iOS Background Refresh

[leaverohanalone]

Why do apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Messenger not sync up in the background even though background refresh has been enabled. I have to manually open up these apps, only then do I get the notifications. Am I missing something?

P.S. I recently moved to iPhone 7 from Android.

EDIT : The problem has been solved. The real issue was that I had turned off my data during all this time. I did not realize that push notifications require a data connection even when connected to WiFi. Reason being, I just moved from Android, so I did not know.

Solution : Keep data ON at all times.

 

[KALLT]

Background app refresh is a specific function that lets the system wake up certain apps in the background, based on your activity. It does that by analysing your app usage, taking into consideration time of day, your network conditions and so forth. The idea is that it gives apps the opportunity to refresh their content when the system predicts that you will be using them soon, so as to reduce the waiting time and fetch updates more efficiently.

When or if this happens is unclear, that depends on your activity and the system’s capability of discerning a pattern.

 

[C DM]

Why do apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Messenger not sync up in the background even though background refresh has been enabled. I have to manually open up these apps, only then do I get the notifications. Am I missing something?

P.S. I recently moved to iPhone 7 from Android.

Notifications should be working separately from background refresh and don't really need it to be enabled. Are you not getting notifications for those apps until you actually open them?

 

[pacorob]

Notifications should be working separately from background refresh and don't really need it to be enabled. Are you not getting notifications for those apps until you actually open them?

I have seen that happening with messages I send over to my wife or vice versa. We both have the latest iOS version and this happened with WhatsApp (both use the latest version) and both own a iPhone 5s. Notification settings are on but sometimes not appearing with the other person although perfectly connect to WIFI and also have 3G as a backup as well. Bug in app or something else causing this problem?

 

[stooovie]

Doesn't work for me either. BAR is on, phone is NOT on low-power mode, notifications are enabled, Instant Sync is enabled for Pocket. It doesn't work for me in most if not all apps on two devices, for years now, even after clean installs. I've been in contact with Evernote and Pocket, but they don't know what's happening either.

 

[C DM]

Doesn't work for me either. BAR is on, phone is NOT on low-power mode, notifications are enabled, Instant Sync is enabled for Pocket. It doesn't work for me in most if not all apps on two devices, for years now, even after clean installs. I've been in contact with Evernote and Pocket, but they don't know what's happening either.

You aren't getting notifications from most apps?

 

[leaverohanalone]

Notifications should be working separately from background refresh and don't really need it to be enabled. Are you not getting notifications for those apps until you actually open them?

Yes. I dont get notifications until I manually open the apps. I have enabled everything I can see. Background refresh and notification alerts.

 

[Beelzbub]

I don't even use background refresh. I disabled it. Seemed to extend battery life, I've never had issues with notifications.

 

[C DM]

I don't even use background refresh. I disabled it. Seemed to extend battery life, I've never had issues with notifications.

Notifications and background refresh are basically separate things, at least as far as receiving notifications for something.

 

[steve62388]

Background app refresh is a specific function that lets the system wake up certain apps in the background, based on your activity. It does that by analysing your app usage, taking into consideration time of day, your network conditions and so forth. The idea is that it gives apps the opportunity to refresh their content when the system predicts that you will be using them soon, so as to reduce the waiting time and fetch updates more efficiently.

When or if this happens is unclear, that depends on your activity and the system’s capability of discerning a pattern.

This is very specific information I haven't heard before but is very interesting. Particularly the bits about taking into consideration the time of day, network conditions and predicting when you will be using the app. This developer article doesn't go into any detail about the features you mention:- https://developer.apple.com/library.../BackgroundExecution/BackgroundExecution.html

What's your source of information please?

 

[stooovie]

You aren't getting notifications from most apps?

I'm getting all notifications. They're not the issue at all. I'm not getting any Background App Refresh functionality.

 

[stooovie]

Notifications and background refresh are basically separate things, at least as far as receiving notifications for something.

Apps can use notifications to trigger refresh, so these functions are intertwined on surface but yes, they're two separate things.

