Background Tasks

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Request the system to launch your app in the background to run tasks using Background Tasks.

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Background Tasks Resources
General: Forums subtopic: App & System Services > Processes & Concurrency Forums tag: Background Tasks Background Tasks framework documentation UIApplication background tasks documentation ProcessInfo expiring activity documentation Using background tasks documentation for watchOS Performing long-running tasks on iOS and iPadOS documentation WWDC 2020 Session 10063 Background execution demystified — This is critical resource. Watch it! [1] WWDC 2022 Session 10142 Efficiency awaits: Background tasks in SwiftUI WWDC 2025 Session 227 Finish tasks in the background — This contains an excellent summary of the expected use cases for each of the background task types. iOS Background Execution Limits forums post UIApplication Background Task Notes forums post Testing and Debugging Code Running in the Background forums post Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" [1] Sadly the video is currently not available from Apple. I’ve left the link in place just in case it comes back.
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Nov ’25
BGTaskScheduler crashes on iOS 18.4
I've been seeing a high number of BGTaskScheduler related crashes, all of them coming from iOS 18.4. I've encountered this myself once on launch upon installing my app, but haven't been able to reproduce it since, even after doing multiple relaunches and reinstalls. Crash report attached at the bottom of this post. I am not even able to symbolicate the reports despite having the archive on my MacBook: Does anyone know if this is an iOS 18.4 bug or am I doing something wrong when scheduling the task? Below is my code for scheduling the background task on the view that appears when my app launches: .onChange(of: scenePhase) { newPhase in if newPhase == .active { #if !os(macOS) let request = BGAppRefreshTaskRequest(identifier: "notifications") request.earliestBeginDate = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .hour, value: 3, to: Date()) do { try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) Logger.notifications.log("Background task scheduled. Earliest begin date: \(request.earliestBeginDate?.description ?? "nil", privacy: .public)") } catch let error { // print("Scheduling Error \(error.localizedDescription)") Logger.notifications.error("Error scheduling background task: \(error.localizedDescription, privacy: .public)") } #endif ... } 2025-02-23_19-53-50.2294_+0000-876d2b8ec083447af883961da90398f00562f781.crash
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4.1k
Apr ’25
iOS Background Execution Limits
I regularly see questions, both here on the Apple Developer Forums and in my Day Job™ at DTS, that are caused by a fundamental misunderstanding of how background execution works on iOS. These come in many different variants, for example: How do I keep my app running continuously in the background? If I schedule a timer, how do I get it to fire when the screen is locked? How do I run code in the background every 15 minutes? How do I set up a network server that runs in the background? How can my app provide an IPC service to another one of my apps while it’s in the background? How can I resume my app in the background if it’s been ‘force quit’ by the user? The short answer to all of these is You can’t. iOS puts strict limits on background execution. Its default behaviour is to suspend your app shortly after the user has moved it to the background; this suspension prevents the process from running any code. There’s no general-purpose mechanism for: Running code continuously in the background Running code at some specific time in the background Running code periodically at a guaranteed interval Resuming in the background in response to a network or IPC request [1] However, iOS does provide a wide range of special-purpose mechanisms for accomplishing specific user goals. For example: If you’re building a music player, use the audio background mode to continue playing after the user has moved your app to the background. If you’re building a timer app, check out the AlarmKit framework. On older systems, use a local notification to notify the user when your timer has expired. If you’re building a video player app, use AVFoundation’s download support. Keep in mind that the above is just a short list of examples. There are many other special-purpose background execution mechanisms, so you should search the documentation for something appropriate to your needs. IMPORTANT Each of these mechanisms fulfils a specific purpose. Do not attempt to use them for some other purpose. Before using a background API, read clause 2.5.4 of the App Review Guidelines. Additionally, iOS provides some general-purpose mechanisms for background execution: To resume your app in the background in response to an event on your server, use a background notification (aka a ‘silent’ push). For more information, see Pushing background updates to your App. To request a small amount of background execution time to refresh your UI, use the BGAppRefreshTaskRequest class. To request extended background execution time, typically delivered overnight when the user is asleep, use the BGProcessingTaskRequest class. To continue user-visible work after the user has left your app, use the BGContinuedProcessingTask class. To prevent your app from being suspended for a short period of time so that you can complete some user task, use a UIApplication background task. For more information on this, see UIApplication Background Task Notes. To download or upload a large HTTP resource, use an URLSession background session. All of these mechanisms prevent you from abusing them to run arbitrary code in the background. As an example, consider the URLSession resume rate limiter. For more information about these limitations, and background execution in general, I strongly recommend that you watch WWDC 2020 Session 10063 Background execution demystified [2]. It’s an excellent resource. Specifically, this talk addresses a common misconception about the app refresh mechanism (BGAppRefreshTaskRequest and the older background fetch API). Folks assume that app refresh will provide regular background execution time. That’s not the case. The system applies a range of heuristics to decide which apps get app refresh time and when. This is a complex issue, one that I’m not going to try to summarise here, but the take-home message is that, if you expect that the app refresh mechanism will grant you background execution time, say, every 15 minutes, you’ll be disappointed. In fact, there are common scenarios where it won’t grant you any background execution time at all! Watch the talk for the details. [1] iOS 26 introduced support for general-purpose IPC, in the form of enhanced security helper extensions. However, these can only be invoked by the container app, and that means there’s no background execution benefit. [2] Sadly the video is currently not available from Apple. I’ve left the link in place just in case it comes back. When the user ‘force quits’ an app by swiping up in the multitasking UI, iOS interprets that to mean that the user doesn’t want the app running at all. So: If the app is running, iOS terminates it. iOS also sets a flag that prevents the app from being launched in the background. That flag gets cleared when the user next launches the app manually. This gesture is a clear statement of user intent; there’s no documented way for your app to override the user’s choice. Note In some circumstances iOS will not honour this flag. The exact cases where this happens are not documented and have changed over time. Finally, if you have questions about background execution that aren’t covered by the resources listed here, please open a new thread on the forums with the details. Put it in a reasonable subtopic and tag it appropriately for the technology you’re using; if nothing specific springs to mind, use Background Tasks. Also, make sure to include details about the specific problem you’re trying to solve because, when it comes to background execution, the devil really is in the details. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" Change history: 2026-01-09 Added a reference to AlarmKit. Added a reference to BGContinuedProcessingTask. Add a footnote about IPC and another one about WWDC 2020 Session 10063. Made other minor editorial changes. 2024-03-21 Added a discussion of ‘force quit’. 2023-05-11 Added a paragraph that explains a common misconception about the app refresh mechanism. Made other minor editorial changes. 2021-08-12 Added more entries to the common questions list, this time related to networking and IPC. Made minor editorial changes. 2021-07-26 Extended the statement about what’s not possible to include “running code periodically at a guaranteed interval”. 2021-07-22 First posted.
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28k
Jan ’26
In the context of Live Activity, when app is launched into background due to some callback, should you wrap your work with background tasks?
