What does background app refresh actually do and why should I use it/not use it?
In: Technology
Many apps need to be able to access the internet to work properly. When these apps connect to the internet is up to you because connecting to the internet uses battery life, might cost money if you have data limits, and might involve private information like your location. Using “background app refresh” allows the app to get new information from the internet even when you are not using the app. This might be handy for a weather app. The weather app can get storm warnings and send you alerts about them, even when you aren’t using the weather app. On the other hand, this might not be valuable to you for apps you don’t use for getting valuable information, such as a calculator or game, or apps that send you ads all day long.
It lets your apps go online and fetch data while you’re not using them. This lets your mail app (for example) already have your new emails waiting for you when you open it. If you want it to give you notifications when you’re not actively looking at the app, you need this on so it can check for emails and actually know when you get an email.
For other apps, you may want to turn it off. This could be a waste of data, battery, or even a privacy issue if an app like a game which shouldn’t really need to check in online constantly is allowed to do so.
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