those damned text messages

It causes one of those deep-in-the-pit-of-your-stomach, painful feelings every time it happens. You never expect it, yet there is nothing to be done about it.  That’s right – you got a text message on your iphone while using an app.  You are forced to make a decision:

1. Continue doing what you are doing and answer the text later (logical, but with my terrible memory, i won’t remember until i am in a sound sleep)
2. Answer the text immediately and lose what you’re doing in the app (once you switch to the messages app, you have to restart the app you were working on)
3. Stare at the text message dialogue box and freak out because you can’t possibly be expected to make a decision like that.

It seems simple, but Apple has done nothing about this. Here comes Dan Provost to save the day:

The proposed solution (demonstrated in the video below) has the messaging interface open up in the foreground when “Reply” is tapped, rather than exiting the app. It is my assertion that this task is light enough as to not cause any performance problems in terms of CPU, RAM, or battery.

He’s even got a video demonstrating the UI with a nifty Mad Men reference.