Question

Quick question, I am working on an APNS enabled app and I just want to know if there is a way that when the app is not open (not in background) and the app receives a remote notification;

Can I open the app in the background, unbeknownst to the the user, and do do what needs to be done.

I have looked at the docs but it doesnt explicitly say that this can or cannot be done (from what I read), it says that the user has to open the app manually (either from tapping an alert or the app icon).

I think it is clear what I’m looking to do however i’ll put an example aswell.

Example)

The default Mail app alerts the user of new emails with a badge icon, showing the number of new emails, aswell as a sound. The user must then tap the app icon to open the app and download the new emails.

I want to be able to have the badge and sound but open the app in the background (silently) and download the new emails, so that when the user does get around to opening the app the emails will already be there, ready to read.

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

unfortunately, what you describe is not possible.

the only way you could get something like that is to build a voip app. see the relevant section in this document.

Implementing a VoIP Application
A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application allows the user to make phone calls using an Internet connection instead of the device’s cellular service. Such an application needs to maintain a persistent network connection to its associated service so that it can receive incoming calls and other relevant data. Rather than keep VoIP applications awake all the time, the system allows them to be suspended and provides facilities for monitoring their sockets for them. When incoming traffic is detected, the system wakes up the VoIP application and returns control of its sockets to it.

anyway, I doubt that your app would get into the App Store, then…