embodiment, an Application Programming Interface (API) is used by a locally executed application to store an application entry page and/or parameters in an application database to make the entry page of the application customized to the user. In another embodiment, an icon is automatically generated in response to the API storing the customizable entry page. In yet another embodiment, multiple icons can be used for multiple customizable entry pages of a single application.

Abstract: Background tasks are managed through background task settings that allow or prevent the execution of agents associated with mobile device applications in the background of a mobile computing device. Background task management can extend the battery life of a mobile device and can be done by a user, the mobile device or a combination thereof. Agents scheduled for execution by a mobile device are executed according to the background task settings associated with the application. Background task settings can be controlled via background task control panels. Background task settings can be set on a system-wide, application or background task basis. Disabled background tasks can be enabled when the application is next launched. A user can be invited to navigate to the background task control panels when various events occur such as the battery life dropping below a threshold or the current power consumption exceeding a threshold.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a background transfer service that provides platform-level support for third party applications to queue data transfers to run in the background, including when the application is not running in the foreground. Applications may thus perform downloading and uploading tasks in the background; however the background transfer service manages the data transfer requests so as to limit each background application's ability to interfere with foreground application operations, that is, by controlling resource usage according to one or more policies.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a technology in which a mobile device service plays background audio as instructed by a third party audio player application. The service continues to play background audio after the audio player application is deactivated from the foreground, e.g., as another application becomes the foreground application. Also described is launching agents to obtain additional information and/or to handle custom audio formats, and handling of user requests from a universal (system) volume control or the audio player application (when in the foreground).

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a technology by which background application code (e.g., provided by third-party developers) runs on a mobile device in a way that is constrained with respect to resource usage. A resource manager processes a resource reservation request for background code, to determine whether the requested resources meet constraint criteria for that type of background code. If the criteria are met and the resources are available, the resources are reserved, whereby the background code is ensured priority access to its reserved resources. As a result, a properly coded background application that executes within its constraints will not experience glitches or other problems (e.g., unexpected termination) and thereby provide a good user experience.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a task switching technology on a computing device such as a Smartphone. An application is comprised of one or more tasks. When a user requests that another task be executed, information about the previously executing task (e.g., including a screenshot) is preserved to a stack. If the user invokes a task switcher program, the user is presented with a view of the stack, e.g., containing the screenshots (and representative text) of the tasks that previously executed. The user may navigate among those presented task representations to arbitrarily select any one, with the selected task resumed upon selection.