Now with Expo support

react-native-background-fetch ·

By Transistor Software, creators of React Native Background Geolocation

Background Fetch is a very simple plugin which attempts to awaken an app in the background about every 15 minutes, providing a short period of background running-time. This plugin will execute your provided callbackFn whenever a background-fetch event occurs.

There is no way to increase the rate which a fetch-event occurs and this plugin sets the rate to the most frequent possible — you will never receive an event faster than 15 minutes. The operating-system will automatically throttle the rate the background-fetch events occur based upon usage patterns. Eg: if user hasn't turned on their phone for a long period of time, fetch events will occur less frequently or if an iOS user disables background refresh they may not happen at all.

🆕 Background Fetch now provides a scheduleTask method for scheduling arbitrary "one-shot" or periodic tasks.

iOS

• There is no way to increase the rate which a fetch-event occurs and this plugin sets the rate to the most frequent possible — you will never receive an event faster than 15 minutes. The operating-system will automatically throttle the rate the background-fetch events occur based upon usage patterns. Eg: if user hasn't turned on their phone for a long period of time, fetch events will occur less frequently.
• scheduleTask seems only to fire when the device is plugged into power.
• ⚠️ When your app is terminated, iOS no longer fires events — There is no such thing as stopOnTerminate: false for iOS.
• iOS can take days before Apple's machine-learning algorithm settles in and begins regularly firing events. Do not sit staring at your logs waiting for an event to fire. If your simulated events work, that's all you need to know that everything is correctly configured.
• If the user doesn't open your iOS app for long periods of time, iOS will stop firing events.

Android

• The Android plugin provides a HeadlessJS implementation allowing you to continue handling events even after app-termination (see @config enableHeadless)

Contents

• 📚 API Documentation

  • Config
  • Methods

• Installing the Plugin

• Setup Guides

  • iOS Setup
  • Android Setup

• Example

• Debugging

Installing the plugin

With Expo

$ npx expo install react-native-background-fetch

With yarn

$ yarn add react-native-background-fetch

With npm

$ npm install --save react-native-background-fetch

Setup Guides

Expo Setup

• Expo Setup

iOS Setup

• Auto-linking Setup

Android Setup

• Auto-linking Setup

Example

ℹ️ This repo contains its own Example App. See /example

import React from 'react';
import {
  SafeAreaView,
  StyleSheet,
  ScrollView,
  View,
  Text,
  FlatList,
  StatusBar,
} from 'react-native';

import {
  Header,
  Colors
} from 'react-native/Libraries/NewAppScreen';

import BackgroundFetch from "react-native-background-fetch";

class App extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      events: []
    };
  }

  componentDidMount() {
    // Initialize BackgroundFetch ONLY ONCE when component mounts.
    this.initBackgroundFetch();
  }

  async initBackgroundFetch() {
    // BackgroundFetch event handler.
    const onEvent = async (taskId) => {
      console.log('[BackgroundFetch] task: ', taskId);
      // Do your background work...
      await this.addEvent(taskId);
      // IMPORTANT:  You must signal to the OS that your task is complete.
      BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
    }

    // Timeout callback is executed when your Task has exceeded its allowed running-time.
    // You must stop what you're doing immediately BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId)
    const onTimeout = async (taskId) => {
      console.warn('[BackgroundFetch] TIMEOUT task: ', taskId);
      BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
    }

    // Initialize BackgroundFetch only once when component mounts.
    let status = await BackgroundFetch.configure({minimumFetchInterval: 15}, onEvent, onTimeout);

    console.log('[BackgroundFetch] configure status: ', status);
  }

  // Add a BackgroundFetch event to <FlatList>
  addEvent(taskId) {
    // Simulate a possibly long-running asynchronous task with a Promise.
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      this.setState(state => ({
        events: [...state.events, {
          taskId: taskId,
          timestamp: (new Date()).toString()
        }]
      }));
      resolve();
    });
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <>
        <StatusBar barStyle="dark-content" />
        <SafeAreaView>
          <ScrollView
            contentInsetAdjustmentBehavior="automatic"
            style={styles.scrollView}>
            <Header />

            <View style={styles.body}>
              <View style={styles.sectionContainer}>
                <Text style={styles.sectionTitle}>BackgroundFetch Demo</Text>
              </View>
            </View>
          </ScrollView>
          <View style={styles.sectionContainer}>
            <FlatList
              data={this.state.events}
              renderItem={({item}) => (<Text>[{item.taskId}]: {item.timestamp}</Text>)}
              keyExtractor={item => item.timestamp}
            />
          </View>
        </SafeAreaView>
      </>
    );
  }
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  scrollView: {
    backgroundColor: Colors.lighter,
  },
  body: {
    backgroundColor: Colors.white,
  },
  sectionContainer: {
    marginTop: 32,
    paddingHorizontal: 24,
  },
  sectionTitle: {
    fontSize: 24,
    fontWeight: '600',
    color: Colors.black,
  },
  sectionDescription: {
    marginTop: 8,
    fontSize: 18,
    fontWeight: '400',
    color: Colors.dark,
  },
});

export default App;