I'm specifically focused on Live Activity, but I think this is somewhat a general question. The app could get a few callbacks when: There's a new payload (start, update, end) There's a new token (start, update) There's some other lifecycle event (stale, dismissed) Assuming that the user didn't force kill the app, would the app get launched in all these scenarios? When OS launches the app for a reason, should we wrap our tasks with beginBackgroundTask or that's unnecessary if we're expecting our tasks to finish within 30 seconds? Or the OS may sometimes be under stress and give you far less time (example 3 seconds) and if you're in slow internet, then adding beginBackgroundTask may actually come in handy?
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Jan ’26
Does BGAppRefreshTask Run After a User Force-Quits the App? Seeking Official Clarification
I’m looking for an authoritative answer on how BGAppRefreshTask behaves after a user force-quits an app (swipes it away in the App Switcher). My app relies on early-morning background refresh to prepare and schedule notifications based on user-defined thresholds and weather forecasts. Behavior across devices seems inconsistent, however: sometimes a scheduled background refresh still runs, and other times it appears completely blocked. Apple’s documentation doesn’t clearly state what should happen, and developer discussions conflict. Could someone from Apple please clarify: Will a previously scheduled BGAppRefreshTask run after the user force-quits the app? If not, is there a recommended alternative for time-sensitive updates that must schedule user alerts? What is the expected system behavior regarding the predictability of background refresh after a force-quit? A definitive answer would help ensure the app aligns with intended system behavior. Thanks!
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Dec ’25
Stopping and Resuming Background Location Activity with CLLocationUpdates and CLBackgroundActivitySession
Hello, This is my first post in the forums, and I'm still learning my way with iOS Development and Swift. My apologies if the formatting is not correct, or If I'm making any mistakes. I'm currently trying to implement an iOS App where the device needs to share the location with my server via an API call. The use case is as follows: the server expects location updates to determine if a device is inside/outside a geofence. If the device is stationary, no locations need to be sent. If the device begins moving, regardless of whether the app is in foreground, background, or terminated, the app should resume posting locations to the server. I've decided to use the CLLocationUpdate.liveUpdates() stream, together with CLBackgroundActivitySession(). However, I have not been able to achieve the behavior successfully. My app either maintains the blue CLActivitySession indicator active, regardless of whether the phone is stationary or not, or kills the Indicator (and the background capability) and does not restore it when moving again. Below I've attached my latest code snippet (the indicator disappears and does not come back). // This method is called in the didFinishLaunchingWithOptions func startLocationUpdates(precise: Bool) { // Show the location permission pop up requestAuthorization() // Stop any previous sessions stopLocationUpdates() Task { do { // If we have the right authorization, we will launch the updates in the background // using CLBackgroundActivitySession if self.manager.authorizationStatus == .authorizedAlways { self.backgroundActivity = true } else { self.backgroundActivity = false self.backgroundSession?.invalidate() } // We will start collecting live location updates for try await update in CLLocationUpdate.liveUpdates() { // Handle deprecation let stationary = if #available(iOS 18.0, *) { update.stationary } else { update.isStationary } // If the update is identified as stationary, we will skip this update // and turn off background location updates if stationary { self.backgroundSession?.invalidate() continue } // if background activity is enabled, we restore the Background Activity Session if backgroundActivity == true { self.backgroundSession = CLBackgroundActivitySession() } guard let location = update.location else { continue } // Do POST with location to server } } catch { print("Could not start location updates") } } } I'm not sure why the code does not work as expected, and I believe I may be misunderstanding how the libraries Work. My understanding is that the liveUpdates stream is capable of emitting values, even if the app has gone to the background/terminated, thus why I'm trying to stop/resume the Background Activity using the "stationary" or "isStationary" attribute coming from the update. Is the behavior I'm trying to achieve possible? If so, I'm I using the right libraries for it? Is my implementation correct? And If not, what would be the recommended approach? Regards
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Dec ’25
Multipeer Connectivity support
Greetings.I have an app today that uses multipeer connectivity extensively. Currently, when the user switches away from the app, MPC disconnects the session(s) - this is by design apparently (per other feedback). I'd like to hear if anyone has experimented with iOS9 multitasking / multipeer and whether MPC sessions can stay alive?Thanks
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3.8k
Jan ’26
iOS 18.4 - HomeKit actions from AppIntent fail when triggered from Widget
Hi all, Since updating to iOS 18.4, I'm experiencing a regression with AppIntents triggered from Widgets. In my app, I use AppIntents inside a WidgetKit extension to control HomeKit devices. This setup was working perfectly up to iOS 18.3. However, starting with iOS 18.4, when the AppIntent is triggered from the widget and the main app is not running, the action fails with this error: Error Domain=HMErrorDomain Code=80 "Missing entitlement for API." UserInfo={ NSLocalizedFailureReason=Handler does not support background access, NSLocalizedDescription=Missing entitlement for API. } Interestingly, the exact same AppIntent works fine if the app is still alive in the background — it seems like the failure only occurs when the intent is handled by the widget process. This looks like a behavior change or new restriction introduced in iOS 18.4. Has anyone experienced the same? Is there a new entitlement needed, or a recommended workaround? Thanks in advance!
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462
Jun ’25
Behavior of BGContinuedProcessingTask on Failure
Hi there, First thanks for all the work on BGContinuedProcessingTask! It looks really promising. I have a question / issue around the behavior when a BGContinuedProcessingTask expires. Here is my setup. I have an app who's responsible for uploading large files in the field (AKA wifi is not expected) For a given file, it can likely fail due to network conditions I'm using Multipart upload though so I can retry a file to pick up where it left off. I use one taskIdentifier per file, and when the file fails, I can retry the task and have it continue where it left off (I am reusing the taskIdentifier here for retries, let me know if I shouldn't be doing that) Here is the behavior I am seeing I start an upload, it seems to be uploading normally I turn on airplane mode to simulate expiration of the task the task fails as expected after ~30 seconds, and I see the failure in my home screen. I have callbacks in the task to put my app in the proper state on expiration / failure I turn back on airplane mode and I retry the task, the way I do this is I do NOT re-register, I simply re-submit the task with the same TaskIdentifier. What I would have expected is that the failure task is REPLACED with the new task and new progress. Instead what I see is TWO ContinuedBackgroundProcessingTasks, one in the failure state and one in progress. My question is How can I make retries reuse the same task notification item? OR if that's not possible, how do I programmatically clear the task failure? I've tried cancelTask but that doesn't seem to clear it.
