NEW YORK (AP) — Smartphones and tablets would be much more useful if they allowed us to multitask the way desktop and laptop computers do.

When I’m watching video, for instance, I have to pause it to read an email or text that comes in. When I’m composing a message to make plans, I have to leave the app to check the weather forecast. For the most part, I’m not able to do more than one thing at a time on a single screen.