Executing Custom Tasks

In addition to the default background-fetch task defined by BackgroundFetch.configure, you may also execute your own arbitrary "oneshot" or periodic tasks (iOS requires additional Setup Instructions). However, all events will be fired into the Callback provided to BackgroundFetch#configure:

⚠️ iOS:

• scheduleTask on iOS seems only to run when the device is plugged into power.
• scheduleTask on iOS are designed for low-priority tasks, such as purging cache files — they tend to be unreliable for mission-critical tasks. scheduleTask will never run as frequently as you want.
• The default fetch event is much more reliable and fires far more often.
• scheduleTask on iOS stop when the user terminates the app. There is no such thing as stopOnTerminate: false for iOS.

// Step 1:  Configure BackgroundFetch as usual.
let status = await BackgroundFetch.configure({
  minimumFetchInterval: 15
}, async (taskId) => {  // <-- Event callback
  // This is the fetch-event callback.
  console.log("[BackgroundFetch] taskId: ", taskId);

  // Use a switch statement to route task-handling.
  switch (taskId) {
    case 'com.foo.customtask':
      print("Received custom task");
      break;
    default:
      print("Default fetch task");
  }
  // Finish, providing received taskId.
  BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
}, async (taskId) => {  // <-- Task timeout callback
  // This task has exceeded its allowed running-time.
  // You must stop what you're doing and immediately .finish(taskId)
  BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
});

// Step 2:  Schedule a custom "oneshot" task "com.foo.customtask" to execute 5000ms from now.
BackgroundFetch.scheduleTask({
  taskId: "com.foo.customtask",
  forceAlarmManager: true,
  delay: 5000  // <-- milliseconds
});

API Documentation

Config

Common Options

@param {Integer} minimumFetchInterval [15]

The minimum interval in minutes to execute background fetch events. Defaults to 15 minutes. Note: Background-fetch events will never occur at a frequency higher than every 15 minutes. Apple uses a secret algorithm to adjust the frequency of fetch events, presumably based upon usage patterns of the app. Fetch events can occur less often than your configured minimumFetchInterval.

@param {Integer} delay (milliseconds)

ℹ️ Valid only for BackgroundFetch.scheduleTask. The minimum number of milliseconds in future that task should execute.

@param {Boolean} periodic [false]

ℹ️ Valid only for BackgroundFetch.scheduleTask. Defaults to false. Set true to execute the task repeatedly. When false, the task will execute just once.

Android Options

@config {Boolean} stopOnTerminate [true]

Set false to continue background-fetch events after user terminates the app. Default to true.

@config {Boolean} startOnBoot [false]

Set true to initiate background-fetch events when the device is rebooted. Defaults to false.

❗ NOTE: startOnBoot requires stopOnTerminate: false.

@config {Boolean} forceAlarmManager [false]

By default, the plugin will use Android's JobScheduler when possible. The JobScheduler API prioritizes for battery-life, throttling task-execution based upon device usage and battery level.

Configuring forceAlarmManager: true will bypass JobScheduler to use Android's older AlarmManager API, resulting in more accurate task-execution at the cost of higher battery usage.

let status = await BackgroundFetch.configure({
  minimumFetchInterval: 15,
  forceAlarmManager: true
}, async (taskId) => {  // <-- Event callback
  console.log("[BackgroundFetch] taskId: ", taskId);
  BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
}, async (taskId) => {  // <-- Task timeout callback
  // This task has exceeded its allowed running-time.
  // You must stop what you're doing and immediately .finish(taskId)
  BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
});
.
.
.
// And with with #scheduleTask
BackgroundFetch.scheduleTask({
  taskId: 'com.foo.customtask',
  delay: 5000,       // milliseconds
  forceAlarmManager: true,
  periodic: false
});

@config {Boolean} enableHeadless [false]

Set true to enable React Native's Headless JS mechanism, for handling fetch events after app termination.

• 📂 index.js (MUST BE IN index.js):

import BackgroundFetch from "react-native-background-fetch";

let MyHeadlessTask = async (event) => {
  // Get task id from event {}:
  let taskId = event.taskId;
  let isTimeout = event.timeout;  // <-- true when your background-time has expired.
  if (isTimeout) {
    // This task has exceeded its allowed running-time.
    // You must stop what you're doing immediately finish(taskId)
    console.log('[BackgroundFetch] Headless TIMEOUT:', taskId);
    BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
    return;
  }
  console.log('[BackgroundFetch HeadlessTask] start: ', taskId);

  // Perform an example HTTP request.
  // Important:  await asychronous tasks when using HeadlessJS.
  let response = await fetch('https://reactnative.dev/movies.json');
  let responseJson = await response.json();
  console.log('[BackgroundFetch HeadlessTask] response: ', responseJson);

  // Required:  Signal to native code that your task is complete.
  // If you don't do this, your app could be terminated and/or assigned
  // battery-blame for consuming too much time in background.
  BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
}

// Register your BackgroundFetch HeadlessTask
BackgroundFetch.registerHeadlessTask(MyHeadlessTask);

@config {integer} requiredNetworkType [BackgroundFetch.NETWORK_TYPE_NONE]

Set basic description of the kind of network your job requires.