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Jan ’26
BGTaskScheduler Terminated due to memory issue
Hello everybody! I'm currently working on a Bluetooth Low Energy Sync that is using BGTaskScheduler & successfully running periodically in the Background on iOS 26. I did watch this years WWDC Session 227 (Finish tasks in the background) & follow the recommendations as suggested. Currently, the App is only using 37 Mb (iPhone 12 mini) & no Location or other services are running in Background. However, when opening Safari & scrolling through some webpages, the App is killed because of "Terminated due to memory issue". I profiled the App & followed advice when it comes to reducing the memory footprint of the App. Are there any additional steps I can take to prevent the App being killed? Are there any recommendations for periodically scheduled Tasks when it comes to the Interval? Do more frequent Tasks (30min compared to one or two hours) have any impact? I tried many different schedules but none seem to make a difference. From my observation, the App is first suspended & eventually killed because of the Memory Pressure. Any hints, suggestions or recommendations are highly appreciated! Thanks a lot for the support!
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Dec ’25
Unexpected CoreBluetooth background suspension without active location updates
I am implementing BLE scanning and connection using CoreBluetooth in a Flutter application with native iOS Swift code. BLE scanning and connection work correctly in the foreground and for a short time after the app is sent to the background. However, after some time in the background, BLE scanning stops and the device is no longer discovered. The app appears to be suspended by iOS. Key Observation: When location services are actively in use (navigation arrow visible in the iOS status bar), BLE scanning and reconnection work reliably in the background. When location services are not actively running, BLE scanning stops in the background even though the app has “Always Allow” location permission. Expected Result BLE scanning and connection should continue to function in the background using the Bluetooth LE background mode, without relying on active location updates. Actual Result BLE scanning starts successfully App enters background After some time, scanning stops Device is no longer discovered BLE works again only if location services are actively running BLE Connection Behavior One-time scan connects successfully to a BLE medical device App is sent to background Existing connection does not disconnect However, new scans or reconnections fail once the app is suspended Relevant Native iOS Code (AppDelegate) import Flutter import UIKit import CoreBluetooth @main @objc class AppDelegate: FlutterAppDelegate { private var backgroundTaskID: UIBackgroundTaskIdentifier = .invalid override func application( _ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? ) -> Bool { GeneratedPluginRegistrant.register(with: self) if let identifiers = launchOptions?[UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey.bluetoothCentrals] as? [String] { print("App relaunched for BLE state restoration: \(identifiers)") } NotificationCenter.default.addObserver( self, selector: #selector(appDidEnterBackground), name: UIApplication.didEnterBackgroundNotification, object: nil ) return super.application(application, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: launchOptions) } @objc private func appDidEnterBackground() { backgroundTaskID = UIApplication.shared.beginBackgroundTask { self.endBackgroundTask() } } private func endBackgroundTask() { if backgroundTaskID != .invalid { UIApplication.shared.endBackgroundTask(backgroundTaskID) backgroundTaskID = .invalid } } } Questions for DTS: Is it expected behavior that CoreBluetooth background scanning effectively stops once the app is suspended, even when the Bluetooth LE background mode is enabled? Why does BLE background scanning appear to work reliably only when location services are actively running? Is iOS internally associating BLE background execution with active location updates? For continuous BLE reconnection (medical device use case), is the recommended approach to rely solely on CoreBluetooth state restoration instead of continuous background scanning? Is it considered best practice to avoid long-running BLE scans in the background and instead wait for system-delivered BLE events? Additional Notes Issue is reproducible on real devices Not using private APIs or unsupported background execution methods Objective is to follow Apple-recommended, App Store–compliant behavior
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Feb ’26
SwiftData + CloudKit causes watchOS app termination during WKExtendedRuntimeSession (FB17685611)
Hi all, I’m encountering a consistent issue with SwiftData on watchOS when using CloudKit sync. After enabling: let config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, cloudKitDatabase: .automatic) …the app terminates ~30–60 seconds into a WKExtendedRuntimeSession. This happens specifically when: Always-On Display is OFF The iPhone is disconnected or in Airplane Mode The app is running in a WKExtendedRuntimeSession (e.g., used for meditation tracking) The Xcode logs show a warning: Background Task ("CoreData: CloudKit Setup"), was created over 30 seconds ago. In applications running in the background, this creates a risk of termination. It appears CloudKit sync setup is being triggered automatically and flagged by the system as an unmanaged long-running task, leading to termination. Workaround: Switching to: let config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, cloudKitDatabase: .none) …prevents the issue entirely — no background task warning, no crash. Feedback ID submitted: FB17685611 Just wanted to check if others have seen this behavior or found alternative solutions. It seems like something Apple may need to address in SwiftData’s CloudKit handling on watchOS.
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May ’25
Maximise background update on WatchOS
I'm looking to maximise my Watch app's widget to be as up to date as possible. If we imagined the app was a simple step counter, and we wanted to display the users count as up to date as possible. We can conclude: We don't care about widget timelines beyond the current entry as we can't predict the future! We need to refresh the count as often as possible The refresh should be very quick with a straightforward HealthKit query, no networking or heavy work needed. We will assume the user has the complication/widget on their active Watch face. With the standard WidgetKit APIs we can expire the timeline after 15 minutes and in my experimentation a Watch app can usually update its widget timeline at that frequency if it's on the Watch face. I'm experimenting with two methods to try and improve refreshes further A user's step count might not have recently changed when the timeline update is called. I was therefore looking into the HealthKit enableBackgroundDelivery API (which requires the HealthKit Background Delivery entitlement to be enabled) to get updates limited to once an hour from a HKObserverQuery, I can then call the WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines() from there. WatchOS also support the BGAppRefreshTaskRequest(identifier:"") and .backgroundTask(.appRefresh) APIs. I can request updates once every 15 minutes here too and then call the WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines(). With option 1, this update opportunity is great as it will specifically update when there's new steps so even once an hour this would be helpful (A real shame to be limited to once an hour even if this used up WidgetKit standard reload budgets: FB13879817, FB11677132, FB10016177). But I can't determine if this update takes away one of the standard timeline expiration updates that already run 4 times an hour? Could I observe additional Health types to get additional updates? Do I need the Background Modes Capability as well as the HealthKit Background Delivery for this in Xcode or just the HealthKit one? With option 2, I can't find a suitable option in the (short) list of supported background modes in Xcode. Does not selecting any mean my app will get 0 refreshes from this route and so should not be implemented in my use case?
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277
Jun ’25
Does BGAppRefreshTask require an internet connection?
Basically the title. I am trying to implement a local notification to trigger, regardless of internet connection, around 3-5pm if a certain array in the app is not empty to get the user to sync unsaved work with the cloud. I wanted to used the BGAppRefreshTask as I saw it was lightweight and quick for just posting a banner notification but after inspecting it in the console, it looks like it needs internet connection to trigger. Is this the case or am I doing something wrong? Should I be using the BGProcessingTask instead?
