Developers Confirm That Apple Has Turned On A Very Important iOS 7 Feature
June 19, 2013
Some third-party apps are beginning to use one of the most promising new features in iOS 7. NYTimes and The Wall Street Journal apps are just two of the titles using intelligently scheduled updates, which are part of multitasking in iOS 7, according to our most recent developer check.
In iOS 7, Apple has added two new features to multitasking. The first adds preview screens of the apps that are open on the iOS device. To quit an app, you just need to swipe it up and out of the preview.
Intelligently scheduled updates, by contrast, is a multitasking tool that works in the background. It automatically updates your favorite apps according to a schedule that is determined by your past viewing habits.
For example, iOS 7 may determine that you check the news using The Wall Street Journal’s iPhone app each morning around 8 a.m. By knowing this information, iOS will begin to update content on this app prior to that time each day. This assumes that the device is connected to Wi-Fi.
Apps that use this feature are noted in the Settings app under General > Background App Refresh. Users can turn this feature off, by app, from this same location.
When the first iOS 7 beta was released earlier this month, the only apps using this feature were two of Apple’s own: Weather and Stocks. However, we can now confirm that other apps are also using the tool. Besides the NYTimes and The Wall Street Journal apps, The Atlantic Weekly app is also using scheduled updates. So too is Bright Wall/Dark Room, among other titles.
Intelligently scheduled updates is an interesting new feature for iOS devices. It is one that we’ll continue to keep an eye on as iOS 7 continues through the beta process.
For more information, see: What Apple Did Right: The Best New Features Coming In iOS 7, The AppAdvice iOS 7 Quick Pick: Auto App Downloads And Passbook Change Highlighted, and Is Apple Working On 'Linking' iOS 7 To Popular Professional Social Network LinkedIn?
