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So Background App Refresh only works for apps in the multitask view, correct?

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DramaLLama

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 6, 2011
291
0
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4211

If you force an app to quit by dragging it up from the multitasking display, it won't be able to do its background activities, such as tracking location or responding to VoIP calls, until you relaunch the app.
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That quote right there is towards the middle/bottom of the page linked.

Is this correct or have you guys seen other activity on your phone? There are tons of different answers when I search the forums for this. So basically you can never force quit an app if you want to use background app refresh, right?
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,388
19,456
It's a bit of a debate amongst some from another recent thread about killing apps.
 
Gav2k

Gav2k

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
Background refresh is now separate from the multitask prerequisite.
 
djtech42

djtech42

macrumors 65816
Jun 23, 2012
1,446
56
Mason, OH
So just to confirm, it was changed in 7.1 to do background app refresh without the app "running" in the multitasking view?
 
luckydcxx

luckydcxx

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2013
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they really messed with all of this in the 7.1 update. All i know is that i have no apps running and my location services stay on for apps like camera.:(
 
B

blackNBUK

macrumors 6502a
Feb 19, 2010
606
34
UK
djtech42 said:
So just to confirm, it was changed in 7.1 to do background app refresh without the app "running" in the multitasking view?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about everything that background app refresh covers but they definitely made this change for background location and iBeacon notifications.

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luckydcxx said:
they really messed with all of this in the 7.1 update. All i know is that i have no apps running and my location services stay on for apps like camera.:(
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How long does locations services stay on after you exit the camera? If it's only a minute or so then I see that too. It's not something I worry about as the battery draw from that would be tiny.
 
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gaanee

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2011
1,421
226
I have background app refresh off for all the apps, just the main one on the top is on (though I haven't found good explanation for what it does if individual aps are off). Whenever I connect to the network, Whatsapp automatically checks and displays notification. So when I am using other apps, Whatsapp notification overlays on top of the current app. I have notification on for Whatsapp but I don't want it to check automatically unless I launch it. Is there any way to disable that?
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,388
19,456
gaanee said:
I have background app refresh off for all the apps, just the main one on the top is on (though I haven't found good explanation for what it does if individual aps are off). Whenever I connect to the network, Whatsapp automatically checks and displays notification. So when I am using other apps, Whatsapp notification overlays on top of the current app. I have notification on for Whatsapp but I don't want it to check automatically unless I launch it. Is there any way to disable that?
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Sounds like you are just talking about regular notifications? If so, you should be able to control those in notification center section of the settings.
 
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gaanee

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2011
1,421
226
C DM said:
Sounds like you are just talking about regular notifications? If so, you should be able to control those in notification center section of the settings.
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Its the banner notification.. but why and how does Whatsapp checks for messages when its not open. I always force quit it after reading, so what triggers it. I want it to stop it from constantly checking for new messages all the time, it should display notifications only when its open in multitasking view.
 
sunking101

sunking101

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2013
7,167
2,341
luckydcxx said:
they really messed with all of this in the 7.1 update. All i know is that i have no apps running and my location services stay on for apps like camera.:(
Click to expand...


Turn off compass calibration in privacy/location services/system services and your camera app will stop doing this.
It's true that we didn't have to do this prior to 7.1 and the coders must have been smoking crack. Safari page reloading and crashes aside, I *much* preferred 7.0.4
 
luckydcxx

luckydcxx

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2013
1,158
419
sunking101 said:
Turn off compass calibration in privacy/location services/system services and your camera app will stop doing this.
It's true that we didn't have to do this prior to 7.1 and the coders must have been smoking crack. Safari page reloading and crashes aside, I *much* preferred 7.0.4
Click to expand...

Thanks! I will try this
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,388
19,456
gaanee said:
Is there a way to stop it from pushing or even checking for new messages?
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Its how notifications work for any app basically and how they always worked way before iOS 7. This is separate and unrelated to multitasking or background refresh.

The best you can do is change the notification center settings and turn off banner notifications and the like so you wouldn't see the notifications for whatever app you are talking about.
 
sunking101

sunking101

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2013
7,167
2,341
C DM said:
Its how notifications work for any app basically and how they always worked way before iOS 7. This is separate and unrelated to multitasking or background refresh.

The best you can do is change the notification center settings and turn off banner notifications and the like so you wouldn't see the notifications for whatever app you are talking about.
Click to expand...
Yes, I only have badges on for Whatsapp. Minimal interference but it does show that some kind of a 'push' system is in place
 
BaldiMac

BaldiMac

macrumors 604
Jan 24, 2008
7,966
9,617
Back to the original topic, background refresh has nothing to do with whether or not an app is suspended or if it is in the recently used apps list (aka multitasking view).

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/releasenotes/General/WhatsNewIniOS/Articles/iOS7.html

Apps supporting either the fetch or remote-notification background modes may be launched or moved from the suspended to background state at appropriate times.

Emphasis mine.

More detail:
https://developer.apple.com/library....html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40007072-CH4-SW20

Fetching Small Amounts of Content Regularly

In iOS 7 and later, an app that retrieves content regularly from the network can ask the system for background execution time to check for new content. You enable support for background fetches from the Background modes section of the Capabilities tab in your Xcode project. (You can also enable this support by including the UIBackgroundModes key with the fetch value in your app’s Info.plist file.) At appropriate times, the system gives background execution time to the apps that support this background mode, launching the app directly into the background if needed. The app object calls the application:performFetchWithCompletionHandler: method of its app delegate to let you know when execution time is available.

When the application:performFetchWithCompletionHandler: method of your delegate is called, use that method to check for new content and to download that content if it is available. When your downloads are complete, execute the provided completion handler block, passing a result that indicates whether content was available. Executing this block tells the system that it can move your app back to the suspended state and evaluate its power usage. Apps that download small amounts of content quickly and accurately reflect when they had content to download are more likely to receive execution time in the future than apps that take longer to download their content.

When downloading any content, it is recommended that you use the NSURLSession class to initiate and manage your downloads. For information about how to use this class to manage upload and download tasks, see URL Loading System Programming Guide

Emphasis mine.
 
G

gaanee

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2011
1,421
226
C DM said:
Its how notifications work for any app basically and how they always worked way before iOS 7. This is separate and unrelated to multitasking or background refresh.

The best you can do is change the notification center settings and turn off banner notifications and the like so you wouldn't see the notifications for whatever app you are talking about.
Click to expand...

That will turn off notifications altogether, it should check and display only when its open in multitasking.
I see for Mail you can switch off push so that it doesn't constantly check and saves battery. Is there similar option for individual apps, how do you stop them from using Push?
 
luckydcxx

luckydcxx

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2013
1,158
419
sunking101 said:
Turn off compass calibration in privacy/location services/system services and your camera app will stop doing this.
It's true that we didn't have to do this prior to 7.1 and the coders must have been smoking crack. Safari page reloading and crashes aside, I *much* preferred 7.0.4
Click to expand...

You were on the right track, I've determined it was "frequent locations" that was constantly using my location services. Thanks!
 
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