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109
Jul ’25
iOS blocks 100% notification for app in the background
I created my app. One of its functionality is receive remote notification in the background (it receives it from Firebase Cloud Messaging via APNS) and replies with device location data. This is "boat tracking and alarm" type of app. It worked well both on my iPhone (where I use the same Apple ID as on developer's account) and on my son's iPad (different Apple ID). After the first review, when app was rejected with some remarks, background remote notifications completely stopped working on my iPhone. It looks like my iPhone put the app in permanent sleep. It never receives the background notifications. It receives them though in 2 case: when I open the app (it is no longer in background) when location is changed (it wakes app in the background). But the app should also respond when the device is stable at the position (I use both: precise and Significant Location Change. In the latter case changes are very rare). Btw, I scheduled a background task, not location, and it also never gets executed, so this workaround does not work. I describe it, so any Apple engineer does not get confused, verifying that these remote notifications reach the device. NO, they never get through when app is in the background (THIS IS THE PROBLEM), not that they are never delivered (the are, in the foreground). And the proof that it is not a problem with the app or remote notification construction is: they work on another drives (iPad) with no issues. Sometimes they are very delayed, sometimes almost instant. But usually they work. they worked the same way on my iPhone (with my developer's Apple ID) before the first rejection, and I haven't messed with messaging functionality since then. Now I am over with the last hope I had. I finally got my app release in App Store. I hoped official version would release some blockade my iOS put on my app. But unfortunately not. Official version works the same way as the test one. It works fine (receiving notifications in the background) on my son's iPad and it does not receive any background notification on my iPhone (100% block rate). Can anyone help me how can I reset my apps limits, the iOS created for my app? It seems that the rejection was a sparkle here - this is just a hint. I can provide any system logs for Apple engineers from both devices (iPhone and iPad) if you would like to check this case.
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433
Sep ’25
[iOS 26 Beta] BGTaskScheduler.supportedResources incorrectly reports no GPU support for BGContinuedProcessingTask on capable hardware
Testing Environment: iOS: 26.0 Beta 7 Xcode: Beta 6 Description: We are implementing the new BGContinuedProcessingTask API introduced in iOS 26. We have followed the official documentation and WWDC session guidance to configure our project. The Background Modes (processing) and Background GPU Access capabilities have been added in Xcode. The com.apple.developer.background-tasks.continued-processing.gpu entitlement is present and set to in the .entitlements file. The provisioning profile details viewed within Xcode explicitly show that the "Background GPU Access" capability and the corresponding entitlement are included. Despite this correct configuration, when running the app on supported hardware (iPhone 16 Pro), a call to BGTaskScheduler.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) consistently returns false. This prevents us from setting request.requiredResources = .gpu. As a result, when the BGContinuedProcessingTask starts without the GPU resource flag, our internal Metal-based exporter attempts to access the GPU and is terminated by the system, throwing an IOGPUMetalError: Insufficient Permission (to submit GPU work from background). We have performed extensive debugging, including a full reset of the provisioning profile (removing/re-adding capabilities, toggling automatic signing, cleaning build folders, and reinstalling the app), but the issue persists. This strongly suggests a bug in the iOS 26 beta where the runtime is failing to correctly validate a valid entitlement. Additionally, we've observed inconsistent behavior across devices. On an A16-based iPad, the task submits successfully (BGTaskScheduler.submit does not throw an error), but the launch handler is never invoked by the system. On the iPhone 16 Pro, the handler is invoked, but we encounter the supportedResources issue described above. This leads us to ask for clarification on the exact hardware requirements for this feature. We hypothesize that it may be limited to devices that support Apple Intelligence (A17 Pro and newer). Could you please confirm this and provide official documentation on the device support criteria? Steps to Reproduce: Create a new Xcode project. In Signing & Capabilities, add "Background Modes" (with "Background processing" checked) and "Background GPU Access". Add a permitted identifier (e.g., "com.company.test.*") to BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers in Info.plist. In application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) or a ViewController's viewDidLoad, log the result of BGTaskScheduler.shared.supportedResources.contains(.gpu). Build and run on a physical, supported device (e.g., iPhone 16 Pro). Expected Results: The log should indicate that BGTaskScheduler.shared.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) returns true. Actual Results: The log shows that BGTaskScheduler.shared.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) returns false.
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811
Dec ’25
Private UIKit code causes a crash when the app moves to the background on iOS 26
After iOS 26 was released to the public and our build began rollout, we started seeing a strange crash affect users immediately after the app goes to the background. According to the symbolication provided in Xcode, this appears to be the result of a UICollectionView potentially related to the keyboard and a UIAlertController. I’m not sure how an error somewhere else can cause a crash in our app which does not use UIKit in the background. The feedback associated with this post is: FB20305833. I will attach a sample of the crash report in my next comment.
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270
Sep ’25
CallKit UI not invoked after receiving VoIP Push – app killed with NSInternalInconsistencyException
Our VoIP app receives PushKit notifications successfully (callservicesd Delivering 1 VoIP payload appears in logs). However, the app is consistently terminated by the system when running in the background or killed state. The crash is caused by iOS expecting a reportNewIncomingCall to CallKit, but the system reports: *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Killing app because it never posted an incoming call to the system after receiving a PushKit VoIP push.' *** Assertion failure in -[PKPushRegistry _terminateAppIfThereAreUnhandledVoIPPushes], PKPushRegistry.m:349 Key Observations: VoIP pushes arrive and are delivered to the app. In foreground, some methods work and CallKit UI sometimes appears. In background/killed state, app is always terminated before CallKit UI shows. Logs confirm the system requires CallKit to be reported immediately inside pushRegistry(_:didReceiveIncomingPushWith:for:completion:). Steps to Reproduce: Run the app with VoIP + CallKit integration. Put app in background (or kill it). Send a VoIP push. Observe system logs and crash: callservicesd: Delivering 1 VoIP payload(s) to application UrgiDoctor: Apps receiving VoIP pushes must post an incoming call via CallKit... error: Killing VoIP app because it failed to post an incoming call in time. Expected Behavior: On receiving a VoIP push, CallKit UI (Accept / Decline screen) should always appear. App should not be killed if reportNewIncomingCall is called in time. Actual Behavior: CallKit UI never appears in background/killed state. App is force-terminated by iOS before user can accept/decline the call. Request: Guidance on the correct sequence for calling reportNewIncomingCall and completionHandler() in pushRegistry. Clarification if any changes in iOS 17/18 affect PushKit + CallKit behavior. Best practices for ensuring CallKit UI always appears reliably after a VoIP push. Environment: iOS 18.5 Simulator + Device Xcode 16.4 Using PushKit + CallKit with VoIP entitlement
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Sep ’25
Background Tasks Resources
General: Forums subtopic: App & System Services > Processes & Concurrency Forums tag: Background Tasks Background Tasks framework documentation UIApplication background tasks documentation ProcessInfo expiring activity documentation Using background tasks documentation for watchOS Performing long-running tasks on iOS and iPadOS documentation WWDC 2020 Session 10063 Background execution demystified — This is critical resource. Watch it! [1] WWDC 2022 Session 10142 Efficiency awaits: Background tasks in SwiftUI WWDC 2025 Session 227 Finish tasks in the background — This contains an excellent summary of the expected use cases for each of the background task types. iOS Background Execution Limits forums post UIApplication Background Task Notes forums post Testing and Debugging Code Running in the Background forums post Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" [1] Sadly the video is currently not available from Apple. I’ve left the link in place just in case it comes back.