If your job doesn't need a network connection, you don't need to use this option as the default value is BackgroundFetch.NETWORK_TYPE_NONE.

@config {Boolean} requiresBatteryNotLow [false]

Specify that to run this job, the device's battery level must not be low.

This defaults to false. If true, the job will only run when the battery level is not low, which is generally the point where the user is given a "low battery" warning.

@config {Boolean} requiresStorageNotLow [false]

Specify that to run this job, the device's available storage must not be low.

This defaults to false. If true, the job will only run when the device is not in a low storage state, which is generally the point where the user is given a "low storage" warning.

@config {Boolean} requiresCharging [false]

Specify that to run this job, the device must be charging (or be a non-battery-powered device connected to permanent power, such as Android TV devices). This defaults to false.

@config {Boolean} requiresDeviceIdle [false]

When set true, ensure that this job will not run if the device is in active use.

The default state is false: that is, the for the job to be runnable even when someone is interacting with the device.

This state is a loose definition provided by the system. In general, it means that the device is not currently being used interactively, and has not been in use for some time. As such, it is a good time to perform resource heavy jobs. Bear in mind that battery usage will still be attributed to your application, and shown to the user in battery stats.

Methods

Debugging

iOS

🆕 BGTaskScheduler API for iOS 13+

• ⚠️ At the time of writing, the new task simulator does not yet work in Simulator; Only real devices.
• See Apple docs Starting and Terminating Tasks During Development
• After running your app in XCode, Click the [||] button to initiate a Breakpoint.
• In the console (lldb), paste the following command (Note: use cursor up/down keys to cycle through previously run commands):

e -l objc -- (void)[[BGTaskScheduler sharedScheduler] _simulateLaunchForTaskWithIdentifier:@"com.transistorsoft.fetch"]

• Click the [ > ] button to continue. The task will execute and the Callback function provided to BackgroundFetch.configure will receive the event.

Simulating task-timeout events

• Only the new BGTaskScheduler api supports simulated task-timeout events. To simulate a task-timeout, your fetchCallback must not call BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId):

let status = await BackgroundFetch.configure({
  minimumFetchInterval: 15
}, async (taskId) => {  // <-- Event callback.
  // This is the task callback.
  console.log("[BackgroundFetch] taskId", taskId);
  //BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId); // <-- Disable .finish(taskId) when simulating an iOS task timeout
}, async (taskId) => {  // <-- Event timeout callback
  // This task has exceeded its allowed running-time.
  // You must stop what you're doing and immediately .finish(taskId)
  print("[BackgroundFetch] TIMEOUT taskId:", taskId);
  BackgroundFetch.finish(taskId);
});

• Now simulate an iOS task timeout as follows, in the same manner as simulating an event above:

e -l objc -- (void)[[BGTaskScheduler sharedScheduler] _simulateExpirationForTaskWithIdentifier:@"com.transistorsoft.fetch"]

Old BackgroundFetch API

• Simulate background fetch events in XCode using Debug->Simulate Background Fetch
• iOS can take some hours or even days to start a consistently scheduling background-fetch events since iOS schedules fetch events based upon the user's patterns of activity. If Simulate Background Fetch works, you can be sure that everything is working fine. You just need to wait.

Android

• Observe plugin logs in $ adb logcat:

$ adb logcat *:S ReactNative:V ReactNativeJS:V TSBackgroundFetch:V

• Simulate a background-fetch event on a device (insert <your.application.id>) (only works for sdk 21+:

$ adb shell cmd jobscheduler run -f <your.application.id> 999

• Simulating scheduleTask events:

1. Observe adb logcat for the registerTask log-entry and copy the jobId.

// from adb logcat *:S TSBackgroundFetch
TSBackgroundFetch: - registerTask: com.your.package.name (jobId: -359368280) <--

2. Now paste that `jobId` from logcat into the `adb shell` command to simulate a `JobScheduler` event:
```bash
$ adb shell cmd jobscheduler run -f com.your.package.name -359368280

• For devices with sdk <21, simulate a "Headless JS" event with (insert <your.application.id>)

$ adb shell am broadcast -a <your.application.id>.event.BACKGROUND_FETCH

Licence

The MIT License

Copyright (c) 2013 Chris Scott, Transistor Software [email protected] http://transistorsoft.com

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.