How To Enable Multi-Touch Multitasking Gestures On Your IPad For Free Using Just Your Mac
March 15, 2011
Less than a week has gone by since iOS 4.3 was released to the public. Most of the anticipated features made it into the update, however, some strictly remain closed off to developer's eyes only. Earlier today, Engadget released an article describing how easy it can be to enable the highly talked about multi-touch multitasking gestures on your iPad running iOS 4.3 without ever spending a dime.
Multitasking gestures are currently only available to developers for feedback and testing purposes. Apple is likely attempting to standardize things and make the experience the least clumsy as possible. A large concern right now is the fact that certain apps for the iPad already use numerous finger multi-touch capabilities for controls, which could make them difficult to use on an OS level.
The method to enable the gestures that Engadget describes isn't a hack or unauthorized modification. The trick involves using developer tools to unlock certain features that developers use during the application creation and testing process. How do you unlock these features? You use Apple's Xcode developer application to designate a device as being used for development purposes.
We tested this using Xcode 3.2.1, but I'm guessing anything above 3.0 or at least 3.1 should do it. My mid 2007 MacBook even includes Xcode 3.1. Since Xcode 3.2.6 is a free download anyway, albeit some time and effort required, it doesn't make much sense to gripe. If you didn't pick up on it by now, the Xcode tools are a Mac OS X only suite of programs.
There are three ways to get the Xcode installer. The first way is from your Mac OS X installation media or Mac personal computer restoration discs. Mac OS X install discs have the Xcode Tools installer under the Optional Installs folder, and the restore media seems to have it at the root directory. Another way is to download Xcode 3 at no cost by registering yourself as a developer for free using your Apple ID. Finally, Apple has made Xcode 4 available from the Mac App Store for $4.99, though It seems excessive if you just want the multitasking gestures.
With all of the disclaimers and preparation out of the way, it's time to get down to business. After getting Xcode installed on your Mac OS X computer, plug in your iPad as you would normally do to sync it with iTunes. Once the synchronization is complete, you need to launch Xcode. You can find Xcode in the Applications folder, within the Developer folder, on the root of your Mac's main hard disk drive (/Developer/Applications/Xcode).
If your iPad isn't automatically selected, single click on the name of your iPad under the Devices section in the left pane. Directly under your iDevice's information you should see a single button, "Use for Development." If, after you click on it, you get a prompt to sign up for a full developer account or to log into your current developer account, you can simply click Cancel. After a few moments, a listing of provisioning files and applications should appear in place of the Use for Development button.
That's it! You can now launch the Settings app on your iPad, go to the General section, and enable the Multitasking Gestures feature. This trick does work for other iDevices, but the gestures feature is only available on iPads as of now.