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4.2k
Activity
Nov ’25
BGTaskScheduler crashes on iOS 18.4
I've been seeing a high number of BGTaskScheduler related crashes, all of them coming from iOS 18.4. I've encountered this myself once on launch upon installing my app, but haven't been able to reproduce it since, even after doing multiple relaunches and reinstalls. Crash report attached at the bottom of this post. I am not even able to symbolicate the reports despite having the archive on my MacBook: Does anyone know if this is an iOS 18.4 bug or am I doing something wrong when scheduling the task? Below is my code for scheduling the background task on the view that appears when my app launches: .onChange(of: scenePhase) { newPhase in if newPhase == .active { #if !os(macOS) let request = BGAppRefreshTaskRequest(identifier: "notifications") request.earliestBeginDate = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .hour, value: 3, to: Date()) do { try BGTaskScheduler.shared.submit(request) Logger.notifications.log("Background task scheduled. Earliest begin date: \(request.earliestBeginDate?.description ?? "nil", privacy: .public)") } catch let error { // print("Scheduling Error \(error.localizedDescription)") Logger.notifications.error("Error scheduling background task: \(error.localizedDescription, privacy: .public)") } #endif ... } 2025-02-23_19-53-50.2294_+0000-876d2b8ec083447af883961da90398f00562f781.crash
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33
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4.1k
Activity
Apr ’25
iOS Background Execution Limits
I regularly see questions, both here on the Apple Developer Forums and in my Day Job™ at DTS, that are caused by a fundamental misunderstanding of how background execution works on iOS. These come in many different variants, for example: How do I keep my app running continuously in the background? If I schedule a timer, how do I get it to fire when the screen is locked? How do I run code in the background every 15 minutes? How do I set up a network server that runs in the background? How can my app provide an IPC service to another one of my apps while it’s in the background? How can I resume my app in the background if it’s been ‘force quit’ by the user? The short answer to all of these is You can’t. iOS puts strict limits on background execution. Its default behaviour is to suspend your app shortly after the user has moved it to the background; this suspension prevents the process from running any code. There’s no general-purpose mechanism for: Running code continuously in the background Running code at some specific time in the background Running code periodically at a guaranteed interval Resuming in the background in response to a network or IPC request [1] However, iOS does provide a wide range of special-purpose mechanisms for accomplishing specific user goals. For example: If you’re building a music player, use the audio background mode to continue playing after the user has moved your app to the background. If you’re building a timer app, check out the AlarmKit framework. On older systems, use a local notification to notify the user when your timer has expired. If you’re building a video player app, use AVFoundation’s download support. Keep in mind that the above is just a short list of examples. There are many other special-purpose background execution mechanisms, so you should search the documentation for something appropriate to your needs. IMPORTANT Each of these mechanisms fulfils a specific purpose. Do not attempt to use them for some other purpose. Before using a background API, read clause 2.5.4 of the App Review Guidelines. Additionally, iOS provides some general-purpose mechanisms for background execution: To resume your app in the background in response to an event on your server, use a background notification (aka a ‘silent’ push). For more information, see Pushing background updates to your App. To request a small amount of background execution time to refresh your UI, use the BGAppRefreshTaskRequest class. To request extended background execution time, typically delivered overnight when the user is asleep, use the BGProcessingTaskRequest class. To continue user-visible work after the user has left your app, use the BGContinuedProcessingTask class. To prevent your app from being suspended for a short period of time so that you can complete some user task, use a UIApplication background task. For more information on this, see UIApplication Background Task Notes. To download or upload a large HTTP resource, use an URLSession background session. All of these mechanisms prevent you from abusing them to run arbitrary code in the background. As an example, consider the URLSession resume rate limiter. For more information about these limitations, and background execution in general, I strongly recommend that you watch WWDC 2020 Session 10063 Background execution demystified [2]. It’s an excellent resource. Specifically, this talk addresses a common misconception about the app refresh mechanism (BGAppRefreshTaskRequest and the older background fetch API). Folks assume that app refresh will provide regular background execution time. That’s not the case. The system applies a range of heuristics to decide which apps get app refresh time and when. This is a complex issue, one that I’m not going to try to summarise here, but the take-home message is that, if you expect that the app refresh mechanism will grant you background execution time, say, every 15 minutes, you’ll be disappointed. In fact, there are common scenarios where it won’t grant you any background execution time at all! Watch the talk for the details. [1] iOS 26 introduced support for general-purpose IPC, in the form of enhanced security helper extensions. However, these can only be invoked by the container app, and that means there’s no background execution benefit. [2] Sadly the video is currently not available from Apple. I’ve left the link in place just in case it comes back. When the user ‘force quits’ an app by swiping up in the multitasking UI, iOS interprets that to mean that the user doesn’t want the app running at all. So: If the app is running, iOS terminates it. iOS also sets a flag that prevents the app from being launched in the background. That flag gets cleared when the user next launches the app manually. This gesture is a clear statement of user intent; there’s no documented way for your app to override the user’s choice. Note In some circumstances iOS will not honour this flag. The exact cases where this happens are not documented and have changed over time. Finally, if you have questions about background execution that aren’t covered by the resources listed here, please open a new thread on the forums with the details. Put it in a reasonable subtopic and tag it appropriately for the technology you’re using; if nothing specific springs to mind, use Background Tasks. Also, make sure to include details about the specific problem you’re trying to solve because, when it comes to background execution, the devil really is in the details. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" Change history: 2026-01-09 Added a reference to AlarmKit. Added a reference to BGContinuedProcessingTask. Add a footnote about IPC and another one about WWDC 2020 Session 10063. Made other minor editorial changes. 2024-03-21 Added a discussion of ‘force quit’. 2023-05-11 Added a paragraph that explains a common misconception about the app refresh mechanism. Made other minor editorial changes. 2021-08-12 Added more entries to the common questions list, this time related to networking and IPC. Made minor editorial changes. 2021-07-26 Extended the statement about what’s not possible to include “running code periodically at a guaranteed interval”. 2021-07-22 First posted.
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28k
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Jan ’26
In the context of Live Activity, when app is launched into background due to some callback, should you wrap your work with background tasks?
I'm specifically focused on Live Activity, but I think this is somewhat a general question. The app could get a few callbacks when: There's a new payload (start, update, end) There's a new token (start, update) There's some other lifecycle event (stale, dismissed) Assuming that the user didn't force kill the app, would the app get launched in all these scenarios? When OS launches the app for a reason, should we wrap our tasks with beginBackgroundTask or that's unnecessary if we're expecting our tasks to finish within 30 seconds? Or the OS may sometimes be under stress and give you far less time (example 3 seconds) and if you're in slow internet, then adding beginBackgroundTask may actually come in handy?
