How To Enable MultiTasking Gestures On iPad With iOS 5

When iOS 5 will be released for all users this Fall, iPad 2 owners will get the Multitasking Gestures that debuted with iOS 4.3 beta which was seeded to developers. However, in iOS 5, the iPad 1 has been left out of the foray. No need to worry, as this tutorial will teach you exactly how you can enable multitasking gestures on your first generation iPad running iOS 5 beta 1.

Basically, Multitasking Gestures allow you to use five or four fingers to pinch for closing apps, swiping left or right to switch between apps, and swiping up to reveal the multitasking tray. In the final version of iOS 4.3, this feature was omitted for all compatible iOS devices and even then Multitasking Gestures could be enabled on iOS 4.3.x through a jailbreak.

So iPad 2 users will get Multitasking Gestures option in iOS 5, but Apple has left out iPad 1 users for reasons best know to them only. However, if you have installed iOS 5 beta 1 on your iPad 1 and want to enable Multitasking Gestures, simply follow the procedure we're documenting down below.

1. Download iOS 5 beta 1 for iPad 1and install it using iTunes 10.5 beta
2. Jailbreak iOS 5 beta 1 on iPad 1 using Redsn0w 0.9.8b1 for Mac. No Windows version out yet, please wait for it.
3. Either get iFile from Cydia or SSH into your device to edit the K848AP.plist file. Mac users can also use the TextWrangler.
4. Go to the following directory in the filesystem: /System/Library/CoreServices/Springboard.app, open the K848AP.plist file from there and add this: multitasking-gestures
5. Save the file.

You will now have the Multitasking Gestures option in the Settings.app under General. We don't know for sure why Apple hasn't decided to officially bring this functionality to the iPad 1, nevertheless, a jailbreak and a simple plist hack can enable iOS 5 Multitasking Gestures on your iPad 1.

[via]