Background Processing

Register, schedule, and execute background tasks on iOS using BackgroundTasks (BGTaskScheduler), background URLSession, and background push notifications. Targets Swift 6.3 / iOS 26+.

Contents

• Capabilities and Configuration
• Task Selection Matrix
• Core Lifecycle Rules
• Route by Task
• Common Mistakes
• Review Checklist
• References

Capabilities and Configuration

Every task identifier must be declared in Info.plist under BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers, or submit(_:) throws BGTaskScheduler.Error.Code.notPermitted.

<key>BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers</key>
<array>
    <string>com.example.app.refresh</string>
    <string>com.example.app.db-cleanup</string>
    <string>com.example.app.export.*</string>
</array>
<key>UIBackgroundModes</key>
<array>
    <string>fetch</string>       <!-- Required for BGAppRefreshTask -->
    <string>processing</string>  <!-- Required for BGProcessingTask -->
    <string>remote-notification</string> <!-- Required for silent push -->
</array>

In Xcode: Target > Signing & Capabilities > Background Modes > enable Background fetch, Background processing, or Remote notifications.

Task Selection Matrix

Core Lifecycle Rules

1. Register before launch finishes: Register all handlers in application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) (UIKit) or App.init() (SwiftUI). Submitting an unregistered identifier throws runtime exceptions.
2. Re-schedule inside handler: Immediately schedule the next iteration at the beginning of the execution handler so scheduling survives app crashes or task timeouts.
3. Always set expirationHandler: The system can revoke background execution time at any moment. The expiration handler must cancel active tasks and call setTaskCompleted(success: false).
4. Call setTaskCompleted(success:) exactly once: Failing to call completion causes the system to penalize future execution allocations.
5. Treat earliestBeginDate as a lower bound: iOS determines actual launch time based on battery status, power state, and user interaction patterns.

Route by Task

• For full registration code, canonical handlers, and checkpointing, read Canonical Registration and Handlers.
• For simulating task launches with LLDB (_simulateLaunchForTaskWithIdentifier:), read Debugging Background Tasks.
• For background downloads, uploads, and handling app relaunch in handleEventsForBackgroundURLSession, read Background URLSession Extended Patterns.
• For background push throttling and payload constraints, read Background Push Extended Patterns.
• For continued processing tasks conforming to ProgressReporting, read BGContinuedProcessingTask Patterns.

Common Mistakes

• Submitting a task identifier that is not declared in BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers (throws .notPermitted).
• Forgetting to call task.setTaskCompleted(success:) on all execution and failure paths.
• Omitting task.expirationHandler, leading to watchdog termination when background time expires.
• Scheduling app refresh at aggressive minute-scale intervals instead of respecting system heuristics.
• Using async/await convenience APIs or completion closures on background URLSession (requires delegate).

Review Checklist

• Task identifiers declared in BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers
• Required UIBackgroundModes enabled (fetch, processing, remote-notification)
• Handlers registered during app launch before launch completes
• expirationHandler cancels active tasks and reports failure
• setTaskCompleted(success:) called exactly once on all code paths
• Subsequent tasks re-scheduled within the handler
• Background URLSession uses delegate and preserves background completion handler
• Downloaded files moved in urlSession(_:downloadTask:didFinishDownloadingTo:) before return
• Silent pushes include content-available: 1, apns-push-type: background, and priority 5

References

• Background task patterns and debugging recipes
• BGTaskScheduler
• BGAppRefreshTask
• BGProcessingTask
• BGContinuedProcessingTask
• Performing long-running tasks on iOS and iPadOS