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2
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362
Activity
Jan ’26
Does BGAppRefreshTask Run After a User Force-Quits the App? Seeking Official Clarification
I’m looking for an authoritative answer on how BGAppRefreshTask behaves after a user force-quits an app (swipes it away in the App Switcher). My app relies on early-morning background refresh to prepare and schedule notifications based on user-defined thresholds and weather forecasts. Behavior across devices seems inconsistent, however: sometimes a scheduled background refresh still runs, and other times it appears completely blocked. Apple’s documentation doesn’t clearly state what should happen, and developer discussions conflict. Could someone from Apple please clarify: Will a previously scheduled BGAppRefreshTask run after the user force-quits the app? If not, is there a recommended alternative for time-sensitive updates that must schedule user alerts? What is the expected system behavior regarding the predictability of background refresh after a force-quit? A definitive answer would help ensure the app aligns with intended system behavior. Thanks!
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7
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453
Activity
Dec ’25
Stopping and Resuming Background Location Activity with CLLocationUpdates and CLBackgroundActivitySession
Hello, This is my first post in the forums, and I'm still learning my way with iOS Development and Swift. My apologies if the formatting is not correct, or If I'm making any mistakes. I'm currently trying to implement an iOS App where the device needs to share the location with my server via an API call. The use case is as follows: the server expects location updates to determine if a device is inside/outside a geofence. If the device is stationary, no locations need to be sent. If the device begins moving, regardless of whether the app is in foreground, background, or terminated, the app should resume posting locations to the server. I've decided to use the CLLocationUpdate.liveUpdates() stream, together with CLBackgroundActivitySession(). However, I have not been able to achieve the behavior successfully. My app either maintains the blue CLActivitySession indicator active, regardless of whether the phone is stationary or not, or kills the Indicator (and the background capability) and does not restore it when moving again. Below I've attached my latest code snippet (the indicator disappears and does not come back). // This method is called in the didFinishLaunchingWithOptions func startLocationUpdates(precise: Bool) { // Show the location permission pop up requestAuthorization() // Stop any previous sessions stopLocationUpdates() Task { do { // If we have the right authorization, we will launch the updates in the background // using CLBackgroundActivitySession if self.manager.authorizationStatus == .authorizedAlways { self.backgroundActivity = true } else { self.backgroundActivity = false self.backgroundSession?.invalidate() } // We will start collecting live location updates for try await update in CLLocationUpdate.liveUpdates() { // Handle deprecation let stationary = if #available(iOS 18.0, *) { update.stationary } else { update.isStationary } // If the update is identified as stationary, we will skip this update // and turn off background location updates if stationary { self.backgroundSession?.invalidate() continue } // if background activity is enabled, we restore the Background Activity Session if backgroundActivity == true { self.backgroundSession = CLBackgroundActivitySession() } guard let location = update.location else { continue } // Do POST with location to server } } catch { print("Could not start location updates") } } } I'm not sure why the code does not work as expected, and I believe I may be misunderstanding how the libraries Work. My understanding is that the liveUpdates stream is capable of emitting values, even if the app has gone to the background/terminated, thus why I'm trying to stop/resume the Background Activity using the "stationary" or "isStationary" attribute coming from the update. Is the behavior I'm trying to achieve possible? If so, I'm I using the right libraries for it? Is my implementation correct? And If not, what would be the recommended approach? Regards
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191
Activity
Dec ’25
Multipeer Connectivity support
Greetings.I have an app today that uses multipeer connectivity extensively. Currently, when the user switches away from the app, MPC disconnects the session(s) - this is by design apparently (per other feedback). I'd like to hear if anyone has experimented with iOS9 multitasking / multipeer and whether MPC sessions can stay alive?Thanks
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6
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3.8k
Activity
Jan ’26
iOS 18.4 - HomeKit actions from AppIntent fail when triggered from Widget
Hi all, Since updating to iOS 18.4, I'm experiencing a regression with AppIntents triggered from Widgets. In my app, I use AppIntents inside a WidgetKit extension to control HomeKit devices. This setup was working perfectly up to iOS 18.3. However, starting with iOS 18.4, when the AppIntent is triggered from the widget and the main app is not running, the action fails with this error: Error Domain=HMErrorDomain Code=80 "Missing entitlement for API." UserInfo={ NSLocalizedFailureReason=Handler does not support background access, NSLocalizedDescription=Missing entitlement for API. } Interestingly, the exact same AppIntent works fine if the app is still alive in the background — it seems like the failure only occurs when the intent is handled by the widget process. This looks like a behavior change or new restriction introduced in iOS 18.4. Has anyone experienced the same? Is there a new entitlement needed, or a recommended workaround? Thanks in advance!
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3
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2
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462
Activity
Jun ’25
BGContinuedProcessingTask GPU Access
We added the com.apple.developer.background-tasks.continued-processing.gpu key to the entitlement file and set it to true, but BGTaskScheduler.supportedResources does not include gpu. How can we configure it to obtain permission for GPU access in the background? Test device: iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26 release version.
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2
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1
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306
Activity
Sep ’25
Background fetch when app is forced quit
Currently I am trying to find a work around to fetch data from server and update user defaults when app is forced quit. Can anyone suggest for this ?
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6
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0
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684
Activity
Jan ’26
Behavior of BGContinuedProcessingTask on Failure
Hi there, First thanks for all the work on BGContinuedProcessingTask! It looks really promising. I have a question / issue around the behavior when a BGContinuedProcessingTask expires. Here is my setup. I have an app who's responsible for uploading large files in the field (AKA wifi is not expected) For a given file, it can likely fail due to network conditions I'm using Multipart upload though so I can retry a file to pick up where it left off. I use one taskIdentifier per file, and when the file fails, I can retry the task and have it continue where it left off (I am reusing the taskIdentifier here for retries, let me know if I shouldn't be doing that) Here is the behavior I am seeing I start an upload, it seems to be uploading normally I turn on airplane mode to simulate expiration of the task the task fails as expected after ~30 seconds, and I see the failure in my home screen. I have callbacks in the task to put my app in the proper state on expiration / failure I turn back on airplane mode and I retry the task, the way I do this is I do NOT re-register, I simply re-submit the task with the same TaskIdentifier. What I would have expected is that the failure task is REPLACED with the new task and new progress. Instead what I see is TWO ContinuedBackgroundProcessingTasks, one in the failure state and one in progress. My question is How can I make retries reuse the same task notification item? OR if that's not possible, how do I programmatically clear the task failure? I've tried cancelTask but that doesn't seem to clear it.
