What is Background App Refresh in Android and iOS Devices?

It has been ages since people have been using smartphones and surfing multiple apps on a regular basis, but they do not know how the apps work while they are opened in the background, what is background app refresh and how it works for them. They do not know how this feature is beneficial for them and how to turn it off sometimes.

Background app refresh is one of the most popular features in almost every Android and iOS device. It will give you a seamless app operating experience by giving you refreshed and updated content on the apps running in the background of your iPhone and Android phone. You can enjoy the latest news and posts on your app without waiting for them to load.

In this article, we are going to explain to you what is background app refresh, how it is useful, and how it changes the behavior of the apps working in the background of your mobile phone. To know all the ins and outs of this feature, stick to this article.

What is a Background app refresh?

Background app refresh is one of the most popular but simple and useful features of Android and iOS devices. This feature uses background app data to refresh its content in the background to give you updated content when you reopen that app without waiting for the content to load. But it does not work if you turn off or remove the app from the background.

Examples of the Actions that take Place When Background Apps get refreshed

Here we have some examples of the actions that are performed while the app is running in the background of your Android or iOS mobile phones

• When you open a news app that is running in the background, it will give you all the recent updated headlines before even opening the app, and it will not waste your time in loading content.
• The apps that track your data or mobile usage to give you a daily and weekly report run in the background of your other apps.
• To sync all your files automatically, the cloud is run in the background with other apps on your mobile phone.
• To generate the latest shopping or discount coupons when you enter a shop, apps detect your location and provide you coupons.
•  The social media apps that are running in the background refresh themselves using background data to provide you with the latest posts when you open the app without delaying loading.

Should You Use the Background App Refresh?

If you want to know if you should background app, then you should understand what background app refresh is and how it can affect your mobile performance while using it on a daily basis. Basically, this is a feature that is there for you to increase your convenience, but you might face some issues that you want to turn off. The possible issues you can face by using this feature are given below.

1. When the background app is defaulted on in your iPhone and Android, then it may cause high data usage. You may face problems if you are using some limited data packages, and it will cost you a high bill. It will consume data to refresh the content in your apps even if you are not using them.
2. If you have a mobile phone with less battery time, then you will regret using the background app refresh because when different apps run in the background, it causes the maximum drainage of your phone’s battery.
3. It drains the same amount of battery the apps use in the foreground. If you want your battery timing to last maximum, then you should know what is this and how to turn it off.
4. It is believed that turning the background app refresh is good for mobile performance, but sometimes you want to turn it off for some apps that you use rarely.

Can you turn it off on your iPhone and Android Phones?

Luckily, both iOS and Android offer options to disable the features of background app refresh from its settings without any difficulty.

Turning the Background App Refresh Off on iPhone

If you understand what is background app refresh but do not know how to turn this feature off to the apps you want, you can follow the following steps.

1. Open the settings of your iPhone.
2. Head towards Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
3. The apps run in your background will appear here.
4. Tap on the app you want to turn off the background refresh for.
5. Disable it with the slider.

There is another way to restrict the background app refresh on your iPhone, which is using Low Power Mode on your phone. It will not let your phone refresh content on the apps by using your data. You will have to refresh your apps manually. But it does not only restrict auto background refresh but also reduces the brightness of your phone and lessens the speed of your phone.

Turning the Background App Refresh Off in Android Phones

If you are searching for this feature in your Android phone settings with the name of background app refresh, then you will not find it. Follow these instructions step by step to turn it off.

1. Open the settings of your Android phone.
2. Go to Settings > Apps > All apps.
3. Disable the background r option of your desired app there.

To restrict cellular data usage, you can follow these steps

1. Go to your mobile setting.
2. Go to the mobile data & Wi-Fi option.
3. Disable background data from the slider.

Conclusion

This article is all about what is background app refresh and how it works. This is a popular mobile feature that is available both on iPhone and Android phones, which refreshes your app’s content in the background. You can enable or disable it from setting according to your desire.