Part of the app to be defined :background

Hi!

I have a general and a particular question regarding the background process

General question: Which parts of a an app have to be defined with :background? I know that it sounds quite general but if I want to trigger some funtions of my app (like updating my server information) in the background, do I need to define in the background the whole app or just the function that has to "keep running"?

Particular question: My idea is that I need each 5 hours to check if there is a change in my server with makeWebRequest and, if the answear is "true" to show a message with "A player is requesting you to play, Open the Battle Steps App to see it?". And use Background.requestApplicationWake is the answer is yes. Do I need to define the whole app in :background? the Application.AppBase, etc?

Does this type of background process consume a lot of battery?

Hope it is clear the question.

Thanks!

Top Replies

jim_m_58 over 2 years ago +1

You only want to use the background annotation for things you need in the background. The background has less memory than the main app.

Also, the background can run at most, every 5 minutes, for a max…

All Replies

jim_m_58 over 2 years ago

You only want to use the background annotation for things you need in the background. The background has less memory than the main app.

Also, the background can run at most, every 5 minutes, for a max of 30 seconds at a time. And then it might not run exactly when you expect. If you are running a different ciq device app, your background won't run until that app exits, for example.

Here's a thread about backgrounding https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/f/discussion/5287/very-simple-sample-of-a-watch-face-with-a-background-process

and something in the CIQ documentation:
https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/connect-iq-faq/how-do-i-create-a-connect-iq-background-service/#howdoicreateaconnectiqbackgroundservice

CCS over 2 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

Thanks Jim. As always you are really clear and hepfull.

Thanks!