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8
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658
Activity
Jan ’26
BGTaskScheduler Terminated due to memory issue
Hello everybody! I'm currently working on a Bluetooth Low Energy Sync that is using BGTaskScheduler & successfully running periodically in the Background on iOS 26. I did watch this years WWDC Session 227 (Finish tasks in the background) & follow the recommendations as suggested. Currently, the App is only using 37 Mb (iPhone 12 mini) & no Location or other services are running in Background. However, when opening Safari & scrolling through some webpages, the App is killed because of "Terminated due to memory issue". I profiled the App & followed advice when it comes to reducing the memory footprint of the App. Are there any additional steps I can take to prevent the App being killed? Are there any recommendations for periodically scheduled Tasks when it comes to the Interval? Do more frequent Tasks (30min compared to one or two hours) have any impact? I tried many different schedules but none seem to make a difference. From my observation, the App is first suspended & eventually killed because of the Memory Pressure. Any hints, suggestions or recommendations are highly appreciated! Thanks a lot for the support!
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6
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263
Activity
Dec ’25
Unexpected CoreBluetooth background suspension without active location updates
I am implementing BLE scanning and connection using CoreBluetooth in a Flutter application with native iOS Swift code. BLE scanning and connection work correctly in the foreground and for a short time after the app is sent to the background. However, after some time in the background, BLE scanning stops and the device is no longer discovered. The app appears to be suspended by iOS. Key Observation: When location services are actively in use (navigation arrow visible in the iOS status bar), BLE scanning and reconnection work reliably in the background. When location services are not actively running, BLE scanning stops in the background even though the app has “Always Allow” location permission. Expected Result BLE scanning and connection should continue to function in the background using the Bluetooth LE background mode, without relying on active location updates. Actual Result BLE scanning starts successfully App enters background After some time, scanning stops Device is no longer discovered BLE works again only if location services are actively running BLE Connection Behavior One-time scan connects successfully to a BLE medical device App is sent to background Existing connection does not disconnect However, new scans or reconnections fail once the app is suspended Relevant Native iOS Code (AppDelegate) import Flutter import UIKit import CoreBluetooth @main @objc class AppDelegate: FlutterAppDelegate { private var backgroundTaskID: UIBackgroundTaskIdentifier = .invalid override func application( _ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? ) -> Bool { GeneratedPluginRegistrant.register(with: self) if let identifiers = launchOptions?[UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey.bluetoothCentrals] as? [String] { print("App relaunched for BLE state restoration: \(identifiers)") } NotificationCenter.default.addObserver( self, selector: #selector(appDidEnterBackground), name: UIApplication.didEnterBackgroundNotification, object: nil ) return super.application(application, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: launchOptions) } @objc private func appDidEnterBackground() { backgroundTaskID = UIApplication.shared.beginBackgroundTask { self.endBackgroundTask() } } private func endBackgroundTask() { if backgroundTaskID != .invalid { UIApplication.shared.endBackgroundTask(backgroundTaskID) backgroundTaskID = .invalid } } } Questions for DTS: Is it expected behavior that CoreBluetooth background scanning effectively stops once the app is suspended, even when the Bluetooth LE background mode is enabled? Why does BLE background scanning appear to work reliably only when location services are actively running? Is iOS internally associating BLE background execution with active location updates? For continuous BLE reconnection (medical device use case), is the recommended approach to rely solely on CoreBluetooth state restoration instead of continuous background scanning? Is it considered best practice to avoid long-running BLE scans in the background and instead wait for system-delivered BLE events? Additional Notes Issue is reproducible on real devices Not using private APIs or unsupported background execution methods Objective is to follow Apple-recommended, App Store–compliant behavior
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506
Activity
Feb ’26
SwiftData + CloudKit causes watchOS app termination during WKExtendedRuntimeSession (FB17685611)
Hi all, I’m encountering a consistent issue with SwiftData on watchOS when using CloudKit sync. After enabling: let config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, cloudKitDatabase: .automatic) …the app terminates ~30–60 seconds into a WKExtendedRuntimeSession. This happens specifically when: Always-On Display is OFF The iPhone is disconnected or in Airplane Mode The app is running in a WKExtendedRuntimeSession (e.g., used for meditation tracking) The Xcode logs show a warning: Background Task ("CoreData: CloudKit Setup"), was created over 30 seconds ago. In applications running in the background, this creates a risk of termination. It appears CloudKit sync setup is being triggered automatically and flagged by the system as an unmanaged long-running task, leading to termination. Workaround: Switching to: let config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, cloudKitDatabase: .none) …prevents the issue entirely — no background task warning, no crash. Feedback ID submitted: FB17685611 Just wanted to check if others have seen this behavior or found alternative solutions. It seems like something Apple may need to address in SwiftData’s CloudKit handling on watchOS.
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1
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1
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276
Activity
May ’25
Maximise background update on WatchOS
I'm looking to maximise my Watch app's widget to be as up to date as possible. If we imagined the app was a simple step counter, and we wanted to display the users count as up to date as possible. We can conclude: We don't care about widget timelines beyond the current entry as we can't predict the future! We need to refresh the count as often as possible The refresh should be very quick with a straightforward HealthKit query, no networking or heavy work needed. We will assume the user has the complication/widget on their active Watch face. With the standard WidgetKit APIs we can expire the timeline after 15 minutes and in my experimentation a Watch app can usually update its widget timeline at that frequency if it's on the Watch face. I'm experimenting with two methods to try and improve refreshes further A user's step count might not have recently changed when the timeline update is called. I was therefore looking into the HealthKit enableBackgroundDelivery API (which requires the HealthKit Background Delivery entitlement to be enabled) to get updates limited to once an hour from a HKObserverQuery, I can then call the WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines() from there. WatchOS also support the BGAppRefreshTaskRequest(identifier:"") and .backgroundTask(.appRefresh) APIs. I can request updates once every 15 minutes here too and then call the WidgetCenter.shared.reloadAllTimelines(). With option 1, this update opportunity is great as it will specifically update when there's new steps so even once an hour this would be helpful (A real shame to be limited to once an hour even if this used up WidgetKit standard reload budgets: FB13879817, FB11677132, FB10016177). But I can't determine if this update takes away one of the standard timeline expiration updates that already run 4 times an hour? Could I observe additional Health types to get additional updates? Do I need the Background Modes Capability as well as the HealthKit Background Delivery for this in Xcode or just the HealthKit one? With option 2, I can't find a suitable option in the (short) list of supported background modes in Xcode. Does not selecting any mean my app will get 0 refreshes from this route and so should not be implemented in my use case?
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3
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277
Activity
Jun ’25
Does BGAppRefreshTask require an internet connection?
Basically the title. I am trying to implement a local notification to trigger, regardless of internet connection, around 3-5pm if a certain array in the app is not empty to get the user to sync unsaved work with the cloud. I wanted to used the BGAppRefreshTask as I saw it was lightweight and quick for just posting a banner notification but after inspecting it in the console, it looks like it needs internet connection to trigger. Is this the case or am I doing something wrong? Should I be using the BGProcessingTask instead?
