Controlling how long an app stays running in the background

[joflo723]

I know backgrounding apps (whether or not to closing them, etc) has been discussed, but what I'm wondering is if there is any way to keep an app running in the background, even after other apps that have been opened "push" it into automatically closing.

One of my apps, LocationMinder, uses GPS to alert you when you're near a certain pre-marked place on the map. It has to be running (either in the foreground or background) for it to work. I have had several occasions where I haven't opened the app in a few days, and other apps that I have opened in the meantime have caused the memory to fill up to the point that the app gets closed by the iOS. When this happens, I no longer get alerts from this app.

Is there any way to force an app to not close, aside from simply trying to remember to open it once or twice a day to keep it in the most recently used apps? Is this an iOS issue or an app issue?

 

[Kyotoma]

iOS isn't constructed to work this way. You could in theory have it working all of the time but that would mean your GPS chip being on constantly, which would be a huge blow to your battery life, as well as always take up memory, which would lower the overall performance of your iPhone.

So yes, in theory, if Apple rewrote the background API to work this way, it could work, but again, I'm not sure it's worth it.

 

[joflo723]

I see what you mean. This app that I use (LocationMinder) I really am only using until I am able to use this type of feature in Siri. I have high hopes that Apple will build this into Siri at some point, but if/when they do, won't the iOS have to support it at that point?

Now I wonder how functional these GPS-reliant apps really are if 1) they can only work properly if running in the background, but 2) running in the background destroys battery life. Can't really win can you?

 

[cmeisenzahl]

iOS isn't constructed to work this way. You could in theory have it working all of the time but that would mean your GPS chip being on constantly, which would be a huge blow to your battery life, as well as always take up memory, which would lower the overall performance of your iPhone.

So yes, in theory, if Apple rewrote the background API to work this way, it could work, but again, I'm not sure it's worth it.

Good points, all about trade-offs I guess.