 

[C DM]

This is very specific information I haven't heard before but is very interesting. Particularly the bits about taking into consideration the time of day, network conditions and predicting when you will be using the app. This developer article doesn't go into any detail about the features you mention:- https://developer.apple.com/library.../BackgroundExecution/BackgroundExecution.html

What's your source of information please?

Apple used to include that type of information on their own support page about multitasking, which has since been updated to have less "technical" information, but here's a version of it prior to that update that still has that kind of information: https://web.archive.org/web/20150912074949/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202070
[doublepost=1489619858][/doublepost]

I'm getting all notifications. They're not the issue at all. I'm not getting any Background App Refresh functionality.

Apps can use notifications to trigger refresh, so these functions are intertwined on surface but yes, they're two separate things.

It doesn't seem like notifications are at issue in your case. In the OP's case it seems like it's more notifications that are the issue rather than anything else.

 

[KALLT]

This is very specific information I haven't heard before but is very interesting. Particularly the bits about taking into consideration the time of day, network conditions and predicting when you will be using the app. This developer article doesn't go into any detail about the features you mention:- https://developer.apple.com/library.../BackgroundExecution/BackgroundExecution.html

What's your source of information please?

The iOS 7 keynote and in much greater detail at least one developer session from that year. These were the factors they specifically mentioned: how often you use the app and when you use the app (particular times a day). That is the basis for scheduling a fetch for a particular app. The system will also defer scheduling refreshes when data coverage or battery life is poor.

 

[leaverohanalone]

Apple used to include that type of information on their own support page about multitasking, which has since been updated to have less "technical" information, but here's a version of it prior to that update that still has that kind of information: https://web.archive.org/web/20150912074949/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202070
[doublepost=1489619858][/doublepost]

It doesn't seem like notifications are at issue in your case. In the OP's case it seems like it's more notifications that are the issue rather than anything else.

OK! An update now. Someone on quora suggested me to reset ALL SETTINGS. After that, my issue was kind of solved. I started getting all notifications. I was happy. But this stayed like this for only about 4 days. Now, today I again stopped receiving notifications just like I mentioned in my original post. So I resetted again, and yet again my issue has been fixed. Is this a software bug? Can't I get a permanent solution? Will the problems return again? And will I have to keep resetting? Its painful.

 

[stooovie]

It's probably some unfortunate condition of your settings, hardware, software and usage patterns, just like mine. Engineers from Apple, Pocket and Evernote support haven't been able to fix my issue.

 

[leaverohanalone]

It is very annoying. Since I spent a fortune to buy this phone expecting only perfection.

 

[C DM]

OK! An update now. Someone on quora suggested me to reset ALL SETTINGS. After that, my issue was kind of solved. I started getting all notifications. I was happy. But this stayed like this for only about 4 days. Now, today I again stopped receiving notifications just like I mentioned in my original post. So I resetted again, and yet again my issue has been fixed. Is this a software bug? Can't I get a permanent solution? Will the problems return again? And will I have to keep resetting? Its painful.

Sounds like something weird with your device/setup. You might want to restore completely. Best to do it without even any backup, but you can try with backup first to see if that works out.

 

[uandme72]

I am having issue of missing notifications in notification center for new mail on beta 7 since beta 1.
The notifications either dont appear in notification center, or if they appear they disappear whenever the mail app is opened or on their own after 2 minutes.
Problem is not resolved even after Reset All Settings.
Reported to apple around 20 days back, yet no resolution so far.

 

[gaanee]

I have noticed something similar with email apps. I have 3 email apps installed in addition to the stock mail app, and it shows notifications only for the app which is open in the background in multitasking, other emails apps don't show notifications, just the badge app counter. Next time if another email app is open, then it shows notifications and not the other ones. BAR is off for all the apps.
For some reason stock mail app doesn't show any notifications even if it's open and there is also a delay for badge app counter. That was one of the reasons to install other email apps for getting notifications.

Why do apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Messenger not sync up in the background even though background refresh has been enabled. I have to manually open up these apps, only then do I get the notifications. Am I missing something?

P.S. I recently moved to iPhone 7 from Android.