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109
Activity
Jul ’25
iOS blocks 100% notification for app in the background
I created my app. One of its functionality is receive remote notification in the background (it receives it from Firebase Cloud Messaging via APNS) and replies with device location data. This is "boat tracking and alarm" type of app. It worked well both on my iPhone (where I use the same Apple ID as on developer's account) and on my son's iPad (different Apple ID). After the first review, when app was rejected with some remarks, background remote notifications completely stopped working on my iPhone. It looks like my iPhone put the app in permanent sleep. It never receives the background notifications. It receives them though in 2 case: when I open the app (it is no longer in background) when location is changed (it wakes app in the background). But the app should also respond when the device is stable at the position (I use both: precise and Significant Location Change. In the latter case changes are very rare). Btw, I scheduled a background task, not location, and it also never gets executed, so this workaround does not work. I describe it, so any Apple engineer does not get confused, verifying that these remote notifications reach the device. NO, they never get through when app is in the background (THIS IS THE PROBLEM), not that they are never delivered (the are, in the foreground). And the proof that it is not a problem with the app or remote notification construction is: they work on another drives (iPad) with no issues. Sometimes they are very delayed, sometimes almost instant. But usually they work. they worked the same way on my iPhone (with my developer's Apple ID) before the first rejection, and I haven't messed with messaging functionality since then. Now I am over with the last hope I had. I finally got my app release in App Store. I hoped official version would release some blockade my iOS put on my app. But unfortunately not. Official version works the same way as the test one. It works fine (receiving notifications in the background) on my son's iPad and it does not receive any background notification on my iPhone (100% block rate). Can anyone help me how can I reset my apps limits, the iOS created for my app? It seems that the rejection was a sparkle here - this is just a hint. I can provide any system logs for Apple engineers from both devices (iPhone and iPad) if you would like to check this case.
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5
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433
Activity
Sep ’25
[iOS 26 Beta] BGTaskScheduler.supportedResources incorrectly reports no GPU support for BGContinuedProcessingTask on capable hardware
Testing Environment: iOS: 26.0 Beta 7 Xcode: Beta 6 Description: We are implementing the new BGContinuedProcessingTask API introduced in iOS 26. We have followed the official documentation and WWDC session guidance to configure our project. The Background Modes (processing) and Background GPU Access capabilities have been added in Xcode. The com.apple.developer.background-tasks.continued-processing.gpu entitlement is present and set to in the .entitlements file. The provisioning profile details viewed within Xcode explicitly show that the "Background GPU Access" capability and the corresponding entitlement are included. Despite this correct configuration, when running the app on supported hardware (iPhone 16 Pro), a call to BGTaskScheduler.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) consistently returns false. This prevents us from setting request.requiredResources = .gpu. As a result, when the BGContinuedProcessingTask starts without the GPU resource flag, our internal Metal-based exporter attempts to access the GPU and is terminated by the system, throwing an IOGPUMetalError: Insufficient Permission (to submit GPU work from background). We have performed extensive debugging, including a full reset of the provisioning profile (removing/re-adding capabilities, toggling automatic signing, cleaning build folders, and reinstalling the app), but the issue persists. This strongly suggests a bug in the iOS 26 beta where the runtime is failing to correctly validate a valid entitlement. Additionally, we've observed inconsistent behavior across devices. On an A16-based iPad, the task submits successfully (BGTaskScheduler.submit does not throw an error), but the launch handler is never invoked by the system. On the iPhone 16 Pro, the handler is invoked, but we encounter the supportedResources issue described above. This leads us to ask for clarification on the exact hardware requirements for this feature. We hypothesize that it may be limited to devices that support Apple Intelligence (A17 Pro and newer). Could you please confirm this and provide official documentation on the device support criteria? Steps to Reproduce: Create a new Xcode project. In Signing & Capabilities, add "Background Modes" (with "Background processing" checked) and "Background GPU Access". Add a permitted identifier (e.g., "com.company.test.*") to BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers in Info.plist. In application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) or a ViewController's viewDidLoad, log the result of BGTaskScheduler.shared.supportedResources.contains(.gpu). Build and run on a physical, supported device (e.g., iPhone 16 Pro). Expected Results: The log should indicate that BGTaskScheduler.shared.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) returns true. Actual Results: The log shows that BGTaskScheduler.shared.supportedResources.contains(.gpu) returns false.
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811
Activity
Dec ’25
Private UIKit code causes a crash when the app moves to the background on iOS 26
After iOS 26 was released to the public and our build began rollout, we started seeing a strange crash affect users immediately after the app goes to the background. According to the symbolication provided in Xcode, this appears to be the result of a UICollectionView potentially related to the keyboard and a UIAlertController. I’m not sure how an error somewhere else can cause a crash in our app which does not use UIKit in the background. The feedback associated with this post is: FB20305833. I will attach a sample of the crash report in my next comment.
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5
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270
Activity
Sep ’25
CallKit UI not invoked after receiving VoIP Push – app killed with NSInternalInconsistencyException
Our VoIP app receives PushKit notifications successfully (callservicesd Delivering 1 VoIP payload appears in logs). However, the app is consistently terminated by the system when running in the background or killed state. The crash is caused by iOS expecting a reportNewIncomingCall to CallKit, but the system reports: *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Killing app because it never posted an incoming call to the system after receiving a PushKit VoIP push.' *** Assertion failure in -[PKPushRegistry _terminateAppIfThereAreUnhandledVoIPPushes], PKPushRegistry.m:349 Key Observations: VoIP pushes arrive and are delivered to the app. In foreground, some methods work and CallKit UI sometimes appears. In background/killed state, app is always terminated before CallKit UI shows. Logs confirm the system requires CallKit to be reported immediately inside pushRegistry(_:didReceiveIncomingPushWith:for:completion:). Steps to Reproduce: Run the app with VoIP + CallKit integration. Put app in background (or kill it). Send a VoIP push. Observe system logs and crash: callservicesd: Delivering 1 VoIP payload(s) to application UrgiDoctor: Apps receiving VoIP pushes must post an incoming call via CallKit... error: Killing VoIP app because it failed to post an incoming call in time. Expected Behavior: On receiving a VoIP push, CallKit UI (Accept / Decline screen) should always appear. App should not be killed if reportNewIncomingCall is called in time. Actual Behavior: CallKit UI never appears in background/killed state. App is force-terminated by iOS before user can accept/decline the call. Request: Guidance on the correct sequence for calling reportNewIncomingCall and completionHandler() in pushRegistry. Clarification if any changes in iOS 17/18 affect PushKit + CallKit behavior. Best practices for ensuring CallKit UI always appears reliably after a VoIP push. Environment: iOS 18.5 Simulator + Device Xcode 16.4 Using PushKit + CallKit with VoIP entitlement
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208
Activity
Sep ’25
iPhone17 bluetooth background scanning issue
Recently, I've noticed that background Bluetooth scanning stops when I move an app to the background on an iPhone 17 device with Bluetooth 6. I'm curious about a solution. Background Bluetooth scanning doesn't stop on devices older than iOS 26, or on devices that were updated from an iPhone 17 or earlier to iOS 26.
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10
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640
Activity
Feb ’26