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Comment by microtonal | Hacker News Reader

Not sure how this is worse than what Android or iPhone do. My apps are constantly chatting on the internet

I thought that what iOS apps can do in the background is fairly limited:

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/iP...

E.g., Dropbox can only synchronize the camera roll when you keep the app open or enable the location updates permission. Also, on iOS, you can disable cellular data for specific applications.

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This is exactly why you can't get a decent photo uploader on iOS to upload in the background. The existing ones either stop after a few because iOS puts it to sleep (or whatever the term is) or they have to use location services to stay awake longer, but that's a gross hack.

I get why Apple does this. I just wish they would let me choose to have an app run as a service. Being able to sync all my photos to NextCloud while running in the background (and not divulging my location) would be great.

Developers will abuse this ability and average iPhone will be filled with apps constantly uploading usage data and downloading meaningless updates, significantly reducing battery life and performance.

Apple should just have some kind of API for background uploads. I know, that API for background HTTP downloads exists.

No. There are many other cases where "background upload" isn't enough. Like Fitness Tracker apps, that want to sync your Tracker with iOS Health in the background. There must be a more general solution.

My Garmin sports watch syncs via Bluetooth and uploads to their website in the background. What more do they need beyond this for your application? Is there a particular limitation that it can't update Apple Health in the same background operation?

And it is why you get so much better battery life on the iPhone compared to an Android device.

I did say I get why they do it.

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