Folding Forum

I know people have said that FAH has tried, but Apple doesn't want background running app so FAH didn't implement on the IOS system. But there is one distributing computing project currently running on the IOS device, it's called DreamLab. I run that occasionally on my iPhone. Does anyone know how they implement the software on the IOS device? Why can't FAH use the same method so in the future we can run FAH on our IOS device as well?

Junhano wrote:I know people have said that FAH has tried, but Apple doesn't want background running app so FAH didn't implement on the IOS system. But there is one distributing computing project currently running on the IOS device, it's called DreamLab. I run that occasionally on my iPhone. Does anyone know how they implement the software on the IOS device? Why can't FAH use the same method so in the future we can run FAH on our IOS device as well?

It all bogs down to manpower and resources to develop the software for iOS devices. Priorities must be set, to develop for platforms which will bring the most science back. Unless you have companies like Sony/Apple or MS dedicating some of the manpower to develop something for their platforms, there is no chance F@H developers and coder could create something for them.

Actually, half of it boils down to manpower and resources. the other half boils down to the suitability of the hardware to continuously process (mostly) FP32 operations.

1. Circuitry doing heavy computation generates a lot of heat and keeping it from overheating is a serious limitation.
2. Battery power is unsuitable unless you've got an automobile to carry the batteries around in.

(no, I'm not advertising for a company that builds electric cars.

FAH doesn't rest, it just keeps draining the batteries and turning it into heat without waiting for you to tell it to keep running.

Junhano wrote:Apple doesn't want background running app so FAH didn't implement on the IOS system. But there is one distributing computing project currently running on the IOS device, it's called DreamLab. I run that occasionally on my iPhone. Does anyone know how they implement the software on the IOS device?

DreamLab is designed to run exclusively in the foreground and is incapable of running in the background for the reasons you mentioned (Apple won't let apps run in the background). When you start a DreamLab session, it will only continue if you don't lock the device/turn off the screen, otherwise it goes to the background and gets suspended. When you leave the screen on, DreamLab darkens the screen but doesn't allow it to switch off so that it can keep on working - you end up with a black screen with a tiny silhouetted DreamLab logo in the center (and I don't run it on my iPhone for this reason - the logo never moves, so even though it's extremely dim, it will contribute to OLED screen burn-in eventually).
Also, testing on both my iPhone and iPad, they both just get a little warm running the DreamLab app and don't get hot at all. I don't think the app's developers are taking full advantage of Apple's hardware, as they should get quite hot if they were.

Anyway, FAH could technically do the same thing on iOS if the developers were happy to let it run with the same restrictions in place, although they'd also need to support Apple's Metal API to take advantage of the graphics compute in Apple's hardware, and that wouldn't be trivial at all...

AL0126 wrote:

Junhano wrote:Apple doesn't want background running app so FAH didn't implement on the IOS system. But there is one distributing computing project currently running on the IOS device, it's called DreamLab. I run that occasionally on my iPhone. Does anyone know how they implement the software on the IOS device?

Anyway, FAH could technically do the same thing on iOS if the developers were happy to let it run with the same restrictions in place, although they'd also need to support Apple's Metal API to take advantage of the graphics compute in Apple's hardware, and that wouldn't be trivial at all...

With the upcoming Apple Silicon might be good to try ... but it would be different code base compared to what is in place today so I guess I know the answer: limited resources.

I see this thread went dormant for a while, has any progress been made toward an iOS app, or Android? Would love to contribute as much processors as I can.

No change, and unlikely to change in that direction. There are a few third party monitoring apps for F@h available on iOS or Android.

If that ever changes, I'll download in a heartbeat!

bruce wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 7:03 am Actually, half of it boils down to manpower and resources. the other half boils down to the suitability of the hardware to continuously process (mostly) FP32 operations.

1. Circuitry doing heavy computation generates a lot of heat and keeping it from overheating is a serious limitation.
2. Battery power is unsuitable unless you've got an automobile to carry the batteries around in.

(no, I'm not advertising for a company that builds electric cars.

FAH doesn't rest, it just keeps draining the batteries and turning it into heat without waiting for you to tell it to keep running.

A passively colled device cannot overheating, it just keeps thermal throttling down to a very low speed, until it’s gotten as cool as it needs to. As for battery, some people leave laptops plugged in all the time, and never move them, and some replace their mobile devices so often, that they don’t even get to degrade the battery enough for them to even notice.

It’s not a discussion of it being practical, it’s about it being possible for the select few who want to use their mobile iOS devices this way, if time and money to develop wasn’t an issue. It’s like game developers saying that 120 fps support in their games would cause overheating and poor battery life, again, overheating isn’t possible, and once a user has bought the mobile device, they can use however they see fit. If they wanna drain the battery fast by playing AAA games at 120 fps, that’s their decision, and 120 fps doesn’t have to be on by default, only affecting the few users who enter settings menu, and actively turn it on, like BOINC or Folding@Home not even having to be available in the Apple app store, like Fortnite isn’t, but just downloaded from the web.

Do you realise that you are replying to a post from 2020 in a topic that didn't show any activity since 2022 ?

Joe's answer is not likely to change.

Joe_H wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 5:16 am No change, and unlikely to change in that direction. There are a few third party monitoring apps for F@h available on iOS or Android.