Tons of apps do that. It’s a built-in, supported use-case!
It’s also the trivial, obvious approach to anyone who asks the question “how can I push data to the application when it’s not running.”
It’s also the trivial, obvious approach to anyone who asks the question “how can I push data to the application when it’s not running.”
No other app has updated its app state based on the content of notifications. Slack/Discord/Teams et al (the ones that aren't allowed on free messaging plans) will show you previously cached messages and then an infinite spinner when you open it. Fastmail/Gmail/Outlook et al will show you existing emails but not load the new ones.
Could other apps do this? Surely. Do they? No.
It’s a trivial, documented, supported, long-standing API for a common use-case. It is widely used, as documented, for its intended purpose.
I cannot share information about specific applications.
Do you genuinely believe it’s uncommon for applications to leverage this useful, trivial, long-standing platform API for its intended and explicitly documented purpose?
I can’t imagine why you’d believe that, but another commenter already provided the requested single example up-thread.
> I cannot share information about specific applications.
So you don't have an example of an app using such a basic and widespread feature? Ok.
You’re the one with an extraordinary claim here — that applications aren’t using such a basic, documented, widespread feature.
It’s patently silly and I have no idea why you’re so self-assured in your ignorance.
Background notifications can and do carry arbitrary application data, and are used to update the application state in the background.
This is their intended purpose, it’s what they’re documented to do, it’s how Apple intends them to be used, and it’s common application behavior.
This is literally a plainly documented feature of the platform. It’s not clever or unique or unusual — it’s a simple feature that Apple specifically documents.
I cannot even begin to fathom why people are confused about this, and it’s truly mind-boggling that this has required a thread at all.
Slack/Discord/Teams are non-native applications that do not leverage the platform’s support for updating application state via notifications. That does not mean the use of background notifications is unusual or rare. It is not.