Background App Refresh in iOS 7 reportedly causing login issues for some apps
An apparent bug in iOS 7's Background App Refresh implementation is causing users of certain third-party apps to be kicked out of login sessions, forcing them to reenter their credentials every few hours.
It is unknown at this time what exactly is causing the seemingly random logouts, though The Verge reports that app makers have narrowed down the culprit to a mechanism in Background App Refresh.
Of the more popular apps affected, Mailbox was "in crisis mode" to find a solution, but was unable to rectify the situation, saying Apple's Background App Refresh is the root cause of the issue. Consequently, an updated version of the app disabling access to the feature was submitted to the App Store on Friday.
AppleInsider can confirm that certain apps do require repeated log-ins when Background App Refresh is activated, including the aforementioned Mailbox, PayPal and Snapchat. Curiously, other titles like Facebook seem unaffected by the purported bug.
One of the highlights of Apple's iOS 7, Background App Refresh allows apps to receive dynamic updates without running in the foreground. The feature is extremely useful when using time-sensitive apps like Mailbox, or those that do not support push notifications.
Users experiencing continuous logouts can simply turn off global Background App Refresh in Settings or, if certain apps appear to be working, toggle the feature on a per-app basis.
It is unknown at this time what exactly is causing the seemingly random logouts, though The Verge reports that app makers have narrowed down the culprit to a mechanism in Background App Refresh.
Of the more popular apps affected, Mailbox was "in crisis mode" to find a solution, but was unable to rectify the situation, saying Apple's Background App Refresh is the root cause of the issue. Consequently, an updated version of the app disabling access to the feature was submitted to the App Store on Friday.
AppleInsider can confirm that certain apps do require repeated log-ins when Background App Refresh is activated, including the aforementioned Mailbox, PayPal and Snapchat. Curiously, other titles like Facebook seem unaffected by the purported bug.
One of the highlights of Apple's iOS 7, Background App Refresh allows apps to receive dynamic updates without running in the foreground. The feature is extremely useful when using time-sensitive apps like Mailbox, or those that do not support push notifications.
Users experiencing continuous logouts can simply turn off global Background App Refresh in Settings or, if certain apps appear to be working, toggle the feature on a per-app basis.
Comments
Bugs are an inevitable reality with new software, especially something with the scope of iOS7. Apple will fix it quickly I'm sure, no big deal.
Well, Facebook isn't affected because it doesn't use background refresh (even the new, iOS7-ified version).
What will happen is randomly when you switch to an affected app, it will be like you're using it for the first time. You'll have to re-enter all your account credentials and go through any initial configuration all over again (in the case of Mailbox, a lengthy unskippable tutorial). If it's an app you're using frequently (like Mailbox), it renders it pretty much unusable.
It's weird to me that no one noticed this with the iOS 7 versions of their apps prior to public release…
Well, the only people who would have been able to catch it are the developers of the affected app. Even with the GM of iOS, unless you had access to the as yet released Mailbox update, you would have had no problems.
That said, perhaps Facebook knew of this, kept that part of the update out of their release, knowing that (1) Facebook would face the complaints (at least initially), (2) notified Apple, who is at work on a fix (7.0.2 has already hit some server logs) and (3) Apple held the iOS 7 ified release of Podcasts (assuming it gets this functionality) and perhaps iWork.
So it seems we have the Verge scouring the Apple discussion boards for iOS bugs to make up headline articles. Not a surprise considering one of their main advertisers is Samsung.
jc man they're reporting an actual problem- one which ive been experiencing since the update an im glad to know its source has been found so that apple can patch it.
k so why should we believe you or think your opinion is valid?
I use Mailbox and have done so on all the betas. I was never asked to login so I suspect that the app was reauthenticating to the Mailbox servers in the background, unbeknownst to the end user. I.E. the crisis may have only been at the head office?
There's a zillion trolls flooding this forum using this same old tactic to do some Apple bashing.
Now THIS is what makes you look so terribly old.
Mailbox and those other big developer companies are idiots. They had months to test their app on iOS7 and they're only NOW complaining about this bug?! This is a pretty big bug to only test it now. Perhaps if they had spent more time on these background operational code instead of the UI, they would have reported in time for the mainstream release.
Irony overload.